Our plan for the morning was not too ambitious. The weather is great again today so we are going to walk down to the river and cross to the other side ( going to Gaia not dying). As usual, we stopped for a morning coffee. This routine is very relaxing and quite addictive.
The good weather gets everyone out and walking. There are lots of cafes along the way to get coffees or eat brunch. We were wanting to get into a specific cafe which we had noticed yesterday. We had to wait for about ten minutes to get in. This cafe was very busy and busy still when we walked by hours later on our way home. There are obviously lots of tourists around which is somewhat surprising given it is only early March. June or September must be crazy.
There are lots of high-end shops in Porto. I am not a shopper but, even though there are a lot of name brand stores, my impression is that the goods are high-quality and they seem different (I haven’t seen any cork baseball caps at home). It may be because we have been mainly in tourist areas but things seem well in this part of Europe.
We walked over the bridge to Gaia after coffee. Jesse and Laura went to a Port tasting session in one of the many Port houses. I elected to walk along the river while they did this and settled on a park bench and just soaked up the view of Porto for about half an hour. I noticed on WhatsApp that my brother-in-law, Ingo, who is currently in Puerto Vallarta was awake. So, I video chatted with him from that park bench – amazing (I still remember when Dick Tracey’s two way wrist radio was futuristic) – I realize that I may have to explain this Dick Tracey reference to some of the younger people in my life (i.e. those who don’t know who Marlon Brando was).
The afternoon was low key as well. Our Air B & B is near the Clergos Tower. We ate some street food in the nearby square and then toured the church attached to the tower. It was, like the other churches we have visited very ornate and beautiful. Jesse and Laura walked to the top of the tower while I stayed on the flat ground of the square (claiming to be bothered by an old Vietnam protest injury – I am still wondering whatever happened to my beads).
Our day wound up with some delicious shared tapas in a small nearby restaurant. Because we were eating early in the evening, we had the place to ourselves. The owner was taken by the kids and made a fuss over us, making for a fun evening. The restaurant was called “Just a Bite” . While we were inside, some tourists took a picture of the sign. The owner said that they must be French and that it happens often because of what it means in French (?).
Sorry to say that tomorrow is our last full day in Porto. We drive to Lisbon on Thursday and start our travels home on Friday.