April 19
Yesterday (Good Friday) was our first day in Portugal, having arrived late on Thursday evening. We followed the Rick Steve's walking tour #2 of the waterfront. We saw the beautiful tile work in the train station, walked the avenue of Flores, had lunch off the square of Henry the Navigator and toured the San Franceso cathedral - which has baroque style wood carving throughout (no interior photos allowed). Then, we walked across the Ponte Don Luis I bridge to Câlem where we did a tour and port tasting. In the evening, we went to Cafe Santiago F to have the 1000 calorie sandwich - the Franchesina with five types of pork, smothered in melted cheese and doused in sauce. We followed that with a walk back to the bridge for sunset and a stop at Cremosi for gelato.
Yesterday (Good Friday) was our first day in Portugal, having arrived late on Thursday evening. We followed the Rick Steve's walking tour #2 of the waterfront. We saw the beautiful tile work in the train station, walked the avenue of Flores, had lunch off the square of Henry the Navigator and toured the San Franceso cathedral - which has baroque style wood carving throughout (no interior photos allowed). Then, we walked across the Ponte Don Luis I bridge to Câlem where we did a tour and port tasting. In the evening, we went to Cafe Santiago F to have the 1000 calorie sandwich - the Franchesina with five types of pork, smothered in melted cheese and doused in sauce. We followed that with a walk back to the bridge for sunset and a stop at Cremosi for gelato.
April 20
We took the urban train south today to Aviero - the "Venice of Portugal". Train trip was one hour and cost 1.80E for Rick and 3.30E for me. The town has a couple of canals and some cute motorized boats for scooting tourists about. We ate a seafood platter for two 14.00E in the Rossi neighborhood. Then, we walked to the former Dominican Monastery for
women, now a museum. The main focus of the museum was Santa Joana, a royal family member who took vows in the mid 1400s and who is the patron saint of Aviero. I wouldn't say the town is anything like Venice, but it was a nice chance to see the coast. We also saw a ton of storks nesting just inland on the train trip. Dinner was at Abadia (highly recommended). Just make sure you order a one portion dinner for two people.
We took the urban train south today to Aviero - the "Venice of Portugal". Train trip was one hour and cost 1.80E for Rick and 3.30E for me. The town has a couple of canals and some cute motorized boats for scooting tourists about. We ate a seafood platter for two 14.00E in the Rossi neighborhood. Then, we walked to the former Dominican Monastery for
women, now a museum. The main focus of the museum was Santa Joana, a royal family member who took vows in the mid 1400s and who is the patron saint of Aviero. I wouldn't say the town is anything like Venice, but it was a nice chance to see the coast. We also saw a ton of storks nesting just inland on the train trip. Dinner was at Abadia (highly recommended). Just make sure you order a one portion dinner for two people.
April 21
Easter Sunday was a bit quieter around Porto. The good was less tourists to trip over, the bad less things open. We did Rick Steve's upper city walking tour in the morning followed by tapas and craft beer for lunch at Levare. Food and beer were good if overly ample. The Portuguese are feeders, I've decided. Most dishes could be split in two and still be too big. In any case, we wandered through some quiet alleys after lunch and then had a siesta. For dinner, we headed out to Clube 21. They weren't yet serving dinner, so we had snacks and wine. Salad and croquettes for me. With the side of olives and tuna with crackers, it was again more than enough. After dinner we tried to catch town at Golden hour, by my choice of spot wasn't great. We wandered back along the waterfront and stopped for gelato before calling it a night.
April 22
Today we were picked up in Porto by our tour guides Agostinho and Nikolas from Descubra Minho tours. We were transferred to a small traditional village called Soajo in Peneda Geres national park. We will be herehiking for the next three days. We had a small tour of traditional granaries in town used to store rye and corn. After that we walked up the trails to a ridge above town and spotted a newborn calf along the way. Dinner was at the only local restaurant open - thankfully it was good!
April 23
Let's see if I can do better on our slow, countryside wifi tonight. Today, our guides dropped us off in the town of Lindoso for a 12km hike in a loop around the mountain from there. We started through the village on stone paths and soon got to more wild places. We saw wild horses and the local cows. We picnicked on a boulder beneath a birch forest and descended gently back to town on a fire road. It rained on and off, but never heavily. We toured the castle and granaries in Lindoso before heading back to Soajo. Dinner was at the 2nd of two restaurants in town where we enjoyed shitake mushrooms, beef cooked in red wine and a delightful Douro Valley red. All in all a great day. Would rate the hike 7-8, higher with better weather.
