Porto - Part 1

Jake was waiting for me in the lobby of the Campanha train station in Porto when my train from Lisbon arrived!  He looked much the same, still looking good after his 190 mile trek on the Camino Primitivo in Spain.  We had a short wait for the local train to the Sao Bento station downtown, then a short walk to our apartment. 

We are in the heart of the old part of Porto on a steep windy street that has limited access to cars.  The apartment was renovated in 2014 and received awards for its ecofriendly redo.  There are lots of nice architectural touches like some exposed rock and wood walls and original beams, all whitewashed to make them look bright and clean.  The kitchen cabinet doors are old windows with most of the paint scraped off leaving a sort of marbled looking pattern.  The stairs coming up from the ground floor and within the apartment are fairly steep and narrow, but nothing for a Camino Primitivo walker!

Jake had acquired a head cold after hiking and a craving for lots of vegetables, so I found a little grocery up the hill on our street and bought carrots, zucchini, broccoli, onion and garlic to roast.  Later I found there is a larger, more modern grocery down the hill, but for vegetables and meat I think the smaller one may be better.  Also within a block or two are a butcher, a pastry shop, numerous restaurants of all sorts, wine shops, and other stores. 

On our first full day in town we explored the old part of the city and went to the indoor municipal market.  There are numerous old churches, palaces, forts, etc. around this part of town.  Many buildings have beautiful tile facades.  The city is situated above the Rio Douro with great views from many parts of town.  Near one of the old churches, a large group of students was doing some sort of initiation of freshmen.  The sophomores were all dressed up, women in black skirts, hose and shoes and a black jacket with a white shirt and black tie, men in black suits with white shirts and black tie and both sexes wearing Harry Potter like black shawls.  The freshmen were wearing red sweatshirts.  I’m not sure what was going on but a lot of sophomores were yelling and brandishing bottles of wine at the master of ceremonies.  And sometimes small groups of freshman would be invited up on the stand and offered a black cape.

Tile facades along the waterfront

Superman and Batman live here

Freshman Initiation

Sao Bento train station

Along the ramparts

The municipal market is not as great as some other European markets we’ve been to, but it had its charms.  There are a couple stalls to buy bread and many seafood stalls with octopi spilling out of bins and sardines of all sizes on display.  We sampled a fried codfish ball from one place and then had lunch at one of the seafood restaurants in the market.  They hand you a menu that is basically a photo album of what they serve, suitable in any language!  There was basically one waitress and one other person who would set and clear tables and bring food over.  Both were extremely busy but the food came out pretty quickly.  I got a glass of the house white wine and grilled dourado fish.  Jake got grilled sardines.  Both were very good, served with buttery potatoes and some lettuce and tomato. Before the meal they bring a little plate of fried stuffed things with a few olives.

At the market - note the green custard apple fruits by the vendor - relatives of paw paws

On day two we decided to walk to Foz de Douro, the closest beach.  We first went through the Garden of the Crystal Palace.  There used to be a glass dome there, but now it is a huge cement dome and I’m not sure what it’s used for.  But it is surrounded by a pretty park.  We got an expresso and a chocolate muffin at the little coffee kiosk and chatted with the guy about where New Mexico was.  He had heard of NM and knew it was near Texas. 

Oddly pruned London plane trees

Life adding to art

At the Palacio de Cristal

Garden at the Palacio de Cristal

Graffiti artist Costah, not sure if the nose is by him too

Stone paved roads from the garden to the riverfront

From the park it was a long walk along the river to the beach, but pleasant looking out over the river and walking on a paved pedestrian/bike path.  The beach isn’t much of a swimming beach, but there were people sunning themselves on the sand.  We decided to have lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants along the beach.  You never know what you’ll get when you ask for lemonade.  This time we got a glass with lemon juice in it, some packets of sugar, and a bottle of water.  This is kind of a nice way to serve lemonade really since you can make it just as you like.  We got an order of grilled padron peppers as an appetizer, sprinkled with flaky sea salt.  The peppers were not at all spicy, but had that great grilled flavor.  Sandwiches were pretty good and it was a very pleasant spot to while away an hour while resting our feet.  We caught the historic tram back into town.

Along the Rio Douro

Ruin overrun with bougainvillea

Heron and fishing boats

Our lunch spot

Inside the tram

In the late afternoon we went back out in our neighborhood to some craft/flea markets.  The old part of town is buzzing with tourists from all over.  We had a cup of tea next door to a famous bookstore, but the bookstore is so popular they now sell timed tickets to even get into it.  Who would have thought there would still be lines of people going to a bookstore!  It is famous more for its architecture than its books though.

We had an early dinner at a tapas restaurant just up the street, Caldereiros.  Jake was in the mood for vegetable rice or soup, and ended up with a soupy vegetable rice, so that was satisfying.  I had shrimp cooked in garlic and white wine, fried octopus fillets, and black eyed peas with a parsley topping.  We shared a ½ liter of red sangria.  Apparently with the octopus, you boil it in salted water for an hour or more, cool it, then fry it.  It had the consistency of a chicken tender.  The fillets come from a certain part of the octopus though, not all parts are cooked the same.