Thurs May 9, 2024
Hi Gang! We made it further up the Portugal coast to Porto. It’s the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon and is known for its port wine production. It’s very hilly like Lisbon (maybe even more hilly!) with lots of churches, narrow alleyways and bridges.
We docked in the port of Leixoes, which is about 8 miles away from the center of Porto, so we had to find our way into the city. So I always like using the local mass transit when I can to be “amongst the people”. We walked about 5 mins from the port and took the local city bus in to town. We got the sights, sounds and smells of the locals! Lol.
Once in town we took a private guided Tuk Tuk (golf cart type vehicle) tour taking us around town. After that we walked along the Ribeira area along the Douro River and walked across the Dom Luis 1 bridge to the town of Gaia where all the Port wine cellars are. That whole area bustles with people, river boat cruisers and kiosks selling lots of tourist stuff.
Our bus trip into town ended at the Sao Bento Train Station. The station’s main entrance hall features some of Portugal’s finest “azulejos”, which are vivid, decorative hand-painted tiles that show the history of the Douro region. It was really beautiful (for a train station!).
After we got back to the ship we ordered some snacks since we were doing a late dinner. We got popcorn, potato chips and caviar. That’s when you know you’re on a luxury cruise line (well, LAH-TEE-DAH!).
I’ll post another update tonight after dinner. Hope everyone’s Thursday is going well!
The Wandering Italian 