Well after 30 hours of flying and sitting in transit lounges at Singapore and Frankfurt we finally landed in Porto at midnight Friday night their time.
We were both knackered having not slept much on the plane and having our fair share of beer and champagne. Would have had some red but it was merlot! What are these airlines thinking.
We were booked into our room on the 5th floor and as it happens the 5th floor is the top and where the rooftop bar is located . When we dragged our luggage into the room the only bed in there was a double. Well I don’t know who rushed out of the room quicker, Russell or me? I wondered why the lady at reception with the long blue fingernails kept smiling at us. Anyway a quick visit back to reception sorted out a room with 2 singles. Then we hit the rooftop bar . A couple of pints and a glass of Venezuelan Diplomatico rum with ice later we were ready to hit the silk in our nice SEPARATE SINGLE BEDS.
Didn’t sleep late as Russell seemed to think I snore too much and too loudly. It never worried Slats last year. Anyway up early and went down to breakfast (which was sumptuous) and ran into Lyn Monro from Sandringham who I’ve sold for in the past . We were prefects together back at Hampton High School. She’s here to walk around the Douro valley and then heading to Sarria in Spain to walk the last 120k of the Camino. Lovely lady and I would sometimes see her walking along the beach tracks of Bayside when I was training. Small bloody world.
Russell and I headed out after breakfast to explore. He’d been to Porto before so he knew a bit about it. Both sides of the river were really nice with plenty of bars and eating places. We wandered around the had to try the Bacalau and goats cheese croquettes, which I couldn’t finish. (Not to my liking) also had a couple of Roses and some tapas style Bruschetta which was probably the tastiest we’d both ever had. Russell was feeling a bit queezy so he had a coke instead of the 3 euro rose. He wasn’t queasy enough to forego the Portuguese tart though.
We left the market and headed up the hill on the other side of the Douro to find the central station , a walk of about 53 mins according to google maps, but it wasn’t correct. Wrong station wasn’t it. Never mind.
Headed back towards our hotel and stopped for a couple of pints of Superbock. Had a chat with Felicia from Atlanta Georgia . A nice big African American who couldn’t stop laughing at the things we said. After that we met Glenyce from Wandering the World , who organized our trip and just happened to be in Porto the same time. She’s taking Lyn Monro’s group into the Douro valley and then getting To Sarria to start another group off. What a fantastic job she’s got. I’d like to see her frequent flyer points.
After a few sips we headed out to a little restaurant we saw during the day, only a few hundred metres from our hotel. We shared veal spareribs with salad and French fries and a bottle of Albariño . Bloody sensational and only 25 euro a head. Got back to our hotel and hit the sky bar for a few night caps.
Russell slept like a baby and I reckon I handed him the snoring cap. He woke this morning to find me showered and checking the footy scores.
Just devoured a super breakfast of fruit and yogurt, bacon mushroom and eggs on toast., with a great coffee and orange juice. (Did I mention that Russell bought vegemite with him?)
Today we are getting on the hop on hop off bus and if we are smart will have an early night to prepare for the long walk starting tomorrow morning. Good night everybody
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