Porta to Porto a Day Trip

 We finally took our first day trip. This to Porto, the second largest city in Portugal and just a little less than 50 miles away, or a 1 hour drive. Porto is one of the 2 arrival points for air travel and it was where both Denise and I had landed, but I never even had a glance at the city, so while Denise had spent 3-4 days there, for me, this was all new.

This video give you an idea of the waterfront facing the Gaia side.

The scene at the top of this post was the little restaurant, where we could have a glass of port wine, a couple of pasteis de natas and enjoy the view of the Porto side of the Douro River, while sitting on the Vila Nova de Gaia side.

Port wine in Porto

Boats tied along the riverfront like the one on the left are reminiscent that Porto was where all of the wine was brought by barges to warehouses, which have now been converted to restaurants and condominiums. I am pretty sure that these boats are now just tourist decorations, but I could be wrong. They still have the famous brand names lining the Gaia side and you can take tours of their "caves, or wine cellars.

This is one of the establishments selling food for which Porto is noted. They sell pastel bacalhau which is like a fritter, filled with cod. the interior of this shop is reminiscent of the famous library you would visit in Coimbra. I am sure that is intentional.

Just down the street, you find little pieces of hidden art, such as this "rabbit" made from found objects, attached the the corner of a building.

And just a short distance you can walk across one of the best known sites of the city, the Ponte Louis I, one of the bridges connecting the Gaia side to the Porto side of the Douro River.

The top level of the bridge is for foot traffic and a beautiful train system that runs and the bottom level is where you drive across your car.

Douro River

A short walk from the bridge is Sao Bento, the main train station in Porto and site of beautiful tile work that depicts the history of some of the area. I have to say that the station is very well kept and clean. Remember to bring 50 cents, if you want to use the bathrooms, though.

Sao Bento Train Station

Driving to a restaurant for lunch, we headed down streets in our little car, that would have been impossible in a bigger vehicle. I couldn't believe that these streets were used for cars, but they were parked all along the way, so I kept going. I was happy to finally exit into a normal sized street though. 

Before returning home, we needed to try a francesinha. This is a sandwich made famous in Porto and sold all over the country. A francesinha is a heart attack waiting on a plate. It is grilled bread, with ham, sausage, fried steak slices, covered with cheeses, topped with an egg (if you desire) with a hot sauce poured all over. The secret is in the sauce, and apparently, everyone has a secret sauce. The one we had was good, but it was not the holy grail of francesinhas, so we will still be on the lookout for the ultimate experience.

The trip back to Ilhavo was without incident and the toll of 3,60€ was well worth the 45 minutes that it cut from the trip. Porto is a beautiful city, but I was happy to get back to our sleepy little town.