Days 14-15: Porto

So the last two days have been spent exploring Portugal’s second largest city. First up – the hotel – what a find! It’s been silent at night (and in the mornings). The memory foam mattress is more comfortable than any hotel bed I’ve slept on in Europe ever. They have hot water. The shower drain actually drains. I can actually use the toilet without having to sit sideways, open shower doors or rearrange things in the bathroom. The shower curtain actually keeps water in the shower when you’re using it and the water pressure is awesome. There’s a large variety of restaurants within 5 minutes, there’s a laundromat a 5 minute walk away and a supermarket a 5 minute walk away and it’s close to all the major attractions… The only blemish on an otherwise perfect stay was last night when the skylight (which can be opened and closed via remote control) did its own thing in the middle of the night – waking me from a deep, deep sleep and scaring the living crap out of me. I think they have them all on some sort of sensor so if it rains they all close so no rooms suffer water damage but things going clunk and making strange noises in the middle of the night with no warning is not conducive to restful sleep… Other than that, this hotel is a solid 10/10 for me.

In terms of the city, Porto is pretty awesome. It’s cooler here than anywhere else I’ve visited on this trip so I’m loving that (although the steady drizzle this morning seems like an unwelcome foreshadowing of the crappy weather to come in London and Iceland… Fingers crossed the forecast turns out to be wrong). It’s also a pretty city – especially when viewed from the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the Douro River – with the terracotta roofs, the brightly coloured and tiled buildings and the spectacular Dom Luis I Bridge crossing the river. It’s jam packed with tourists (it seems really popular with young British backpackers but that’s just based on a few observations) and I’m sure there’s an obnoxious, annoying pub street area where they all go to get smashed every night but fortunately it’s nowhere near where I’m staying and all the areas of the city that I’ve explored have been free of touts and louts. There’s the usual gamut of touristy restaurants and shops, etc. but it’s all in line with what you would expect from a popular tourist city. There’s something about the city, though, that is different from the other places I’ve visited on this trip. I think it’s that it feels very homey – safe and comfortable and like a place where real people could live doing real jobs and stuff… With lots of cool touristy things to do and see all around you. It actually kind of reminds me of Vancouver before it went and got all post-Olympics full of itself… I think I like Lisbon better as a place to holiday and sightsee but I would rather live in Porto if that makes any sense.

So what have I been up to with my two days in Porto? Well first, I got one of the 48hr “hop-on hop-off” bus tour deals – €19 and it included 48hrs of access to the buses, a river cruise and a port cellar tour… Porto has three of the tourist bus companies operating (which seems like overkill to me but it’s not my city) – the Red Line, the Yellow Line and the Blue Line. They all run basically the same routes and include the same things. I went with the Blue Line because I read a bunch of Tripadvisor reviews that said their buses came more frequently and because they were cheaper and used single decker open top buses instead of the double decker open tops the other companies use (I’ve always ridden those ones when we do the bus tour thing so thought I’d change it up a bit)… But mainly because they were cheaper…

The bus tour takes about 2hrs to do the complete loop and covers all the main spots in Porto (including a few out of the way ones that could probably be done without but are on the route to other spots you need to see so that’s probably why they’re included). I did the whole loop (starting near my hotel) and then hopped off where I’d started and headed for Porto’s cathedral.

The cathedral is your usual Romanesque-Gothic fortress church started in the 13th century and worked on for 100s of years after that… It’s impressive enough but if you’ve seen the one in Lisbon, I have to say it’s a bit more impressive for my money. I didn’t pay to see the cloisters – which might have been a mistake because the reviews say they’re really impressive… Maybe I’m just a bit cloistered out…

After checking out the cathedral, I made my way over to the Dom Luis I bridge – a very impressive iron bridge crossing the Douro River and joining Porto with Vila Nova de Gaia on the other bank of the river. It was opened in the late 1800s and they run modern metro trains on the top deck (how’s that for solid engineering and construction) while cars, trucks and buses use the lower level. Pedestrians can cross via either the upper bridge (a somewhat nerve wracking experience if you’re afraid of heights – especially when the metro trains rumble across) with spectacular views of the city from both sides or the lower bridge (an even more nerve wracking experience as you’re often inches away from buses and other vehicles rumbling by).

