Porto, Portugal

Porto is a wonderful town to spend a few days relaxing. The centre is filled with narrow cobblestone streets, picturesque old buildings and cool little cafes and restaurants. We both loved the train station -- it's my favourite out of all the ones I've seen.

Yesterday we walked around before dinner and couldn't stop taking pictures. You can't take a bad photo here. (The Pope is coming to town on Friday and it's the talk of the town.)

Today we were up at a decent hour to catch the included breakfast at the hotel. The day looked to be sunny, but clouds rolled in just as we were ready to head out for the day. We touristed around in our waterproof jackets for the first hour, and then the rain stopped. Again I couldn't believe how everything you look at is a photo waiting to be taken.

We walked through town to the riverside, stopping in at Igreja de Sao Francisco for a look at the gilded Gothic interior, and the catacombs below (€4). Then we crossed the double decker bridge, Ponte Dom Luis I, (it's in all the pictures of Porto) to Gaia, where all the port houses are located.

We stopped in at three houses: Croft; Wiese & Crown; and Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman. All three included free tastings after the tours. As the guide book says, it's a good way to learn the difference between tawny and ruby ports (the tawny are moved to smaller barrels where they get more exposure to the oak). We spent a few euros and had a vertical tasting at Taylor's. In between had lunch at a riverside cafe, a tasty sandwich of prosciutto, cheese, tomato and fried egg (!?) which hit the spot.

It's a good workout walking about Porto with all the hills and valleys. Right now we're relaxing at the hotel bar (Heather's reading up on where we want to head next). We'll be heading out for dinner shortly.

From 2010 Portugal - favourites