Dia de Descanso - Porto

Rest Day - Porto

This was my second rest day on the Caminho Português. I can hardly believe I made it this far. Where has the time gone! I had a breakfast of toast and hard boiled eggs with orange juice at the albergue for 3€. After having my fill of something new for breakfast, I headed out to explore Porto. Originally, I planned on visiting the Livraria Lello, a historic bookstore from 1906 that was supposedly influential in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. However, the lines to get tickets and enter were already going out the door and a long way down the street. Instead of standing around waiting, I wandered around the city and looked at the gift shops where I purchased some postcards, a cork bookmark, and a pair of green Federação Portuguesa de Futebol soccer shorts.

I then returned to the São Bento train station to meet up with Christian. We waited for Yeji and others to join us before sightseeing. No one could make it except Yeji who was delayed at Decathlon purchasing some warmer clothes. Christian and I went on ahead to Ponte Luis I. This iron arched bridge was built in the 1880s by Gustave Eiffel and his associates. Yesterday, I entered Porto by walking across the upper section of this bridge. Today, I crossed on the lower section nearer the water below.

Immediately after crossing, we entered the Burmester Caves and checked out this old local Port Wine cellar. Although, we did not take a guided tour of the cellars or taste the wines. Just seeing the large barrels stacked in the first room was enough wine excitement for me and I believe Christian had already visited this place yesterday. We continued alongside the river, checking out some of the elegant ships anchored nearby.

Next we entered the Mundo Fantástico das Conservas Portuguesas or the Fantastic World of Portuguese Canned Foods! This bright carnival themed décor obscured what this store really was, a canned fish store. Christian was eager to purchase several colorful tins of sardines labeled with the years of his birth, his wife, and two sons.

We then moved next door to the Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau with its ornate bookshelves and majestic organ. Yeji was getting closer to meeting with us and we decided to wait here for a while. I wanted to taste the house special Pastel de Bacalhau which was a fried mix of cod fish and seasoning stuffed with melted cheese. Christian told me not to get it because we were going to have lunch when Yeji arrived. I should have listened to Christian, because it was not a very good snack. While we waited, the organist returned to give another brief musical performance that afternoon.

I was enjoying the music before noticing that Christian was getting restless. He was probably hungry and tired of waiting around, so we continued down the riverfront and entered the Mercado Municipal de Gaia. I updated Yeji on our new location and she arrived shortly afterwards. This market was a large food court with many diverse vendors. After walking through the market and seeing all of the options, I settled on one in the back corner and ordered a plate of tortellini. The food was delicious and helped rid my mouth of that foul tasting cod pastry. It started raining as we were leaving the food market, making the long walk back across the river undesirable. Christian went back to his room and Yeji and I started heading back to the albergue. On our way, we made an unexpected stop at the Mercado do Bolhão. I have enjoyed walking through these open markets and seeing the many fruits, vegetables, meats, and candies for sale.

We also made an unexpected stop at the Harley Davidson Dealership. After leaving the market, I had noticed a woman carrying a Harley Davidson shopping bag and I knew I had to find the local dealership. My father collects unique Harley Davidson poker chips from each dealership he visits and I wanted to pick some up for the collection. Back at the albergue we rested for a while and then met a new group of pilgrims who invited us to play an exciting few rounds of UNO. One of the guys was a little drunk on wine and kept talking about the Lithuanian man in the group who always had good cards. You became a Lithuanian if you also had good cards. It was soon time for dinner. Last night's dinner with everyone was a little pricey, so Yeji and I decided to find a cheaper place for tonight. After looking around for maybe 20 minutes, we eventually settled on a place. It was packed and I ended up being seated right next to the open front door with people coming and going constantly. A chilly breeze would often blow in and give me chills. We had a spot for four people, but because they were so busy the wait staff decided to seat someone else right next to me. They separated the two small tables by a hands width due to the lack of space and I bumped elbows with a stranger while eating my dinner. Before returning to the albergue, Yeji and I walked down to the river to see the city at night. Porto is an impressive city during the day, but at night it turns into something truly special! Above the Douro River, the Ponte Luis I had a golden glow as its many lights illuminated the bridge. The riverfront on the south side, where we had been earlier in the day, was also illuminated. The prominent features across the river were the many wine companies, proudly displaying their brands at night.

I was not looking forward to the 45 minute walk back to the albergue. Just outside the São Bento train station, I saw the Italian couple I had first met in Tomar and then in several additional places along the way. They were always nice and friendly to me. After catching up on the last few days with them, they informed me that they were taking the central route to Santiago. This meant that they would most likely arrive two days ahead of me. Realizing we may never see each other again we exchanged hugs and well wishes. As they walked away, I felt the exhaustion from walking all day set in. I was struggling to keep my eyes open and there was no way I was going to walk the remaining 30 minutes to the albergue. Yeji and I hopped in the nearest taxi and drove to the albergue. I don't think this counts as cheating because we were just out sightseeing. It's not like we took a taxi to the next town instead of walking the distance! It felt strange being in a car again after so many days on foot. Porto was a great stop along my journey, but it's time to keep moving! Plenty of more adventures ahead, places to see, and people to meet!