Once on the Vila Nova de Gaia side, I figured I should do a port cellars tour. These port cellars are a big part of the existence of Porto. The grapes for Port wine are only grown in the Douro River Valley (for the most part) and the region is a UNESCO protected site. The making of the wine is done in the Douro River Valley (about 100 kilometres upriver) and then the wine is sent to Porto to be aged in the cellars of the various port wine companies. Having people tour the cellars and do port tastings seems to be a pretty easy way to make a few bucks while you’re waiting for the port to age and they all seem to do them in much the same way…

My bus tour package included a tour of the Burmester cellars – a port I have never heard of (not that this is a surprise as my knowledge of port is very limited) but their next English tour wasn’t for another hour so I headed to a local restaurant to get a bite to eat… I switched it up a bit and didn’t have a cheese and ham tosta but went for a €6.50 Iberian prosciutto on Grandma’s bread sandwich… What I got was a very delicious ham sandwich (the fat on the ham was so creamy it was like having cheese on the sandwich – which is actually kind of disturbing) and the bread was good – although we’ll never know if it really Grandmas’ or not – but it was substantially more expensive than my €2 tostas. After my snack (it wasn’t very big so can’t really call it a meal) I headed to the Sandeman’s cellars because a) I own a bottle of their port albeit a cheap one and b) they were starting an English tour in 10 minutes…

I signed up for the 1790 Tour – the same tour as the classic tour but with tasting of 5 ports instead of just 2… The tour was interesting but not amazing. I learned a fair bit about port – like why it’s so sweet… it’s because they stop the fermentation process by adding 77% alcohol neutral grape spirits. The high alcohol stops the fermentation process which means the sugars in the grapes don’t get converted to alcohol – hence the increased sweetness… and the higher alcohol content (most ports are around 20% alcohol). We also learned the difference between vintage ports – made from a single year’s grape harvest that 80% of the producers agree was an exceptional year and aged in the bottle rather than vats or barrels. We also learned that only vintage ports will change in the bottle (ie. get better) – all other ports are stabilized when they’re bottled so there’s no point cellaring them – they will not get better with age (and if they’re not stored properly, might get worse). The downside to the vintage ports is that once you open them, you need to drink them in a couple of days or they will change character because of oxidation… Which is a bummer because I was thinking of buying a bottle of 1997 vintage (the year Caitlin was born) but can’t imagine opening a $100 bottle of port and drinking it in a couple of days… Maybe some day but not this trip… Although on the topic of vintage ports – apparently 2011 was the best year Porto’s had in the past 40 years and according to the BC Liquor Store app my local stores have bottles of it for $75 – more than 50% cheaper than it’s being sold for here in Porto… I’ll be stocking up when I get home…

Going back to the port education, we also learned the difference between ruby and tawny ports. The ruby ports are aged in massive wooden vats – as in more than 20,000 litres of port per vat. Because there’s so much wine relative to so little wood, there’s little oxidation so the wine doesn’t lose it’s red colour and retains more of its wine origins. The tawny ports on the other hand are aged in 600 litre oak barrels (they’re used over and over again for 75 then sold to whiskey distillers) so the wine has much more contact with the wood and loses some of its red colour and takes on flavours from the oak barrels… The longer it ages, the more tawny it becomes in colour and the more wine character it loses… Apparently there’s a bit of scamming happening with some of the port makers where the tawny ports are being “aged” artificially with colours and additives but that’s just something I came across on the interet (so it must be true!). They also do white ports (a relatively new addition to port varieties) that are made from white grapes… or maybe it’s from grapes without the skin… I can’t remember… I was busy taking pictures at that point.

After the tour, you’re shown into a large cafeteria style space (albeit quite a bit more upscale) for the tasting. The regular tour peons are seated at one table with their paltry 2 ports (a red and a white) while us 1790 types are seated at a different table (I guess that technically meets the definition of a “reserved space” set out in their promo materials) with 5 ports to sample – a white, a ruby, a 2010 vintage, a tawny and a 20 year tawny… I think… I meant to take the little place may they put the glasses on because the glasses were all labelled on it but I forgot… They were pretty generous pours and with 20% alcohol, doing the tasting was sort of like drinking 5 shots of Bailey’s in a short period of time… I’m not a port connoisseur but in my opinion, the white port is way too sweet – it would probably be good served ice cold or in a cocktail (they suggest tonic water which seems really odd but one never knows). The ruby port was good but had a fairly strong red wine odour and I really didn’t like the vintage – it tasted like a really sweet red wine… Not very impressive. The two tawny ports were delicious and there was actually a distinct difference between the 20 year and the 5 year (I think that’s what it was)… I liked the 20 year so much, I bought a bottle of it – for €43 which is about what a 20 year tawny costs back home…

In all, I think I liked the Sandeman ports much better than the Sandeman port tour…

