Day 70: Porto - Day 1 - Grampies Iberian Inquisition Spring 2023

May 10, 2023

Day 70: Porto - Day 1

Classic Cycleblaze Meetup

We had eaten all the snacks in our bag during the long slog on the boardwalks and through the city, and were really starving when we arrived at our Guesthouse yesterday. The Guesthouse has a not too bad though limited restaurant, but it was not operating on a Tuesday evening. Go figure. I asked a young staffer about another restaurant, and she casually said that just down the street and to the right there were lots of them, with pizza and all manner of other delicacies. Ok, I got delegated to go quickly off and find some food.

When you are young, have not just slogged 79 km over wood, sand, and pavers, and are familiar with the area, "just down the street" can cover quite a bit of distance. In this case, ok, it was not more than 1/2 km return - but it sure felt like more!

I found a restaurant that had pizza, and that would also make takeout on some other dishes. I chose Lasagna, knowing that Dodie likes that a lot. It took a long time to prepare the two items, and I was sure Dodie would be long asleep by the time I got back. The long walk had been really too much, and she had barely dragged herself up the stairs to our room. She is thinking those titanium knees are beginning to wear out.

Amazingly, Dodie was still awake when I arrived back with our takeout. It has been a bit disconcerting, how small the lasagna container was, and how small the pizza box was. I was uncharacteristically too starving to take some pictures, so how to describe this. The lasagna was bathed in some kind of slimy white sauce, had ultra soggy noodles, and a weird tasting red sauce. The pizza was small within its already small box. I had made the error of ordering the "four cheese". I should know from France that when you give a European restaurant license to choose a cheese you are taking a risk. I mean, do not order a "cheeseburger" in France. With four degrees of freedom on cheese here, the restaurant had come up with something almost inedible. As you see from the photo, I did almost eat it, but then felt ill. We are not saying that there is a problem with Portuguese cuisine, but we would say that you can not automatically assume that something (including all pastries) will be great, just because this is Europe.

Today was our day to pack the bikes back into the bike boxes we had so carefully planned to have on hand. It worked out well. The boxes were waiting in the garage where we had stowed them, and (after a while) I remembered that the Guesthouse had put our duffel bag and a bunch of other critical packing supplies in a big cupboard behind reception. Before that, I had spent some time forlornly looking for the stuff in the bike boxes. With the help of our "cheat sheet", where we list what gets packed where to go on the airplane (a sheet that I had cleverly stowed in the wrong place), Dodie got all the stuff organized and bikes into their boxes ready to go. This included such Bike Friday miracles as the pedals not being frozen on, and the famous rusting steering tube fitting coming apart without complaint. Scott had once had to get a heavy duty mechanic to bust the thing out.

We also found a way out of a real problem thrown to us by the airline Westjet. They cancelled the flight that would have put us back at Victoria airport by mid-day, and instead would dump us out there (71 km from home), with disassembled bikes in boxes, at midnight. Our friend Erika Paxman stepped in on this one, and will come out with her van on a rescue mission at midnight! Thanks Erika!

From our place on the edge of the old town, to the old town, and down to the river.

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We walked out to meet up with Brent Irvine, the Cycleblazer who had been our original inspiration to come to Portugal. Brent has made at least two previous trips here, and we were lucky enough to catch him not only in the country, but in Porto, for just a few days.

Our first steps of course were in our own street. It's in kind of a transition zone, not ugly buildings but not gorgeous either. We soon turned the corner, and then with every step the Porto we had come to love asserted itself more.

Soon, a nice park with nice surrounding buildings.

Here is one of our favourite streets, with lots of souvenir shops.

Ok, we are back in the dream of Porto, with all the tourist illusions we love so much.

In old Porto, the people can relax, amid old olive trees.

More Porto. Brace yourselves, tomorrow we will go our for a more in depth look (at the same darn stuff).

Just below the train station, these streets are a tourist favourite.

Here is the station, where we had arranged to meet Brent.

The station is famous for its blue tile murals.

Brent had no trouble identifying the yellow Grampies in the station. It was wonderful to meet him in person.

We went down into those streets below the station and quickly chose a restaurant. It was a lucky shot, as the food was very excellent.

After a nice long chat in the restaurant, the three of us strolled down hill to the river. In this part of Porto, there is a photo op at every turn.

Here is the famous Eiffel designed bridge over the Douro.

We stood at this corner by the river for some time, continuing our chat. It was so very pleasant to be there with Brent, and with the good natured crowd enjoying the same sights that we were.

Eventually we said farewell, and strolled back through the darkening town to the elegant, high ceilinged room we have ere at the Gallery Townhouse,

Tomorrow we are planning an unprecedented late start with an 8 o'clock wake up. We will follow with another stroll through the old town. It will be a gentle last day in Portugal.

Remember to tune in tomorrow for Porto II, followed by the action packed return to Montreal and then Victoria in the following days!

Today's ride: 7 km (4 miles)
Total: 2,930 km (1,820 miles)

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