Welcome to Porto!

We got up early on Thursday October 12 and walked to the RER at Port Royal to get the train to Orly Airport.  One takes the train for nine stops and then a shuttle train to the Airport.  Very convenient.  It was a lovely day in Paris.  Our plane ride to Porto was uneventful-- just over two hours in the air.  We arrived at 1:30 p.m. Porto time (an hour earlier than Paris) and took the Metro to the closest stop to our apartment.   It was only 2.50 euros for a 30 minute trip into town.  Ricardo, our host (we used VRBO or HomeAway), met us outside the building.  It is a lovely apartment in a quiet building.

The weather in Porto was beautiful- a high of 28C.  Feels like summer again, though it will cool down to 13C overnight.
The bedroom and small ante-room for clothes
Sofa bed in entrance area 
View from the back window of the bedroom 
Modern kitchen and there is a dining area and living room
 After unpacking we decided to explore the neighbourhood.

Lots of graffiti
We stopped for a coffee at a very neat place called Maria Bôla.  One walked down a few steps then through a narrow hallway and up stairs to a large room and a beautiful back yard area where we had our coffee.  Two macchiatos (called pingos in Portugal) and an espresso for just 2.50 euros!! Incroyable!

Large outdoor patio at Maria Bôla
Wonderful plant in an slanted box in the patio section
Alain with his coffee
Large room with treats before outdoor patio
After coffee, we continued our meandering.  We passed a fair bit of graffiti.
More graffiti
We turned down a street that had a number of art galleries and one small complex with about eight shops.  The best shop was a jewelry collective that featured 10 jewellers from northern Portugal.  All the jewelry was laid out on a large white table with information on each jeweller.  Grace bought a necklace and I was able to buy one earring (I only have one pierced ear).  Beautiful work.

One of the jewellers minding the store which is very new
We also passed lots of interesting tiled buildings.  A real change from Paris!  Porto is not a large city- but it is the second largest in Portugal.  It has a population of about 220,000 people.
Interesting buildings on gallery street
More graffiti
I really liked this one under the plants
Beautiful green tiles
Abel Salazar (1889-1946)- a physician and painter from Porto ( no relation to the Dictator).
This Salazar was an anti-fascist.
More beautiful tiles--- we are taking a walking tour on Friday and will find out more about this Church.
A beautiful street in the downtown area
Store with Portuguese products in an old fashioned building
We had a reservation for dinner at Solar Moinho de Vento at 8:00 p.m. but got there a little earlier as we were tired and hungry and Alain is still suffering from his cold.  Friends of friends in Victoria, B.C. had recently eaten at this restaurant three times during their stay in Porto and it came highly recommended.  It is a traditional Portuguese restaurant.

The restaurant was kitty-corner to the Oldest Cafe in town 
Outside the restaurant
We had two salads (one mixed and one tomato with garlic and cilantro).  Grace and I shared a most delicious rabbit stew with potatoes and we also had sardines served with a delicious bean, tomato and rice sauce (a regional specialty), which Alain mainly ate.  Grace and I also had a large glass of red wine.
Rabbit and potatoes
Sardines 
Tomato, bean and rice sauce
 Grace had egg flan (creme brûlée) and Alain had a sponge cake for dessert.  I had an espresso.
Creme Brûlée
 It was a very tasty meal and the price was very reasonable.  We walked back to the apartment, looking forward to exploring more of Porto, a city we have never visited before.


Comments

  1. Unknown13 October 2017 at 09:21

    Sorry to hear you have a cold and feeling lousy Alain. It is such a drag when travelling. Glad you were able to make it out for dinner in Porto. Love ❤️ the photo of you Toby standing in front of the green tiles. Very cool. And the photo of Alain standing in the courtyard with his coffee is also very good. He looks like an actor almost ready to meet his adoring fans.

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