OPO - LGW

Over the past five days I had more than my share of bacalhau, coffee, pastéis de nata, and wine. Back to London for some detox.

Photos of Portugal are coming soon...

Porto

After two days in Portugal it was time to head into the heart of Porto, Portugal's second city and home of countless wineries dedicated to producing port wine (this is the only part of the world where port is made)

Porto didn't strike me as a very big place when we walked out of the train station. It was a beautiful view though: narrow brick paved streets stretching all the way to the river Douro, on both sides a single wall of very old Portuguese style buildings which didn't leave much room for the sunlight to come through, giving the city an almost medieval look.

As soon as we stepped on to the city's brick streets we headed for the Porto Cathedral, atop of a hill and seen from most parts of the city centre. What from outside looked like a castle actually housed the cathedral and a museum of sorts which had very few but interesting things on display, including samples of ancient hand painted tiles, and a reproduction of two pages of the first book ever printed in Porto, in the early 1400s. It was ancient Portuguese and I was struggling to even read the first line.

We didn't linger for too long in there as it was very cold and most of us (apart from Isabel!) were very unprepared for it. So we headed out into the sun towards the river for a Portuguese latte (meia de leite)

Beautiful view from down there -- it is definitely the image of Porto that I will take with me. All the charming old houses are very colourful and well looked after, and there are lots of cafés and restaurants where you can relax and enjoy the view while having a cup of coffee or some bacalhau à moda da casa. The whole area along the river's edge is kind of touristy but still nice.

Along the opposite edge of the river sit all the main caves (or wine caves) where later that afternoon we went on a wine tour and tasted a couple of varieties of port (the tour/tasting costs €3.50 which you can discount off the price of one wine bottle at the end -- should you choose to buy one). All the grapes and most of the port is actually produced elsewhere, upstream the Douro, but all the main wineries keep cellars and shops in the city centre where they are conveniently within reach of the tourists's pockets.

We then took a bus tour around the city which was okay but a bit too rushed for me. I need time to walk around the buildings, look at the shops, people walking by, and take photos. But I went back to most of the same locations the following day when I was by myself and could take my time.

Halfway through the bus tour we stopped at the beach for a delicious lunch by the sea (I had bacalhau, of course), then back to the city centre for the wine tour, and straight home to warm up!

The thing that struck me most about Porto though were the hand painted and patterned tiles which are everywhere and give the city a beautiful, uniquely colourful look. But apart from the more touristy areas, the buildings are very poorly looked after. Many look or are abandoned, with broken doors/windows, and I was shocked to see that people still lived in them.

Paredes

Paredes is a town about 30 minutes east of Porto. It's a very quiet, cute little town with a couple of busier streets, a main square and a church which at night is beautifully lit up. It reminds me of countryside Brazil.

We spent Christmas with Isabel's family here. On Christmas Eve we had a lavish meal of potatoes, bacalhau (cod) and vinho verde (green wine), followed by about eight different kinds of cakes, some port wine, and finally coffee: a single shot, black, with sugar, served in a tiny cup. Just as it should be.

After opening the presents (as in Brazil, this is done on Christmas Eve, not Christmas day) and chatting for a bit over a few more drinks, we went to bed and had a good night sleep.

The next day I woke up very early and instead of sitting around waiting for everyone else to wake up, I decided to go on a short stroll to get acquainted with the surroundings.

As expected, before 8 a.m. on Christmas day the town was deserted. It was a frosty morning and the air was very crisp but the low morning sun made it a perfect morning to walk around. I walked past a couple of older men making their way to the Christmas service and decided to follow them into town, across the bridge over the train station.

What I saw on the way made me forget I was in Portugal, taking me straight home: the cafés with people sitting at the bar, the tiny shops with familiar names, the old folk saying hello as they passed by, the quaint houses decorated with patterned tiles, the architecture, the narrow brick paved streets.

Despite feeling at home, me and my big old camera certainly didn't belong there. At one stage this old lady walking past asked me why I was photographing the houses, particularly the abandoned/neglected ones! Somehow I thought she wouldn't quite comprehend, or care for, my obsession with urban decay so I just told her I was a tourist which seemed to have been a good enough reason as she went back to her business and let me be.

LGW - OPO

After a quick and painless train ride from Brentford train station to Gatwick Airport, Grazi and I went straight to the TAP check-in counter to get rid of our heavy bags. Much to our surprise, the lady told us we were flying business class!!

Whether it was a mistake when booking the tickets, or they just decided to bump us up because we are such nice people, the fact is that we are now sitting in the business class lounge waiting to board. It's kind of average, really. (had this happened in Heathrow's new terminal 5, or somewhere like Singapore, I am sure we would have been much better off) But we do get free food so I'm not complaining.

Yes, yes, I know I have barely arrived in the UK and I'm already flying out. But it's Christmas! And our friend Isabel has kindly invited us to spend Christmas in Portugal with her family.

So we're heading to Porto (where the port wine comes from!) for five days of sightseeing and gorging ourselves on delicious Portuguese wine and food. Can't wait!

FLN - GRU - LHR

Time to start again. I am no longer in limbo. I've been at the São Paulo airport for hours and the flight to my new home departs in about an hour. I am excited and anxious at the same time.

But it's the journey that counts, not the destination. And so far the journey has been a hell of a lot of fun.

 

"If we do not find anything pleasant, at least we shall find something new" -- Voltaire