Porto

The tour of Porto was a little shy of two days. The city delights the eye at every angle.

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The train from Castelo Branco retraced the track along the Tagus (Spanish) or Tajo (Portuguese) river to Entroncamento. The Tagus river starts in Spain ending its 650 mile journey in the Atlantic Ocean after passing Lisbon; it is the 'river' in Lisbon. The clear meandering river was dammed at several places. The shallow river valley had olive trees planted when steeper or extensive agricultural plantings elsewhere. One distinctive feature the river (and train through a short tunnel) passes is the Monumento Natural das Portas de Rodao - a 150 meter high hard ridge the river cuts through creating a doorway.

Traveling to Porto, my next destination, required a train change in Entroncamento. Immediately upon exiting the train the search for the track schedule to know where to board the train to Porto began. The led signs at the tracks typical of Lisbon and Castelo Branco informing as to the next train were ... missing. I couldn't find any posted or electronic information. The Entroncamento train station isn't that large, but there must be six tracks to choose from. As the transfer time of 15 minutes ticked down, concern began to grow. I'd walked completely around the station at this point, so I spotted a young (very important!) person and asked. She immediately threw herself into the mission! She didn't know where to look either. She just knew her train. She solicited help from other working people at the station, it turned out there is a monitor with track information tucked up high in a waiting room area - note to self, look for waiting rooms! The train arrived a few minutes later and whisked me to Porto.

The train companies in Portugal and Spain when using the Eurail pass sometimes require reservations be made. It can not be done on the app. You have to find a ticket office and pay 5-15 euros extra in person to obtain a seat assignment. So I thought I'd do that after arriving in Porto before walking to my accommodations.

Everybody that has a had an issue with an app or software, please raise your hand! Standing at the ticket office talking with the attendant, I can't bring up the ticket on the phone! I spent the next hour having a cup of coffee and pastry, cooking in the heat, being approached by multiple pan-handlers (one twice - I guess they immediately forgot me!), and trying to be zen while learning about the quirks of the Eurail pass app. Accomplished, but what's this? The ticket office is closed for 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon! When it opens, it doesn't really open. A guy is sitting there banging away on the computer ignoring folks. The attendant in the adjacent window that doesn't handle international train travel smiles and offers to help me. Sadly he can only make reservations for the train that originates in Portugal. I'll have to make reservations for the next two trains after I get to Spain - I'm so excited about this! I'll have 55 minutes before the next train departure assuming the first one arrives on time.

It's a scorcher today - well only 32ºC. Sweat pours off me as I walk past several auto repair shops. Checking Google Maps I realize I've past the place. Hmmm, I find the door nestled between two auto repair shops. What is this place going to be like? The Campanha Boutique Station Guest House is delightful! A quiet room, nice common amenities, great hot shower, a view of the Douro river, good price, and close to the main train station - jackpot!

The late afternoon until sunset found me wandering the heart of Porto. A ten minute ride on a train from Campanha to Sao Bento stations gets me from the guest house to the old section of town. Porto has a long history with most buildings today dating from the early 19th century. The Douro river flows through the city so there are a number of beautiful bridges in the steep river valley. One bridge allows a person to cross 200 meters above the river and then return at a lower level closer to the river. The south bank houses vats and vats of port from many different wineries.

It turns out that any train from the Sao Bento station stops at the Campanha station so take your pick and likely the next one leaving will be your choice. I staggered back to my room, collapsed into bed, and didn't awake until daylight the next morning.

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Those public transport 'paper' tickets that require an extra one euro to purchase can be reused by adding money to them at the electronic ticket machines. Figuring that out earlier would have saved a few euros. The ticket machines in Porto don't offer up a choice of language, so using an Apple translator app I experimented with success. Speaking of translation...the Apple app allows taking a picture and with an internet connection will superimpose the translation on the image of the foreign text. This technique helped me figure out what buttons to push on the ticket machine! Don't leave home without it!

Porto is a city of eye candy. It is a kaleidoscope of colors, structures, people, and activity. One can ride the Metro, a funicular, cable gondola, water taxi, boat cruise, train, electric vintage appear car, bike, or simply walk. Musicians perform all over the city their instrument cases open to catch falling coins. The narrow cobblestone steep streets are crowded with plying tourists and delivery trucks. No city in my memory offers up such multitude of activity while standing in one spot. There were times it felt the city was a miniature built to test your ability to find all its special and hidden secrets.

I took a one hour tour of the Calem Port vat 'cellar' which felt thin on facts, but the port flight tasting at the end made it worth it. Even then, the better part of that were the conversations with a couple from near Montreal and another couple from west of Edinburgh - I'm afraid I've forgotten what the rich rolling Scottish language sounds like - music to my ears!

I mostly wandered the city. Coming across the Porto Photography Centre I went in. Turns out to be free. Housed in a building whose previous life was a prison and judicial place it makes for unusual viewing. The many old film cameras on displace constitutes the primary reason to visit. I got a warm fuzzy feeling seeing a Minolta 'spy' camera my dad used - I wonder what ever became of it as it would be fun to still have. Spontaneous chuckling occurred watching twenty somethings take photos with their phones of dozens of Kodak film canister rolls on display. Upon trying to leave the packed lobby the eye looks out the door to see rain!

The weather the last two plus weeks since arriving in Portugal has been stellar sunny. Expressions of thanks crossed my lips at the lack of rain while cycling. Now, at last, some much needed moisture for Portugal. Making my way back to the Sao Bento train station, I slipped from one side of the narrow streets to the other or slid up next to doors to keep from become completely wet. The rain lessened for my walk from Canpanha station to the guest house. I say goodbye to Porto in the morning.