Porto again: yippee!

Annie joined us at Forges-l’Evêque on Wednesday night, and shared probably our last steak barbecue of the year.  It has been a remarkable month, but the evenings have started to get quite chilly.

Early if not bright on Thursday we set off for ordeal by Gatwick to catch what turned into a rather sportif flight to Porto.  The good news is that the new Recaro seats in TAP’s A319s provide vastly more leg room than we had four years ago.  The less good news was that the climb out of Gatwick had us all wondering if our wills were up to date.  The catering was pretty minimal, but the glass of white wine was more than welcome in the circumstances.  The approach was scarcely less stirring, so it was a comfort to find our landlord João waiting for us at the airport.  Porto airport is as bearable as Gatwick is ghastly, and João was soon sweeping us comfortably to our apartment.

We were here three years ago, and it is as welcoming as ever.  Fabulous ocean views (and some lively seas to enhance them), spotlessly clean and well equipped.  Ana and João took time to show us round again, and to recommend places to see and eat.  We had an apéro at a bar right down on the beach (one of the recommendations) and a modest stroll to get some fresh sea air into the tubes.  There is a handy supermarket just round the corner, so we ate in on pretty tolerable pizzas, salad and rather better than tolerable wines of the Alentejo.

Today we had a pretty leisurely start, and bussed in to the centre.  First stop was the spectacular São Bento railway station, whence we strolled down to the Palácio da Bolsa, arriving just after several coach loads of cruise ship tourists.  Change, therefore, of plan.  We strolled down to Ribeira, and hopped on the ferry to Gaia.  There we sweated up the hill to Taylor’s, and took a tour of the cellar and a modest tasting of their wines.  We liked the Chip Dry (and have already done some damage to a bottle thereof).

Thence down to the now mercifully pedestrianised waterfront for a decent and inexpensive lunch (but I think I prefer canned sardines to grilled ditto), and some virtuoso people watching.  We took the cable car up to the end of the Luis I bridge, and then ambled gently home on two trams and a bus.  We were reminded of the natural herbage of the place: pampas grass wherever it can be left to grow, and morning glory everywhere else.

Another quiet evening in, with excellent bread for a local bakery, and melon, cheese and charcuterie from the little supermarket just up the hill.  In the process, we found bus stops from which we can reach some of our targets for the next few days.

I’ll post a few photos when I can work out again how to.....