After Sandeman’s I roamed around a bit taking some pictures and then headed to Burmester’s to see if they were doing another English tour any time soon… It turns out they were doing one in 5 minutes… This one was included with the bus package (so it worked out to be €3 instead of the usual €6 if you just walk in off the street). The guy running the tour was hysterical… He covered pretty much exactly the same material as the Sandeman’s tour but with much more style and panache… He was genuinely funny and passed along a few more tidbits of port lore before taking us into the tasting room. Here we only got 2 ports to sample – a white and a 7yr tawny (their Jockey Club tawny). I ended up sitting at a table of twenty-something students from Britain, Slovenia and Porto… They all knew each other through exchanges they had done as part of their university schooling (gotta love Europe’s approach to education and the emphasis on cultural exchange opportunities) and we ended up spending more than an hour talking about school and life in Europe… They were really impressed that I got to teach Ancient Civilizations… I was really impressed that one girl had just finished her secondary school teaching certification, one guy was studying to be a doctor, another girl was studying to be a mechanical engineer, the Slovenian guy was studying something really impressive that I have completely forgotten and the other girl from Porto was doing a degree in paediatric nursing or something like that… We had a good time chatting and started eyeing up the two full bottles of port they’d foolishly left on the table but decided not to anything stupid… In terms of the port, the white was way too sweet for me again but the tawny was excellent… So excellent I bought a bottle of it too… only €13 this time… So I’ve used up my alcohol allotment for the trip… Good thing I get to use Marie’s this time (she got to use mine for the spring break trip we did) so we can still bring back some Irish whiskey as we’ll be visiting both the Busmill’s and the Jameson’s distilleries while we’re in Ireland… The tragedy is we will only be able to bring back one bottle… Unless we bring back a 26’er (750ml) of one and a mickey (375ml) of another I suppose…

After 7 decent sized tastings of port in about 2hrs, I was feeling pretty good so headed for the river bank and just relaxed in the sun and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Porto for a bit… Then dashed for the Blue Bus Line bus stop to catch the last bus back to the Porto side of the river so I wouldn’t have to hike up the massive hills between Vila Nova de Gaia and my hotel… I just made it…

It was well after 7:30 by the time I got back to the hotel so I decided to grab dinner at the same restaurant I’d eaten at the night before (why mess with a good thing… their prices were good, the food was decent and the people working remembered me from the night before so the service was better).

Then I headed to the room and watched a bit of a movie and called it a night… And so ended my first full day in Porto.

Today (Friday), I woke up early again but not nearly as rested – the mysterious skylight incident had left me a bit rattled so I had trouble falling back to sleep and was worried about Caitlin and Marie who were going to have to be up at 3:30am to catch their flight to come join me and I still hadn’t gotten the “we’re packed, everything is done and we’re going to bed text…” so I kept drifting in and out of sleep until I gave up and called… Everything was packed but all the little things and Marie’s last minute work stuff (these trips are really much harder for her as she has to make sure that everything is squared away as much as possible before she leaves where Caitlin and I are already on holidays so just need to pack) had piled up and they would be going to bed soon… They’re going to be really tired when they arrive in London on Saturday afternoon!

So I was feeling a bit groggy and when I checked the weather it was grey and drizzly so I kind of drifted in and out of sleep for another hour or so then watched a bit more of my movie… Then headed out to explore some more – I grabbed a quick breakfast of pan dulce (sweet bread) and a juice then headed for Clerigos Tower – I thought about paying to climb to the top but decided it was so grey and drizzly there wouldn’t be much to see… And there would be a lot of steps.

So I walked down to the Ribeira area – the waterfront area filled with restaurants and little shops, etc. First I stopped and visited the Monument Church of Saint Francis. It’s another Romanesque-Gothic church started in the 12th or 13th century… It’s claim to fame is 1) it’s no longer a church but is a museum and 2) the interior is covered in incredibly intricate and elaborate Baroque gilded wood carvings… You’ll have to take my word that it is very spectacular (and really shows how the old stone churches were often decorated with wood – many have been lost due to fire) because you’re not allowed to take pictures in the church (so they can sell postcards would be my guess) but you could take pictures in the catacombs which were definitely the neatest, best organized catacombs I’ve ever seen… After Saint Francis, I wandered through the stalls and shops of the Ribeira a little – most of the stuff was the same stuff I’ve seen in Lisbon, Evora and Tomar… but a bit pricier than Evora or Tomar and a bit cheaper maybe than Lisbon… I’d already picked up a couple of souvenirs yesterday (in addition to the port which are my main souvenirs!) so wasn’t really shopping for anything in particular and was mostly just soaking up the atmosphere and experience. I crossed over the Dom Luis bridge (on the lower bridge this time) and explored a bit more in Vila Nova de Gaia and then headed back across to the Porto side of the river and wandered around a bit more… Then I hopped on the blue line bus and headed for Mercado Bom Successo – which the student had told me was a food centred market… I should have clarified more… I had visions of your typical European market filled with all kinds of weird and exotic foods… They should have called this one Mercado Bom Foodcourt… I’m sure they were all great but it was all trendy and modern fusion – gourmet… So I headed back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus… Which seemed to take forever…

