Off to Oporto! Oboy!

Like the song says…we got a ticket to ride! (Beatles-1965). https://youtu.be/SyNt5zm3U_M

And so it begins…

After our trip to Egypt, we couldn’t stay at home for very long. Even though Egypt was a short trip, 15 days, we got an infusion of travel and had to get back on the road. “Where to this time, Mr. Frodo?” This time our journey will be for 7-weeks and back to Europe. First stop on our agenda is Portugal and the second largest city in that country, Porto (or Oporto as it’s spelled here). And yes, we are well aware that winter is coming but that’s all part of the adventure.  Temperatures should be in the mid-60’s with some chance of rain, like this morning when it poured for about 20 minutes!

Our flight this time was one of the best we have ever had. Our Delta Airline flight was actually very comfortable, friendly and pleasant. We chose to fly Comfort Class + because we had a voucher from a previously cancelled flight and only had to pony up $600 a piece for these upgraded seats. Interesting enough, our vouchers were worth $637 each for a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt way back in 2020. Today, that same ticket, for the same timeframe, costs ~$1300.00. You could say we didn’t save any money with the voucher but the extra space, boarding early and dedicated overhead storage worked out great. I only hope that the Misses doesn’t become accustomed to this level of service. Bulk economy will never be allowed again!

OK, so what about Porto and more importantly, why? As I said, Porto is the second largest city in Portugal. Lisbon (Lisboa) is the largest city in Portugal with approximately 550,000 locals, and is the county’s capitol. Porto, or Oporto, has about 292,000 residents that call it home and is known for … wait for it… YES! Wine!!! Well, port wine to be exact, but it’s still wine! Now you know the “why”. It’s also known for its location which is on the Douro River (the wine region) and the Atlantic coast. What a perfect combo, wine and a wine region, who would have thunk it!

So, back in the beginning, this area was possibly a Phoenician trade settlement given archeological remains found in the area of the Douro river delta. That was sometime around 8^th century BC. During the Roman occupation, Porto was an important trade port primarily between Lisboa (Lisbon) and Braga. Once the Moors heard about this cool seaport, they decided to conquer it. That was in 711AD. Not to be outdone, the Christians reconquered the city and port in 868.

And so it goes, until 1387 when Portugal and England signed a military treaty because John I of Portugal married Philippa (Huh?) of Lancaster. Today this is the longest standing military alliance ever recorded. I’m sure there have been others, but those are only secret handshakes or pinky-swears.

Fast forward to 1996, UNESCO makes Porto a World Heritage site and sets the stage for mass tourism to this hilly, tiny city. Each year hundreds of cruise ships stop here and puke out their 1500-2000 passengers to descend on the cobble streets all for a taste of pateis de nata, a francesinha sandwich, and a glass of port. The things people do for money.

Ah yes, cruisers.

View from the vista

But our adventure here starts with our Uber ride from Fracisco Sa Carneiro airport to our home-away-from-home in downtown Porto. Juaqine spoke no English, we speak no Portuguese, maybe a little Spanish but not enough to carry on a conversation so the ride was fairly quiet and uneventful. Once at the apartment, Luis and his wife met us at the door and took our luggage. Since we were 3 hours early for check in, they were kind enough to store our bags in their car. Off we went to see the city and get something to eat.

Azulejos tile

Lunch was a wonderful charcuterie board and a cheeseburger with two glasses of white and red wine. After 10 hours of flying at sitting, perfect! The place was packed. Apparently one of those hundred cruise ships I mentioned earlier was in town. Hordes of people following orange umbrellas, poles with tassels and people dressed in red jackets went every direction possible, some stopping every few feet to hear how the buildings in front of them were built by people the never heard of. All for a mere $80.00US each!

Assorted meats & cheeses

Douro Valley wine

After lunch we made a stop at the local quickie mart for a few groceries and a couple of bottles of wine. The old bod was rapidly running out of steam and needed to get back to the apartment and call it a day. So back at the apartment we discovered that Luis and his wife weren’t associated with the apartment we rented and now our bags and coats were somewhere in Portugal or possibly Spain. Wouldn’t you expect the police to speak English?

Just kidding, but it sounded better than we checked into the apartment, watched Deadpool and fell asleep.

Our apartment (from our patio, doors open)

Our Patio

View from patio

Bath, complete with American size shower and a window into the kitchen

Kitchen (open concept)

Living room. Yes, that’s a barber chair

So, tomorrow we’re off to do a little exploring. Looks like a bit of rain in the morning but sunny in the afternoon so no rush. Till then amigas, te pego mais tarde.