May 13 - Day 2

We slept through the night with a couple of minor wakeups, thanks to our friend Ativan. Felt almost normal when we got out of bed. Showered and headed downstairs for the hotel breakfast. The food was really very good and the coffee was good too, even though it was a machine making the latte.

We boarded the bus at 855 and started our tour of Porto. Much of this city is under construction and traffic was pretty intense. But we made our way through the city with our tour director explaining the sights as we went. Porto is a charming city shouldered by both the Douro River and the Atlantic Ocean. The buildings along the water are all different colors and their are multiple magnificent bridges. The weather was not beautiful; it was cloudy with occasional rain but we made the best of it.

After touring the perimeter of the city on the bus, we stopped at the train station. The station is a work of art with tiles on all the walls telling stories of the times. And of course, it is an active train station with trains coming and going. 

After the train station, we went to the Stock Exchange Palace, a place where the merchants of Porto conducted business. We were told multiple times that Porto was not a place of royal people, but rather a place of merchants, and the money made was earned, not inherited. What an incredible place. The tour director took us through explaining the history and significance of each room. There was one room where everything was covered in real gold. Many kilograms of gold were used in the room. Rather stunning in so many ways. 

After our tour, we returned to the hotel. Barbara had an excursion for the afternoon. Matt and I laid down for a few minutes and then headed out to the marketplace for a very authentic Portuguese lunch - the Francesinha sandwich. We shared this amazing sandwich filled with different meats and covered with cheese and gravy. It was really good but I don't think I need to eat it twice. 

After lunch, we headed out and walked back into the historic center, just enjoying all the sights of Porto. It was really raining by now and we were glad we had our umbrella. Lots of steps later, we headed back and took another very short nap. Jet lag  was roaring its head although we were doing decently well. 

We planned to eat dinner with Barbara at a restaurant close to our hotel but dinner didn't start until 7:30 pm. We had time to kill so back out to do more walking. Oye vay. I'm cold and tired. Really tired. I was feeling so cold by now that Matt gave me his jacket. We walked around this huge traffic circle that had a monument in the middle of it commemorating the Heroes of the Peninsular War and the English who helped win the war for the Portuguese.

Finally had dinner. We all got the traditional cod dinner in Portugal recommended by our tour guide - Bacalhau. It was delicious. Matt and I shared and it was plenty.  We had intended to share cabbage soup as well but something got lost in the translation and it never arrived. But we didn't need it. We ended dinner with another unique Portuguese dessert which was cake with cookie cream and coffee flavor. Very good. I have completely fallen off the wagon. Well, maybe not completely but I have at least one leg off the wagon. I'm enjoying myself.

Oh and we finally got to go to bed. We are ready! Walked over 16,000 steps today. It was a wonderful day. I'm admittedly disappointed about this cold weather but trying to stop thinking about it, not easy for me.