[Dec. 2009] On the first night in Oporto, Portugal, we intended to dine at the restaurant listed in the guidebook.
After dark, we went out on foot from the hotel.
It had been raining all day, but at this stage the rain was so heavy that the umbrella turned over and the jeans I was wearing were soaked wet.
But fortunately it was not cold.
While getting soaked and getting lost, we went down towards the Douro River, which flows through the town.
While walking, when I looked up, I saw a beautiful tiled church and lovely buildings and this wet “walk” was fun enough to be the highlight of this trip.
Eventually, we couldn’t find the restaurant we were looking for and went into a small restaurant on the back street.
According to the staff there, in Oporto it doesn’t rain much in September-October, and instead it often rains a lot at this time of the year in early December.
I forgot the name of the restaurant, but it was a seafood restaurant.
I was satisfied with grilled sea bream and my husband ate something like a seafood ojiya (a thick soup with rice and seafood).
The next day, as the breakfast was not included at the hotel, so we ate the Portuguese specialty Pastel de Nata at a small cafe in front of the hotel.
I love this Nata.
There are also a specialty shop in Lisbon.
After breakfast, we went to a nearby pharmacy for a woman’s necessities.
From the time I arrived here the day before, I noticed that this was a town where the elderly were more than young people, and it may be that the people who no longer need this necessary item were the mainstream.
So the thing I needed was not on the main shelves in the shop and the shop staff took it out from the top of the shelf in the back.
Moreover, there was only one type and no choice.
I felt this was also a characteristic of the town and is an interesting memory of the trip.
During the walk on the day, we went to the railway station of Oporto, San Bent station.
Even if you don’t take the train, the station itself is a tourist attraction.
I was amazed to see the beautiful tiles, azulejos, were laid out on the premises.
It’s a pity that it was a little dark and I couldn’t take a good picture.
Then we went down to the Douro River, one of the features of the town.
Looking up from the river level, you can see the famous Dom Luis I Bridge far above.
I saw a cable car running from the riverside to the bridge.
The altitude difference was so large that you needed one.
On the Douro River, we took a sightseeing boat for about an hour.
It was cloudy and the wind was cold on that day, but it didn’t rain and we enjoyed the view from the river.
We went underneath of the majestic Dom Luis I Bridge.
The town of Porto looking up from the level of the river was also nice and colorful.
Many of the buildings along the river were old and looked as if abandoned, but as the scenery, those were also lovely.
We could also see the port wine factories.
A little off the center, I could see new houses being built, too.
By the way, there are also cruise ships that go up the Douro River.
I’ve seen it on TV several times and it looks pretty good.
We may take one in the future when we get a little older ( the passengers of cruise ships The tend to be elderlies).
