Leixões (Porto)/Portugal

18.7.2024 Porto

I left the ship shortly after 9:00 a.m. and took the paid shuttle bus from Leixões harbor to the center of Porto. The bus took about half an hour. As I left the parking lot, a parking attendant called me "John Wayne" and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. Today I was again wearing full safari gear, including a hat.

After that, I thought about different transportation options. But first I wanted to find the meeting point for my booked tour. I found it, but I was almost three hours early.

I had the Porto TV tower in mind as my destination. I had read which subway station I had to get off at. Conveniently, there was a subway stop right at the meeting point. After I had made friends with a ticket machine, I was able to start my journey with a clear conscience. I drove to the Gaia district and had to walk a bit uphill through the heat until I was almost at the TV tower.

Then a problem arose: The TV tower was on a fenced and guarded site, and the security guard didn't want to let me in. I found out that the tower is only open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. Bad luck!

I traveled back to the meeting point and still had almost an hour to spare. My water bottle was empty and I urgently needed a replacement. I found a drinks machine in the entrance to a parking garage that gave me a bottle of water for very little money. Next to it was a machine with hot drinks. I chose a vanilla latte for 50 cents and was delighted. I would love to have such good coffee on board our ship.

It was time to go to the meeting point for the food tour. At first I only found a friendly redhead there, who, when asked, revealed herself to be tour guide Isabella. An American woman and a couple from England joined us, and then the tour could begin.

Our first stop was the Restorante Conga, where we were each served a "bifana", a pork sandwich, and a dark beer. A good start!

In the "Manteigaria" we were served freshly made "Pastéis de Nata", cream tarts, which I had also enjoyed eating on the two previous days, but not as fresh from the oven as today.

After a short introduction, we entered the "Bolhão Market". First, we were allowed to try "Vinho Verde", green wine, and found out how it got its name. There were also two types of canned fish to taste. Then we had red wine, with cow, sheep and goat cheese. Finally, there was a charcuterie platter with three different types of ham and chorizo sausage. Everything was delicious!

Now Isabella led us into a "secret garden" where we were given fish salad and white wine.

The tour concluded with a visit to a wine shop, where each of us was served a glass of port wine.

Then our friendly group broke up and I hurried to the shuttle bus stop, where I caught one of the last buses.

I didn't need dinner and I didn't feel like going to the concert, so I went to bed.