Day 7: All we are saying, is give Porto a chance.

Ok so we didn't get off on the best foot, Porto and I. I must admit normally I tend not to travel with expectations, but for some reason I really wanted and thought Porto would be the place I would fall in love with..... would Day 7 bring that?

Well it started well, as we were amazed that we had quite a good sleep in, given that we were in the middle of town and near the railway station. With the windows open all night too, I certainly was surprised by that. So being late risers we searched out a coffee and then strolled to the part of town we finished the day before in. As we wished to go to the Photographic Museum. First things first though. It was time to fill the growing bellies.

We found a great little spot on the square of the Jardim da Cordoaria the day before, but then we had already eaten. The best part about it was that they had a menu of the day. So we decided to be the first customers of the day, it ended up being a popular choice. By the time we had finished the meal, we were one of 6 groups eating there. We would love to have thought they wanted to be like us, but it was no doubt the fact they saw the lovely food we were eating.
Marty nervously awaiting to see what happens with the order she has placed.
First up with our carafe of Vino Verde was a legume soup with vine leaves in it.

Next for Marty she had her sardines flash fried and red rice.
I went quasi English having a sausage, chips and fried egg.
The difference with Portugal is that they still pride themselves on what they do in many things food associated, and the sausages are tagged with the group that makes them. These are called Alheira which was originally a Jewish bread-based sausage to hide the fact they didn't eat pork. Still it didn't help them, as the Christians stole the recipe added pork to the bread and other ingredients the Jews used and then proceeded to boot out the Jews from the country, and people tell me Hitler was original!

So after lunch we went and sat in the beautiful garden nearby to observe some persons. As really this is one of the most entertaining things to do, no matter where you are. It is great to see what sort of people live in a location or at least what sort of people a location can attract. With a long lens and a little patience, you can find some fun pics too.

I think he had a bad day at work.The old and the new, funny that the new is the one checking out the old!
If this isn't a uni lecturer I will be very surprised.

Whilst strolling around the gardens, we found a really nice set of little statues. Of a man falling down from the steps while his friends were offering great support. There were about 6 different sculptures around this park all in different orders, with different people on it offering different settings. Of course Marta couldn't resist but to get involved with these little characters, much to the amusement of some of the local people passing by.

A tickle for one.
A laugh for another. Admittedly, the photo below is not from the park, but just up the road. But she was scarily cool and had a big camera so she must be ok.We were in the Gardens as we were trying to kill off some time until the photography museum was open, as they had a 2.5 hour siesta. We did the park then grabbed a quick coffee. The coffee was really good. I also had a cake thing-o, it looks like a sweet vanilla slice but it is actually all marshmallow. So not only was it sweeter than sweet, but it was rather difficult to eat and if people know me..... I am able to make a mess of anything and so there was icing sugar, marshmallow, pastry and happiness everywhere.
All of this wasn't from the Casa Oriental, but the cafe nextdoor. I just loved that the Casa Oriental advertised chocolate and didn't really appear to have much in this description, but it did have mounds of cod (not smelling quite as sweet as the coffee or chocolate would have).
After my coffee and Marty's ice cream, we still had some time to kill before the museum opened so we strolled the streets behind the museum. As we turned the corner, we felt something staring at us..... was it a stalker, a serial killer, or even a rapist? No, it wasn't one of these things but it was all of these things. In the pictures below, you will see the scary blighter.




We continued down the street at a brisk pace so we weren't attacked by the dangerous local. We were looking at all the random doors of the area. Many old and crusty desperately crying out for some help, some love, or at least just a lick of paint. That is when we spotted something pink out of the corner of our eye. It was a man! A man in a pink shirt?! Surely not?!? I saw him working away on some boats and I asked if I could take a photo, he said no, because he said it would be better if I could come into his workshop and see what he does. How sweet, or was he related to the street's other serial killer?
So we headed in and struck up a conversation in our spanglishese (Spanish, English and Portuguese) and now know that Manueal Dos Santos Vilela is a retired gent who loves to make models. He makes mostly boats such as the Cutty Sark (as seen above) and now working on a ship from Columbus' fleet I think it was the Santa Clara. He has also made steam boats, planes and musical instruments. He was amazing, so fun, warm and welcoming.
He showed us how he worked.

