Time for home

The trip is over as we sit in our small room so we can get easily to the airport now in Lisbon. 

But first we got on the train in Porto 

And of course Yellow Bunny

We transferred to the train to Lisbon. If we were in charge of trains we would label each train car with its number! Some confusion but we made it

Now Val likes to get her steps in each day. Once we arrived at our train stop she suggested we walk. Now teachers are know for being economical (cheap) but this has nothing to do with cost. So with our bags we walk. It’s only 4.5 km. Get those steps in, however, it was in the heat of the day and all up hill! There was lots of cobble stones too.

Challenging yes but we made it, totally soaked from sweating. I had not dressed for a hike! 

Our room..

Now we need food. Our host suggested a place near by. We

told him we had just walked from the train station, he did not believe it. We did feel quite proud. 

So for dinner he suggested at short distance away to eat.

Placemats

A hamburger (?) with an egg on top. Plus fries and salad.

We did get through the (I’m sure it was pork) burger, some

of the fries and definitely the coke! We skipped the salad.

Now it is time for gelato.

With little effort we walked much further and found much more activity and “real” restaurants and of course gelato! 

Our photographer insisted he take our photo in front of this huge church. Why not? 

Very new and beautifully simple inside.

Back to our room to pack for flying tomorrow.

It has been an amazing 14 days. Val and I have never traveled together before and after 14 days…. We would do it again. It has been a problem free adventure. And a big thanks goes to Gadventures for their job at getting where we had to go and to take such good care all the way! Thanks our leader, Bruna. 

Last day in Porto

Breakfast at the hotel and then we all go out separate ways. 

Some hugs. This is Lena the youngest of the group and I’m the oldest! 

Val and I are going to explore the city after the Livraria Lello visit. Fortunately we have tickets for 10:30 and the lines are insane! 

People are let in every 15 minutes, and there is no time to leave! It is crowded but it is quite spectacular. 

Worth the visit but maybe go late in the day when no one is there and I could actually buy a book.

The ceiling 

Now to explore and see new things

University area and the Lion Foundation

They have trams here but they run infrequently so no one pays any attention to them. When they do run, they need a police escort! 

Val wants to see where JK Rowling had coffee..

Apparently she never did come to the library. 

Guess what… a line up at the Majestic Cafe. No we did not line up

Not real but pretty 

Porto has some serious construction happening while they put in another metro line. 

I wanted to find the cafe that made the famous Portuguese hot dog

We each had a Cachorrinho here where they are famous for them. They were quite good.

We decided to head towards the water and we down, down and down stairs! 

And more

Then we went up but not so many. There is funicular for those who’d rather not walk. 

Views at the top

We really enjoyed finding narrow streets and unusual places

Always finding new and fun things 

Tile art work on buildings

We went into a local church

It was lovely but as we sat down, a group of women stood up and sang and we thought we best leave. Little did we reality they had locked the doors! And at that moment my phone rang! She unlocked the door and let (kicked) us out. 

Now we found a huge market! What fun! We bought our dinner

Seafood

Giant zucchini 

These are mushrooms.

We bought bread cheese, charcuterie meat, pear, almonds, dried mango, olives, buns 

A delicious picnic in our room.

Gelato this morning and why not one more to end the day.

Sometimes when you’re traveling and shopping, the salesperson goes out of their way to be helpful. This is such a person.

Thank you Porto 
Tomorrow we take the train to Lisbon and spend the night for our flight back on Wednesday. 

Porto

Arrived in Porto today. Checked in to a very classy hotel, the Pestana. 

First stop the harbour and a boat ride up the river, Douro.

Although cloudy, it’s nice day. And time for photos says Bruna! 

And one where Norm would normally fit in 

Hee hee

The boat ride was pleasant and smooth, a little windy.

Beautiful colours of the apartments seen from water.

There are 4 bridges as we go up the river. Here you see just 2

Once complete, we head to port tasting in 

Porto Vasconcellos

across the harbour from Porto where all the wineries are.

A very small operation that only makes 30,000 bottles a year compared to the giant ones that do 30,000 in a day! 

Three different ports.

Oak barrels to age the port 

Now we head back to Porto over one of the bridges.

More people here!!

We decide to head away from this area.

Some beautiful old buildings. This is Palacio da Bolsa,

stock exchange built in19th century.

Fun getaway alleys 

Street scenes 

Clerigos tower, baroque style. 

Church with skinny house in the middle between the two churches. 

Time for lunch. Bagel with bacon, egg, cheese and avocado 

And the best orange juice. How can you tell we bought our own meal? 

The train station in Porto spent much effort to show the history of the people of Porto. The walls have amazing. 

We will be catching the train here to go back to Lisbon on Tuesday.

And now for our final dinner together. Again a classy affair. 

The dinner was at the Continental hotel

First course- Pea soup with prosciutto bits

Next Salmon with a potato base 

And dessert- cheesecake with a chocolate mousse.

A lot of hugs goodbye. We will see each other at breakfast and then we are on our own. 

We spend one more day in Porto, Monday and leave Tuesday for Lisbon.