Porto is very cool

Intercity trains in Portugal aren't wrapped in security like Spain. You just go to the platform and board the train.

As we pulled into Porto, one of my few memories of a previous visit came as we crossed high above the Douro river looking down across the city. We briefly tried to be old school back packers and transfer to our accommodation via the metro but the Wise cards didn't seem to validate at the payment gates. Bolt was way easier. Antonio drove us to our hotel for 5 Euros. The hotel is four star which is over the top for us.

Anyway, Porto is somehow just cool. We spent our first morning catching up on our washing and then walked for hours visiting the must sees.

Various vantage points look out over the old part of town 


A much photographed railway station foyer

Tiling on the churches is nice.

The 76 metre tower on this church is on the list of things to climb.


The food offerings are overwhelming. We're developing a pattern of moving away from the busy areas to find something slightly calmer. You don't need to look too hard.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

30 years and counting ..

It's been thirty years now since Vicki and I went for an offshore adventure like the one we are about to embark on. We thought we could share our experiences (good and bad) using this platform. We came to this decision following our trip to the book shop and deciding 1B5 was just...  Bags have been packed, weighed and re-packed and all contents are now "fully committed to" as we leave first thing on 4 March 2025 a.k.a tomorrow. Kieran
Read more

Singapore

Our day started just after 5:00 am. Singapore wasn't quite ready for us.  After breakfast we took our big bags to the airport and left them with the storage service. This gave us 14 hours until our flight (54 holes of golf?). We visited China town, had lunch, walked around Gardens by the Bay (in the rain), walked around the city (not in the rain) and eventually back to the airport. Singapore excels at food, shopping, tall buildings and public transport. We would definitely visit again. The locals are pretty relaxed and welcoming. It feels clean, safe, modern and a bit not-modern. Our hotel was in the Geylang area which felt non-touristic. Street markets sold cheaper everything and push bikes ruled the pavement. Fail 1. Our Wise card refused to tag off at one of the stations. The attendant just opened the gate for us as he quickly pegged us as non-locals. He said Wise cards had previous on their network. An unsolved mystery.
Read more

Alhambra

Image
Boarding our train in Madrid was more straightforward than Barcelona but not without it's challenges. Trains leave from three different platform levels. The information desk solved this problem for us. We arrived to rain in Granada but stuck to our backpacking and walked to the hotel. The receptionist was an ex-pat American and was very helpful in solving our planning oversight. We hadn't booked Alhambra. The no. 2 visitor hotspot in Spain apparently, just behind Sagrada Familia. I'd looked while we were in Madrid and the only online tickets were well after we left Granada. Anyway, the current pattern is that they periodically drop tickets. We were advised to check at 12:00am, much like booking a rock concert. I randomly checked for today and tickets had been released so we jumped on them.  My lasting memory from visiting Granada nearly 40 years ago with Kay and Sharon was that I wanted to visit again. Walking to and through the Alhambra did seem familiar. Our visit has bee...
Read more