Last port in Europe

Porto was our final destination in Europe, where we spent three nights at a small guesthouse in the Ribeira district, beside the Douro River. 

This was a wonderful location as it was a lively district with lots of activity. The famous Port wine houses are located on the opposite bank in a region called Gaia, accessible via the Dom Luis Bridge. Boats of different sizes cruise up and down the river ferrying tourists. Some are Rabelo boats, which in past years were used to take barrels of wine and port from the vineyards to the wine houses of Porto for export to the UK. The British invested a lot of money (and probably still do) in the wine industry of Portugal and several wine houses bear British names like Grahams and Taylors.

Looking towards Porto from bridge

Dom Luis Bridge and Rabelo boat

Gaia side of Porto

En route to Porto from Lamego we detoured to the pretty town of Amarante, where we lunched on a small balcony, overlooking the Tamega river.  At one stage towards the end of lunch all 8 people on the balcony were from Australia! One couple from Perth had been renting in Portugal in the town of Braga, north of Porto, for the past four months. They are planning to apply for residency in Portugal and divide their time between Portugal and Australia. Apparently if you have an income of 13,000 euro per year you can apply to live in Portugal. We have also learnt that many Americans are moving to Portugal to live, particularly in Lisbon.

Amarante

Amarante with balcony over river where we lunched

We had no fixed plans for Porto other than exploring the city on foot. It is described in the guides as a very walkable city. I would agree with that, but definitely a lot of it requires low gear as there are steep gradients and many steps. We should come back pretty fit.  Certainly the walking has probably assisted us in wearing off some of our calorie intake. That said I did seek out another Portuguese tart, this time at a café that sold only gluten free food. The tarts were delicious and served warm, freshly made – much better than Lisbon’s as the pastry was finer. 

 

I had researched other gluten free places to visit in Porto and whilst not looking for it, we found ourselves outside the rather eccentric Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau on the Gaia side of the river. Its décor was red and gold, on two levels joined by matching spiral staircases, with a level area on the mid-way landing where some guy was playing an organ, when we arrived. The lower level was lined with books and upstairs there were plush red leather seating areas.  

One end of the room was dedicated to the display and distribution of the cod cakes (hence the large cod cake image) and port.  Apparently you take the two together as the port “cuts through the saltiness of the cake” However we opted just for the one cod cake which I wanted to try.  I saved the port for later in the day. The cod cake was good – crunchy on the outside and with minced cod and cheese in the middle. Adrian thought it tasted like tuna pie. 

There were individual street buskers and bands playing everywhere throughout the city.

One afternoon we were treated to a street concert by some male university students – all decked out in black. One though was wearing a lab coat, back to front. I spoke with the young woman beside me who knew them. She explained that they were all students of medicine, veterinary medicine and marine biology who loved to make music and perform around Porto. There was one trumpeter, guitarists and a few playing pear shaped stringed instruments, similar to the Portuguese guitar. They had wonderful voices and provided great entertainment. A couple of them did some tricky manoeuvres with flags. They were the epitome of La joie de vivre. 

We visited several churches – there are so many of them -  including Clerigos Church, which has a free organ recital each day at noon. We also made a stop at the 12^th Century Cathedral and wondered again how these magnificent structures are built let alone conceptualised. And admired the incredible tiled interior of the Saõ Bento Metro station. 

Inside the Cathedral building 

 

The staff at the Guest House were young and very personable. They had recommended a restaurant nearby which served delicious food and different to what we had experienced elsewhere. We opted for tapas and enjoyed it so much,  we returned for another meal there. The owner was Spanish, Carmen, with exceptionally good customer service. Needless to say we ate well in Porto. 

View from our restaurant Jimaõ - last night in Porto

Muscatel pannacotta - yum!

An afternoon Sangria 

Jimaõ restaurant with red umbrellas and aqua windows

Our street at night

So that’s it for Portugal and for Europe.

 

Time now to head to the USA and spend time with our son Luke and daughter-in-law Tran. It will be great to see them and sure to be fun.