And saluted as we disembarked his little world. It was about now that we started to really like Porto. It was a place which now filled us with imagination. Behind these crusty paintless doors there are locals like Manuel who have great stories and big warm hearts. This is what we had hoped to find everywhere, and we hope to find everywhere we travel. It made us smile the rest of the day and even now when we mention his name we cannot hide our smiles.

After the smiles of Manuel, it was off to the museum where the guards would ensure that we would only be allowed to enter at the exact moment the sign said. We entered the building which from memory was originally the law courts. It felt quite austere and souless at times, others it was like you had sections of sun poking in just to warm you, or a serial killer that could lurk by.



While the museum was nice, the exhibits really didn't stimulate me in the way I had hoped and we the decided maybe alcohol would do this. So we ducked down to the Vila de Gaia on the other side of the river from the old town. This is where all the port wine houses are and has a completely different feel to it. It feels open and breezy and really warm and welcoming. The buildings are the same age as the other side of the river but are less graffittied, vandalised and cleaner in general. You can tell which side is more touristy than the other.... is that a good thing? I am unsure. We went to a number of different port wine locations to sample. I was on a mission to buy a bottle of 1976 port (yes, the year I was born) and so we asked about this at all the cellar doors. This is a great tip for someone wanting to taste great port. Tell them you are interested in an old vintage and for a specific reason. We were able to taste ports from 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1988 free of charge, where as all the stupid tourists were paying 3 or 5 euros to taste the most recent vintages. There are many options here to taste and some have great feelings to them when it comes to being surrounded by barrels of port, some that are from the 1800's. But to be honest, I preferred tasting in the Douro. I like the rural and regional feel of it.

This said, it was beautiful in the late afternoon sun, all long shadows and smiles.
Sometimes buildings just offer simplicity that I adore, I love the way things can just be there and work and not be complex at all.
But I am a sucker for great detail when you get the chance too. :) This building was a very good version of both.Here you can see the Dom Louis Bridge in the background, a quick lesson in history that it was designed by the same guy as the Eiffel tower.... see the similarities?
Do you see them now then?I also had this strange feeling that I was being followed by someone famous here..... I am on the right.... I took this picture but there wasn't actually anyone next to me.

And then I saw this....... it was like..... like a..... sign.......! So that was a great day in Porto and a complete shock to me, Marty and the Sandeman! Porto is a great place... what will tomorrow bring?

Day 6 The home of the winter warmer

Guimares, we thank you, however the party must go on. So from the old and crumbly, but still fabulous, Guimares, we now head to the old and new capital of the Port wine trade. The city that actually gave its name to the wine, yes, Porto. We cruised there by way of the Vila Do Conde. It is a beachside 'town' North of Porto, but it is more like a suburb now of the continually growing and sprawling tentacles Porto. This is evident that the Porto Underground even goes out there. We strolled around town, had a coffee, just for something different. On the way back to the car, we came across the man with the best office in the world.
Coffee, sunshine, shirtless, and with a view of the ocean and the beautiful women of Portugal. I don't think it could be summed up as bad.

After here we pushed on to Porto, navigating through the leafy suburbs, through the corporate sections just outside the commercial centre, then through to the old town and the Port area. Our hotel was in a pretty handy location, right slap bang next to the train station. Some would say the area was dodgy, but I think I would say colourful. On arrival to the hotel, we found a carpark on a street that would have looked like it was at home in San Francisco. Then we looked out the window to watch a regional drunk arguing with someone who had just parked their car and, well, let's end it with the drunk getting a slap and the police coming. Certainly an interesting start to Porto.

