I knew it was going to be a good day for exploring when we arrived at Porto, it took us about 30 minutes to cover the first 200 meters. Ton and Kit were taking pictures every few steps while Stephen and I walked along talking.
Porto is famous for blue tiled buildings and as soon as we left the train station there was a nice church with blue tiled art. Then we walked about 50 meters and there was a street of town homes that were full of interesting facades.
As we walked down the street and Ton and Kit burned thru data taking pictures, we came upon a large food market that drew us in. The market was full of mostly tourists and many were on food tours of Porto. While there were a lot of tourists it was also a functioning market for the residents of the neighborhood. Once again Ton and Kit were in heaven.
So after about an hour we were heading into the town itself, but we had to make one more detour to visit the cathedral with its views of the river and the town of Gaia on the other side.
We finally arrived at our original destination which was a very beautiful street. We enjoy Porto because the streets are full of interesting architecture. But Porto makes you earn the views. It is built on a steep hill and you are either walking up hill or down hill, there is no flat in Porto.
One of the most beautiful streets is currently under construction as they are adding another line to their metro which will run under the old town. But there was more than enough other unobstructed views to entertain us.
It was graduation week for the University of Porto. In Portugal they have a charming tradition that the graduates the week before graduation raise money for the ceremony. They dress in their gowns and go out and put on performances for donations. Some are quite clever. 6 of the students put on a private show for me, the deal they struck was that they would get all of the change in my pocket for the show. I asked them what happens if I have no change, they said I win. They then did a little dance number and song for the €4.50 in change I did have in my pocket.
At this point we were hungry so we were watching for a restaurant as we walked. We finally saw a little bistro that was doing booming business. We were lucky to get the last empty seat in the place. I ordered a Francesinha which is a decadent sandwich popular in Porto. It is actually a 20th century creation and is based on the French Croque-Monsieur. I have had both the Croque-Monsieur and the Francesinha and I am on team Portugal.
At this point we were all feeling the effects of the climbing and decided to head back to the campground. It took us another 45 minutes to reach the metro station as there were still plenty of photos to take and shops to explore.
Porto once again did itself proud, the weather was perfect, and while it was crowded with tourists and college students, it still maintained its charm and character. When we returned to the campground we all relaxed in preparation for a return trip tomorrow.
