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It was with some excitement that we woke up early and went to work on Friday 25 May.
The sound of the luggage bag wheels rattling over the street pavement was music to our ears and it brought a smile to our face in the knowledge that we would leave work early, at 3.30pm, and head straight to Stanstead airport to fly to Porto that afternoon.

Porto is not a place we knew an awful lot about- I, like always, can associate major European cities with their futbol team and the Uruguayan or Australian player who happens to play there (this time its Fucile!)- But other than that we knew nothing about the place and our expectation was much the same!

We arrived in Porto after a 2 hour flight at 10.30pm this is usually not an ideal time to arrive in a city you have never been to- however, the Portuguese people are so friendly and helpful. A few questions in Spanish and a bit of arm waving & hand gestures got us to our hotel without any major dramas on this occasion!

Much to our surprise the hotel we booked through a website was the Hotel Grande Hotel do Porto designed by the Architect Silva Sardina. The hotel was opened in 1880. It is the oldest and still operating hotel in Porto and as its name suggests it is very grand!

The next day- after an early breakfast in the grand dining room we made our way to discover the town. We left at 8.00am straight for the centre of town to look for a city tour bus to show us all the sites quickly- the only way to glance at al the major sites without getting tired!

The centre of the city contains a historic centre- Ribeira, which is a UNESCO world heritage area. Ribeira looks historic- the buildings are rather dilapidated, unpainted, screens seem to dangle over the streets and the balcony a bit "rackety"- BUT it is so charming!

Amongst the highlights in the historic centre was the Oporto Cathedral was completed in the 13th Century. The building is breathtaking inside with a magnificent silver altarpiece built in the second half of the 17th century by Portuguese artists. Substantial in size!

The charm of the town I think lies in the fact that all major/ significant buildings have their own discrete courtyard with trees and pebbled floors, all the cathedrals have facades covered in mosaic or ceramic tiles, the public spaces are used a lot particularly by the elderly, the people are really friendly, the historical and modern architecture is quite interesting and the port city has a series of bridges (6) that cross the river Duoro to Vila Nova de Gaia making it a feast for the eyes.

It was precisely at one of the Port Wine cellars, Calem that we decided to get off the bus after touring for 3.5 hours and quench our thirst. The cellar also worked as a 'museum' of sorts as many of these places do- we were just playing the keen tourist eager for information- so we could enter the tasting barn to try the varieties of Port. There were more than 20 varieties of Port- after trying 4 they all taste the same to me- overly sweet and I could sense a headache coming along so we stopped at 6 tastes-

The rest of that afternoon was spent walking along the riverfront and crossing bridges in an effort to wear away our headache! The river has many pretty corners and lots of views to the surrounding areas with locals making use of the riverfront. On the river are replica boats, barcos rabelos (flat sailing vessels) used to export the port wine in the 13th century!

After relaxing and taking in some sun rays we headed back into the centre of town for dinner in a local tapas bar- we had a nice dinner and left to go to the hotel for a much needed rest. On our way home we saw a blind man leading his blind wife straight into some construction hoarding measuring 2.5 meters high! Yes he was completely blind! It was the blind leading the blind! I have an awful guilt writing about this- however to clear my conscience- I did grab his arm and the three of us went on our merry way down the road to safety where he said he would be able to find his way home from there!

Next day we went to Serralves Museum- an architectural masterpiece by Alvaro Siza a famous Portuguese architect. Cris: I know I'm the last person that should be commenting on buildings, but I have to say this guy has created some interesting spaces inside, so much so I was more interested in the building than the exhibits at this particular museum and the 'outside gardens' were also a pleasure to walk on! - (I can't believe I’m really taking the 'time' to write about buildings).

Later that afternoon, we managed to fit a 'little' shopping in.. Yeahey! And we returned with a few bags, may I add Adrian returned with more bags than me! As I seem to appreciate buildings more - he seems to be appreciate shopping more! ha ha.

By the time we had a little rest, it was time for dinner, we went down to our 'trusty' concierge, who talked us into having dinner at the hotel, Adrian thought he had the best fish in his life - ever! I find that very hard to believe... especially since my pork wasn't that crash hot, and then he reckons that his dessert was soooo good, again I found it hard to believe since it was a quarter of the size of my dessert, and I'm sure I've had better desserts at Adrian's mum's : ) The dinning room was really impressive, it was a grand hall and it felt like we were in an old movie scene - until we got the bill - yikes!

To assist in the digestion of our feast we decided to walk twenty minutes down to river - we were convinced we would get a great shot of Porto with hundred of lights from across the river, so across the bridge we went... what we hadn't thought of was that this was an old town and that it's not like London or Paris where there are thousand of lights, so when we got across the river there was some lights, but mostly darkness beyond! ha ha. The walk was nevertheless relaxing and it just emphasised how much we liked this place and how it will be in our memory for years to come!

Muito obrigado Porto!!!

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