Let's see if I can do better on our slow, countryside wifi tonight. Today, our guides dropped us off in the town of Lindoso for a 12km hike in a loop around the mountain from there. We started through the village on stone paths and soon got to more wild places. We saw wild horses and the local cows. We picnicked on a boulder beneath a birch forest and descended gently back to town on a fire road. It rained on and off, but never heavily. We toured the castle and granaries in Lindoso before heading back to Soajo. Dinner was at the 2nd of two restaurants in town where we enjoyed shitake mushrooms, beef cooked in red wine and a delightful Douro Valley red. All in all a great day. Would rate the hike 7-8, higher with better weather.
April 24
Today we walked over a mountain in mostly sideways rain for 15km. It was also mostly a creek walk. Bless the lady who picked us up from the remote village on the other side looking like drowned rats. Tomorrow looks to be rainy and colder. Crossing my fingers for a slightly less epic weather day. The hike would have been awesome in better conditions.
April 25
We cancelled our taxi to the start of another 12km hike this morning, as there was no bailout once started and today’s weather looked worse than yesterday. Instead we attempted to walk part of the route backward to make an out and back. About 15 mins in it started pouring and thundering and hailing, so our out and back was about 30 mins. We then hunkered down with books the rest of the day, dreading the need to go out to get dinner. We were contemplating fruit and chocolate bars as the wind blew sideways, thunder and lightening raged and rain and hail bore down relentlessly. It finally lessened about 7pm and we made our way for some delightful grilled octopus while only getting halfway soaked on the walk. By the end of dinner, the sky was starting to open up, so we enjoyed a light digestif walk. Perhaps another time we will return for better hiking in the high mountains of Portugal.
April 26
The storm lifted about 8am, which allowed us to get in a bit over an hour on the route intended for yesterday before our guides arrived to take us back to Porto. We spent the evening wandering the streets. We visited the Lello Bookstore - allegedly the most beautiful in the world. It was quite lovely. We also bought our train tickets for Douro Valley and had a gelato stop. Finally, we dined at Gondarem Baixa. It was run by a sweet couple and we were the only ones there, which was surprising because it was quite good, cheap and had reasonable portions. Rick had cod gratin and I had curry chicken.
The storm lifted about 8am, which allowed us to get in a bit over an hour on the route intended for yesterday before our guides arrived to take us back to Porto. We spent the evening wandering the streets. We visited the Lello Bookstore - allegedly the most beautiful in the world. It was quite lovely. We also bought our train tickets for Douro Valley and had a gelato stop. Finally, we dined at Gondarem Baixa. It was run by a sweet couple and we were the only ones there, which was surprising because it was quite good, cheap and had reasonable portions. Rick had cod gratin and I had curry chicken.
April 27
Today we milked Porto for the last of our sightseeing action. Tomorrow, we head up the Douro Valley for some wine tasting and hiking. We saw the Port Wine museum this morning, which was free today - yay! Then, we walked across town to the mouth of the river to see the Tram museum, which covers the history of their cable cars here in the city, which started as horse drawn trams. Finally, we did a little goose chasing at a couple malls, because Rick's mobile has a boo boo. Unfortunately, only one screen in stock locally and it had issues with touch targets :( Oh well, we got to see some suburbia and ride the metro.
Dinner! (And dessert). Can you believe the dinner was on 1/2 a single portion? #portugal🇵🇹 #fullbelly #pãodaló #puerco #vinhoverde @ Porto, Portugal
April 28
Today we headed out to the Douro river valley on the train. Our hotel had a water main issue, so getting breakfast before we needed to leave ended up being a crunch. But, we made it. We got to the town of Pinhao around noon and promptly found one of two restaurants in town for refuel - Rufete. I had duck thigh and Rick has pork cheeks. Both good. Then, we headed down to our hotel to see what we could book in terms of river cruise and wine tastings. We booked a two hour river cruise for this afternoon, which was nice. After the cruise,.we had a siesta and then a hike up the terraces above the town. Finally, we dined at the restaurant at our hotel - the Vintage House. I had octopus again, which did not disappoint. On this trip, we've stayed in a hipster hotel in Porto, where the rooms are build out of plywood and very Spartan, called the Zero Box Lodge. We also stayed at an old stone house in a village in Soajo - a rural stay home, and finally the 5-star Vintage House. It's quite an exercise in contrasts.
Our last day in Portugal was spent mostly in the Douro Valley. We started with a tour of Quinta do Bomfim, followed by lunch at Rufete. Then, we returned to Bomfim to do their vineyard hike up to the top of the canyon to overlook the entire valley. It was warm and sunny at 28F, and we collected some rays and vitamin D. Following the hike, we spent a couple hours at the Vintage House pool recharging before our train ride back to Porto. We finished the night with tapas at La Carneceria in our hotel, which is open very late. But, that wasn't before stopping for a final gelato at Cremosi - the best in town.
Vineyard view pool time post hiking. #portugal🇵🇹 #dourovalley #sunshine#portwine #hiking #chillaxing
