Sunday was a rainy day. I would sing, “rain, rain go away; come again another day” but it is nice to have a rainy day to be lazy. Steve is always the 1st to rise, and journeyed out in the rain to buy coffee after he and I concluded that the pods in the house did not fit in the Nespresso and there was a coffeemaker but no coffee. He did not find coffee at first then found a local cafe and brought back some lattes and brioche croissants. I gotta say, I have NEVER had a better croissant. Super soft and buttery with a hint of brushed sugar water. Oh my! Ashok, if I could bring you one back – I would!

Jesse, Steve and I spend a good hour chatting in the kitchen while drinking coffee and tea and I enjoyed my croissant – yummmmm. 😋 Then we all took the rest of the morning doing our own thing: Jen slept, Steve walked the neighborhood and found coffee (thank you!), Jesse worked, and I blogged yesterday’s events.

By noon everyone was hungry so we headed to Art Pizza 550 meters from the apartment. It was a tiny shop with only two tables squeezed in the corner but we made it work. We saw yet another, cool graffiti art on the way to/from the pizza shop.

BTW: May 5th is Mother’s Day here in Portugal so well wishes to all the moms out there reading this post.

Back at the house after lunch, we all dispersed to nap, work, or blog. I’ll let you guess who did what -:). After an hour or two of rest, Steve, Jesse and I went out to explore Porto while Jen took some time to catch up on work. Be prepared for all the photos – Porto is amazing! Seriously, I thought all the architecture and alleyways in Lisbon and Lagos was cool but they have nothing on Porto. This city is just enchanting and the views from each alleyway are just incredible.

Beautiful Architecture

sick Candy Store, Beer Labels & Art

Cool Streets, alleyways & stairways

pretty plazas

ridiculous views

We met Jen for dinner partway back to our apartment at VietView. An authentic Vietnamese restaurant that had many comfort dishes that perfectly matched the weather and was cozy. We ordered a bunch of dishes: apps, veggies, fried rice and noodles and ate family style followed up by some really tasty deserts with Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese coffee is percolated with a layer of condensed milk at the bottom that you mix once ready. It is served either hot or iced. It is dark and sweet and tastes more like mocha. To me it was interesting but not my type of coffee, but Jesse really enjoyed it. Maybe he is becoming a coffee drinker. 🤔

After dinner we walked the 0.6 miles home checking out the architecture and night views. The city is pretty well lit up and quiet. It is not a rowdy city and feels very safe. It is a good thing we walked because we were stuffed. Dessert took us over the edge and before we knew it was 10 PM. Off to bed as we have an early start to do the car shuffle, tour the Douro Valley and taste some wine (Jen & Savitri). It was a rainy but fantastic day in Porto.