Wɔatintim: 05.08.2023
After we continued with great experiences from Santiago de Compostela, our next stop was Porto.
As we crossed the border, the joy was immense and even more so when we understood how the toll and our box worked😊. During the 2.5-hour drive, Cindy focused on our campsite and only found negative reviews. I, Steffi, thought it wouldn't be soooo bad. A little bit bad would be okay, it's only 2 nights. And what can I say?! It really wasn't that bad. The sanitary facilities were from around 1980 and not very pleasant. I can't say if it smelled bad. It's really a blessing that I can't smell anything at the moment☺️. Besides, we have our own toilet, which I have to empty constantly because I can't smell anything. Pathetic actually.
It was somehow stupid that there were only 2 amps of electricity. The fridge and phone could be charged. Add kettle, fuse blown. Power completely gone. Just mentioning the word "Electric" at the reception was enough for someone to come and unlock the power box (which was locked upon arrival, a bit strange) and leave it open because the game repeated itself several times and we were able to operate the switch for the fuse ourselves.
The campsite wasn't that great either. No grass, just weird shrubs and they were so long that they pricked. Otherwise, we constantly had cats at our camper van. Many photos were taken (but not by me) because they were sooooooooooo cute and adorable. Cats, you know.
The next day it was drizzling in the morning. According to the weather radar, it should stop at 12 o'clock. Amélie and I wanted to take the bus to Porto and explore the city a bit. We also had a goal, namely McDonald's.
So we left around 12:15 to the bus stop about 200 meters away and the nice lady at the reception said we should take bus number 15. But I didn't even ask when the bus leaves. After 50 minutes and completely soaked, the bus finally arrived. I was almost not in the mood anymore. We got on the bus, bought 2 tickets, hardly sat down and off we went on a wild ride. Holy shit, what a driving style, like a roller coaster. After 25 minutes we arrived at our destination and of course, in the meantime, it was pouring rain and we went up the hill to enjoy the view. Well, the view was so-so. We wanted to go to the city from there via the bridge. It was raining so much that we spontaneously took the metro for 1 station. After that, we were really in the thick of it. Shops everywhere, bought souvenirs, got something for Cindy (why not😜) and then we actually found McDonald's. A little bit of drying off wouldn't hurt. It was very crowded and loud and after a while, we got a seat and also our food.
Afterwards, we went back out into the PORTOnguese rain. Of course, I once again didn't have a jacket, let alone an 🌂 . We saw very beautiful houses, streets, and buildings. We also wanted to go to a specific bookstore that served as inspiration for the Hogwarts staircase in Harry Potter. But we were not the only ones who wanted to go there. To get in, you need a ticket, and the quota for the day was sold out. By the way, it costs 5 € admission. Just to look at a staircase. But of course, for Amélie (and the rest of the family), I would have taken that on and taken beautiful pictures. But unfortunately, it didn't work out.
After walking through the city for 3 hours and through several rain showers, we made our way home again. We quickly found the bus stop and after about 25 minutes of waiting, the bus arrived. What can I say... this driver was driving so fast. Made a full stop (thank god we were sitting), a man flew halfway through the bus, ignored a stop, just stopped somewhere, played with his mobile phone in the narrowest streets. After 30 minutes, we got off and we felt sick. Amélie just said, good thing you don't drive like that.
On the way back, we walked along the beach promenade in the best sunshine and returned to the others and told them about all our impressions and stories (maybe a bit embellished)'
The next morning we continued to Nazare with a stopover in Aveiro (report in the next blog)'