We strolled out for an exploration of town and the chance to find something to fill the parts of our anatomy that were sounding like an idling lawnmower. We cruised past the water front which was packed with tourists but, oddly enough, some of the restaurants were starting to close and not serve food.

Waterfront restaurants and the masses wanting food or maybe just Port....

About now we were getting a little toey for something to eat! Yes, there is a deal I made to give at least one pun per post.
We climbed to the top of a hill, and we got a scape of Porto and with the red roofs and blue sky makes Porto seem a glorious old city, but.......
down on ground level it looks tired, worn out and in need of some TLC. Plus the fact that almost everywhere it smells of tinkle, as Stupid Flanders' Kids would say, or piss, as the rest of us would.
There are some beautiful things and great quaint articles that you see throughout this part of the city.
Sometimes you can even get a little head.... on top of a statue to show you the way.
We grabbed lunch in a really scary looking place, it was a dingey bar but had a large restaurant on the floor above. We basically decided on this location as we were so hungry and it had good prices. Marty had Lulas, but for the life of me, I can't remember what my meal was. I do remember that we both were shocked at how good it was, given the surroundings.

We went for a stroll, from lunch to observe the surroundings and try to find somewhere nice in the open air to have a drink. We arrived to an area around the university, law courts and a number of museums (including the photographic), it had a lovely park and a popular student bar. I sat down to my first porto tonico, a white port mixed with tonic water. It was pleasant but didn't really get me going like I had hoped. So instead we bought some great wine and snacks and headed home.

To enjoy our view of the Porto Railway station (Sao Bento) and the sweet flavour of our Red wine from the Douro. Can Porto get better than the sad start.....?

Night of Day 5, Guimaraes

So as the sun set after our gallivanting around the town of Guimaraes, we noticed that the streets were starting to shut off.
We found out that the reason all of the central streets were closed down and were also lined with chairs (mostly unoccupied, apart from a few resolute grannies as seen above), was because it was the "town day". This is a day to celebrate the history of the town and it is slightly satirically political.

So with tummies rumbling away, we decided it was dinner time. We hit the old town square and poked around the number of open air eateries and bars that are dotted around the area. It was difficult to chose, but one deciding factor that was able to sway us was that we saw some people standing up, as all of these eateries were heaving with happy talkative happy punters. We grabbed a table and awaited our very smiley waitress to set our places for us.

We were watched over by something that is ever present in my life..... a granny!


We had a nice meal, it was interesting to see so many people enjoying the balmy evening and to sit there and sip vinho verde whilst the town got excited.

It was funny when they switched on the town lights, lights that we hadn't noticed earlier, and the gasp from the diners was audible.
Maybe I am a grump and not as easily impressed.... or just deep in thought.....

After this pleasant meal, we strolled the town, ate icecream and headed back to the hotel to kill some time until the parade, which was to start at 2200.

Around 2130, we walked down what we guessed was the path, marked out by the lines of food stalls and the multicoloured chairs, which were starting to be filled now. We strolled to the town hall, and then walked along to find a good vantage point.
The buzz and humm of downtown Guimaraes on Town Day.
This sums it up, lights, balloons, chairs and lots of excited kiddies.
The town hall even booked a full moon for the night.

We found a nice spot where we set up the tripod and waited. It was nearly 2200, so we thought it shouldn't be far away. But then for the next 1 and a half hours the only things to come down the street were the chair and balloon sellers!


Eventually it started, led by a band, followed by some of the funniest things we have seen. Of course many of the floats had political connotations that, as foreigners, we did not quite understand. Some were easy to translate though.
These dancing lights are men in knights outfits. Hard to get with a slow lens and limited light.
Kind of a phallic theme here, poles that look like, umm well, poles of a flesh variety, then...Questions of your prostate............ and a man chases a woman! It all adds up to shenanigans!


After standing there until about 12, we were tired and grumpy (well one of us was) and decided to head home, even though there were many people still enjoying the parade.
The parade continued for about another 45 minutes to be finished with fireworks. At this stage we had crawled into bed, after a very fine day in the old capital!