Eventually the next bus came and I rode it for the remainder of the route (about an hour)… That’s the one big downside to the blue line buses – they only run the route in one direction… In the downtown area that’s not a big deal as the route loops back on itself in a view spots so in effect it’s like going in two directions… But in the more outlying area, the route only goes one way so I had to ride 3/4s of the route to get back to my hotel… But the sun was shining and I had nowhere else I needed to go so I just enjoyed the ride… I may have closed my eyes at a points along the way… Once back in the hotel area, I grabbed a bit to eat (switched things up a bit and tried a new restaurant) then headed to my room for a late (5ish) siesta… Then I packed everything for tomorrow (pack’s already getting a bit full and I’ve got 5 more weeks of travelling to do… Hope Marie and Caitlin left lots of room for souvenirs!). Now it’s 10pm and I’ve eaten dinner (same thing I had the previous two nights… They obviously appreciate repeat business – the portion was even bigger tonight) and typing the blog…

I’m actually a bit cold for the first time this trip… Porto’s much cooler than the rest of the places I’ve visited and there’s a bit of a breeze so I’m actually feeling a bit chilled as I sit at a table outside typing this… Guess I better get used to it as the forecast is for rain and temperatures in the high teens for London and rain/cloud and highs in the low teens (like 12°) and single digit lows for the time we’re in Iceland… I don’t imagine Ireland will be much better so we’ll all be looking forward to the heat in Morocco a month from now!

So that’s it for Porto and for the solo portion of this trip… Tomorrow I meet up with Caitlin and Marie in London (I’m on an 8:50 TAP Air flight that gets to London Gatwick about 2 hours before they arrive) and we’re on to the London-Iceland-Ireland-Morocco family adventure…

A few observations about the solo portion of this trip… 1) I’m not a particularly outgoing person… so I have spent most of the trip doing my own thing (with the exception of the cooking classes, port tastings, etc). I am comfortable doing my own thing but probably should have booked a night or two in a hostel to meet some people… or paid the money to do paid tours or food tours or something… just to be sociable… apparently that’s a good thing… 2) I like being able to do what I want when I want with no other agendas to factor in… But Caitlin nailed it when she said last year that she wouldn’t want to solo travel because she’d want someone to turn to and say “that’s so cool” when she experienced something new and amazing… Taking pictures and writing about places like the Mezquita or the Convento de Cristo isn’t the same as experiencing it with someone else… Which is both good and bad, I guess… If your travel companions are simpatico then seeing the Convento together is awesome… But if you’re loving the place and they’re bored out of their minds, then not so much… Marie, Caitlin and I are pretty similar in our likes and dislikes when it comes to travel, so it’s a lot more fun traveling with them…
but I definitely like how much faster I can walk when I’m by myself, though… Marie and Caitlin aren’t exactly slowpokes but they do tend to fall behind at times (they say I walk ahead but we know the truth). 3) I’ve learned that like food but hate paying for it… Both Spain and Portugal have amazing cuisines but I end up eating super simple (partly because I’ve got a bit of sensitive stomach at the best of times), super cheap (the main reason!) meals… usually from the same places… I think I actually like cooking food better than eating food so when I’m traveling eating becomes just fueling the machine – this is especially true if there are lots of sights to see and things to do and I don’t want to lose exploring time sitting in a restaurant waiting for the bill…

In all, I’m glad I did this solo trip (first one ever really) and will probably end up doing more in the future as I’ll continue to get my 9-10 weeks of holidays each summer and Marie is going to have more and more trouble getting 5-6 week chunks of time off (as in it ain’t happening any more)…

So that’s it for this part of the blog… The next part will be much funnier, I promise (Caitlin is responsible for about 70% of the humour in all our previous blogs) and hopefully even more full of amazing places and activities… But if everything comes to a crashing halt in about 10 days, you’ll know we snapped after driving and sleeping and eating together in a tiny little camper van in Iceland… In the rain… Otherwise, stay tuned for the next 5 weeks worth of adventures…

Some random photos from Porto: