Crinkly's Portugal trip day 8: Porto beach and final day of trip with overview (2/16-17/19)

We wake up early to get a early lunch at a nearby place that is known to have a great local delicacy, tripe stew so we go to a place nearby the hostel on our way to the train station as the buses to the coast pick up from right around there. Stew was tasty and in a place that was a little fancy for what I was expecting but delicious none the less. Then we head over and grab the bus to go see the coast. Sit up on the second level to get some good views as we head down that way. The beach is warm and sunny and beautiful. We check out the beach near the light house and the fort where the waves were crashing hard. The sand itself was mostly shells which was really pretty. After chilling on the beach a little bit, we go up the coast and stop at English beach to have some drinks and a bite to eat. Then realize we need to start heading back. Catch the bus and go back to hostel then get to the train station to go to Campanha where we then get on our train to Lisbon. Get into Lisbon late and check into our hostel near the airport and get showered as I have an early flight out. I wake up early, pack my bag up, and then walk the 30 or so minutes to the airport while it is still really dark out. Get in to the airport, check in and head on home.

Dont know how we missed this church the first day we left our hostel but it was right down the street. Amazing art all over the place.

Crinkly enjoying some beach time

Crinkly watching the water come in.

Crinkly wanted to climb the lighthouse. 

Waves were crashing against this landing hard. Crinkly watching said waves creating huge splashes.

Crinkly appreciating water from a distance.

Crinkly enjoying some beach time letting the waves come in.

Beach being full of round stones instead of sand like what I am used to was both really cool to walk on and way more beautiful

The fort right by the coast

Cool looking building

Enjoying the last sunset from the train heading south.

Summary:

I had been wanting to go to Portugal for a while and glad I finally got this chance. It is a fantastic country full of great people and amazing sights, this is saying a lot as I didnt hit any of the southern spots more known for their beach/surfing life and places like that. Below are the high/low points

Good:
1) Food was delicious everywhere. Wish I had a second stomache to try out more items/places.
2) Art, including the tiles that adorn buildings everywhere, is beautiful. granted they are mostly blue which I am partial to but even then, beautiful views are everywhere.
3) Hilly cities make for some nice walks/workouts but also allow for views upon views upon views which is always nice to turn a corner and the city opens up in front of you.
4) All 4 cities we visited had their own vibe/appeal/beauty to them and glad we got a great mix of locales to experience

Bad:
1) Streets, saw this especially in Lisbon, are so devoid of green space that the dogs have to crap where everyone walks which detracted from the amazing alleys/walk ways
2) No drinking in the soccer stadium. granted I think I understand this based on things I have seen in other stadiums but yeah was not expected.

I look forward to returning one day and spending some more time touring around, while also spending some time in the south to check out some of hte places I missed this time around.

Crinkly's Portugal trip day 7: Exploring Porto (2/15/19)

The plan today is to walk around Porto and explore as we make our way down to the waterfront in time to hopefully catch one of the port tastings in the caves along the waterway. So we head out and start our walk eventually stopping at Cafe Moustache for a breakfast and some coffee.

Soooo blue! <3 Beautiful church.

The inside of the church having some visitors, stunning inside as it is out.

Crinkly checking out some of the older architecture. 

Such a beautiful day for Crinkly to explore such a lovely city

Crinkly enjoying the artwork brought upon the different colors/styles of tiles

Another beautifully tiles building we came across.

Found a belgian beer bar as we walked around. Crinkly misses his delicious friends.

Crinkly getting some refreshments with us at the Moustache.

We continue to walk around and check out some of the beautiful buildings on our walk and then come upon the book store that inspired the Harry Potter staircases in the castle (the livraria lello). Steph loves books so she goes and waits in a line to buy the ticket to enter then a line to enter the book store. I spend the time walking around the are checking out some alleys and just wondering around until she finishes up and joins me down the path.

Found another large blue tiled church. These beauts are everywhere.

Vuew of the whole church from a nearby square

Close up view of the church

Crinkly enjoying this tall lookout tower

Crinkly led us to this sign so we could prove we werent in Houston.

Museum near the Porto sign

Found this lil cafe with beautiful tile work. 

Another blue building. Crinkly was impressed with the sheer number of these buildings and trust me, you are only seeing a fraction of them

Rainbow house!

Ceiling in the book store

view from the first floor in the book store

Some cool little light fixtures lighting the balcony

Old school cash register

Apparently there are tons of book/HP fans

Really cool looking staircase

Beautiful skylight

Creepy street art

Panorama view from an outlook we found walking around.

View of the way we will be walking very soon.

Saw these lil symbols a few times. Think they signify common places to take dates as it was outside the viewing we were looking out over the city

Crinkly enjoying the view before we head out

Crinkly enjoying the view of the water

Apparently Porto has let their voice be heard on the pineapple pizza debate. Saw a few of these installments on the walk

Cool tile work on this building

As we continue our walk, we find the Sao Bento train station which is known for all its tiled artwork which was an impressive sight indeed. We then keep walking down towards the river and come across this contemporary building that hosts the Urban Market, which was filled with all different types of art and items people were selling as well as a little cafe and what not so we explore the beautiful building before heading on down and stop at Tram near the coast for some drinks.

Flower power? Power Flower? Los dos?

One side of the train station

Some of the pictures in the station made of tiles

Crinkly enjoying the larger murals made of all tiles

Came upon this huge church as we were making our way down the hill

Crinkly admiring the stone work of the tour entrance for the church

Postcard worthy right there. 

Crinkly again stopping to take in the view

Crinkly looking back to where we just came from. Oh look bird!

Top of a church that was at the foot of the back stairs for the big church we just were looking at. 

Crinkly loves markets lets check it out

View onto the quad from the entrance of the urban market

Main hall of the market. Love the roof and layout of this place, as does Crinkly.

So much natural sunlight.

Crinkly wanted some pics with the beautiful tulips in the quad.

Crinkly enjoying the soothing view

Close up of some pretty flowers

Crinkly looking back on the market as we move on.

Little blue church across the street from the market.

They had some craft beers and I wanted to try them but I didnt like the ones I tried too much then come to find out the craft beers they have are a craft arm of one of the main breweries in the country so then wasnt too surprised. After enjoying the break and refreshments, we walk along the water and across the bridge and go into the Sandeman building to check on tours. The last tour available is in spanish; fortunately that is one of the many languages Steph speaks and it is my second language (by no means am I fluent but I thought I understood a bit of what was said - was a nice challenge).

Crinkly enjoying a flight at the Tram with the tram picking up people to go along the coast

Tried this special stout after the flight to give a different beer a chance. Crinkly liked this one the best.

Cool little alleyway as we walk towards the waterfront

We made it to the waterfront. Quite the view eh Crinkly?

Got to the bridge and now its time to cross.

Crossing the bridge, see the monastery that was lit up last night.

Crinkly taking a break next to some giant boat tie offs

He knows how to pick some great vantage points

Alright time to get Crinkly some port

All the choices to choose from

I do enjoy their logo. The tour guide was actually wearing a black cape and hat as well.

No Crinkly you cant have liquid from there. But you can see our guide blending into the darkness with her gitup.

Crinkly getting a close up of one of the barrels

Giant Foeder I believe. I find it weird that this giant wood thing has a stainless steel connection port built into it but definitely makes sense from a use standpoint 

Room of barrels

Crinkly thought this was a cool pic with the creepy dude in the background

Better pic of our guide in the room with tons of barrels

Some extremely old bottles of port. If I remember right, some were like 50 or 100 years old or something like that

Sandeman squared

Crinkly saying buy to the barrel room

History of the bottles - lots of Crinkly's older cousins

Crinkly is ready for his tasting

Crinkly admiring some of the cooler looking bottles

Crinkly wanted a pic with the Sandeman him/herself

Go through the caves which were incredibly impressive while also being dark, but nice and cool. After the tour, we get our tastings in the gift shop area, depending on the level tour you paid for, you got different amounts and types of port. It was ok but tasted thinner and less complex than the ports we tried yesterday which I guess makes sense when you think of mass produced product compared to small batch production products. After finishing up there, we walk over back to our side of the river and head to the Baxia area to grab dinner and drinks before returning to the hostel for well deserved rest.

Crinkly enjoying sunset on the river

Boats used to bring grapes down from the valley to the caves?

Sunset Panorama

Boats with Sandeman barrels just waiting for Crinkly to get himself some

Looking back on the monastery as it starts to get lit up

View up the river as the city lights start to turn on

Better view of the monastery

Crinkly wanted one last view of the river at dusk before we head back into town