Wednesday was our last full day in Porto.. and we were very sad to say goodbye “see you later” to that beautiful city.. and to Steve & Jen who drove south the same day! It has been great exploring together. As Jen noted, we walked over ten miles over the course of a few days just while being touristy and going to restaurants. Those are ten+ miles way up and way down too- Porto is very hilly! Ok on with the story of our day..

We started the day with a legit breakfast, something we often skip and just stuff our faces with coffee and pastries (I am a chocolate croissant addict, as we should all be). We went to Trevo, right across the street from where we were staying. We of course still got pastries (we’re not monsters!), the same special brioche type common in that neighborhood. We also got the ubiquitous fresh-squeezed orange juice, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, an impressive parfait, bread and coffee. We knew we needed walking fuel.

We all headed toward Centro Historico, the translation of which I will leave to you. Like any planned route through a vibrant social city, we meandered in and out of shops, crowds, and shadows (it was HOT!). As always, we were constantly drawn to street art.

We decided to go to Livraria Lello (warning, the home page has a loud soundtrack..), a famously beautiful book store (if they may say so themselves). My two cents.. it IS beautiful. It is filled with cool books. It is.. likely not worth buying tickets and waiting in a long line to pack in like sardines to buy over-priced books you could buy anywhere. Maybe it’s juts one of those experiences if you’re a big book lover and we DID go, but man.. I hate over-touristy cash-grabs!

We walked by but chose not to climb the Clérigos Tower, because it was a time-consuming diversion, they charge you, and we have had no problem finding views from heights. No regrets!

At this point Steve & Jesse and Savitri & Jen split up for the afternoon. Savitri and Jen went to a Port and Chocolate tasting at Chocolataria Equador.

Jen & Savitri Tasting Experience

The ports were paired with a chocolate nib palate cleanser, a truffle specifically paired with each port to bring out the flavors of each and some chocolate finishers. Each port was tasty but very different. I see why they are paired but the truffles – Y U M! Interestingly enough, I liked the Extra Dry White & LBV Port most but Jen liked the 10 Year Tawny (middle).

Jen wanted to ship Port home for gifts but turns out that Portugal does not ship alcohol outside of the country – period! We checked with DHL. Only vendors can get a special license to ship direct. The only other option is hand carry via checked luggage. You can get port at airport duty free but you will not find this port there – a shame. Since they don’t ship port and it is just as easy to order and ship the truffles free and direct home – that is what I am doing.

After the tasting we made the trek back home and uphill in the heat! Boy, we were cooked once we arrived at the apartment so we agreed to crack open the chilled, white from Sapaterio Winery after we nice cool showers – ah refreshing … the shower then the wine.

Jesse & Steve’s Adventure

Meanwhile, Steve and Jesse went down to the waterfront. Here’s Jesse’s next several hours..

The northern side of the river, despite having the majority of the city above it, has a shorter active waterfront area. The southern side (that we had visited earlier in the week) is bustling all along it, including the gondola ride to the top of the hill and numerous snack trucks/stands. The northern side has boat rides and a long line of white tent vendors but somehow seemed less inviting to me. Anyway.. we kind of felt we had seen it all already and I needed to get back to our rental house to prepare for badminton so we took a couple pictures and turned to head back up the hill.

Every Porto walk is a hill walk. I love that, but you have to be aware of the topography because even on the big hills that are most of Porto.. there are smaller hills. Some streets (as in Lisbon btw) are so steep that walking on the slick cobblestones with the wrong shoes can be dangerous. Steve and I surveyed the various routes up (streets, stairs, metro, tuk-tuk, funicular, etc), and decided to walk up a mostly-stairs route by the Dom Luis I Bridge. To get to the stairs was itself a maze and Steve suggested heading into what appeared to be a large restaurant. Lo and behold, the passage continued farther.. connecting to another business.. then a tunnel, then some stairs, then a cafe, etc etc.. all with very limited sight of the sky above. All VERY cool!

We ended up coming out next to the Porto Cathedral.

We then ducked into the São Bento station that Savitri and I had visited before, then continued up the hill to our house. We were getting to know the streets somewhat at that point, and could walk nearly as fast as we could find and take a metro. Plus, exercise!

We were at the house for a few minutes while I dressed and collected by racquet and shoes for badminton. I had found a club (Invicta Badminton) before and exchanged WhatsApp messages with them to confirm the location and time to play. I had not figured out what level of play they were.. elementary school? Olympic?

Steve was nice enough to join me on the ~25 minute metro ride to the Via Rápida stop to the northwest, then a quick walk to the OportoIndoor Games facility (a multi-sport, double futsal field in a warehouse).

There we met Jorge Azevedo, a very kind and welcoming man. He guided me to the court, encouraged me to do warm-up drills with the ~20 accumulating players, and paired us up.

I played with several players and it turns out the skill level really did range from entry-level to Olympic hopefuls. Jorge himself is a former national singles and doubles champion! I ended our two hour session playing with the best players and having a blast, although the facility is pretty sketchy (faded/absent lines, old plastic and feather shuttles, low net ceilings, bad lighting, and.. I think the courts were even a little wide). I was really impressed at the higher skill levels there though!

At this point I was thoroughly sweaty and starting to feel the effects of a day of stair climbing followed by two hours of intense burst exercise after over a month of mostly flat walks and over-eating.. it’s a great feeling. Steve and I walked back from the nearest metro hub instead of going to the one next to the house. We met Savitri and Jen at the house and ordered Napalese delivery from TAB – Take a Break for dinner. We were apparently so hungry and/or dazed at that point that none of us remembered to take pictures of the meal. Granted it was a table heaped with delivery containers and paper bags so.. maybe that’s for the best. Besides, it was really nice to huddle around the table and catch up on each groups adventures. A day lived well!