20111029  Lisbon to Porto, Portugal

Owen Photos     Dolores Photos

Up at 0630, put out the big bag, down to breakfast, back up to pack the carry-ons. Pull them down to the bus at 0800, load them, and wait for the appointed time to leave.

We pulled out and went through some back streets of Lisbon until we got onto the freeway. We passed a stadium which Rui says was one of ten built with civil money just to keep construction work going; it's currently abandoned and looking for a buyer because the government can't afford the maintenance.

On to a little town called Obidos (accent on the first syllable), a walled town near the coast that at one time was a port. Spectacular flowers in narrow streets with cobblestones. At the top is a castle with two towers that must have been imposing.

There were lots of souvenir shops, but the specialty of the place was a wine pronounced zin-zin-yah that one takes in a tiny chocolate cup. You sip the zin-zin-yah, then eat the cup. Rather pleasant.

We went up the coast a little more to a lovely beachfront town name Nazare (accent on the last syllable to sound a little like Nazareth) which has stories about it's upper town on the point of rocks (cross left by Vasco de Gama on his return) and miracles.

The lower town is a resort for summer tourists. It showed signs of closing down for the winter. In fact, the cruise we are on is the last one of the season. 

We had lunch on Vantage at Miguel's restaurant with a great view and unlimited wine. Cod cakes, shrimp cakes, salad, sole, flan. Very nice. Then we hiked the beach-front and bought little things.

Onto the bus again until, with one rest stop, we arrived in Gaia, the city across the Douro river from Porto. Douro is “golden” from when some Spaniards saw gold in it somewhere. It flows across northern Spain heading west, then through Portugal.

We shuffled through the getting on board, getting keys, unpacking, and all that. Then came the intro drink, then the first dinner which was very nice. Free house wine that is acceptable, and you can order from the wine list if you prefer.

Then, foolish me, I joined Gayle and Jim on a hike. We did the waterfront on the Gaia side, then across the bridge to the Porto side and back down the river over there. We ran into interesting characters, including an Irish artisan making coin ornaments who said he has a daughter in Palo Alto. We ran into a Montessori person here for a week who comes from Chula Vista. And so it went. The waterfronts have a mess of bars and restaurants that were well populated.

Then we hiked back and Gayle (briefly) and I joined Glenn & Lou, and Dolores in the lounge for a brandy. After that, we were all fading and went to bed, but I typed these notes on the way.