(written 22/3/2006 in Granada, EspaƱa, by
Liz)
After breakfast at our hotel, we were on our way. Our first stop of the day was going to be the Bom Jesus, a religious monument not far from Braga, but we were unable to find any hint of which direction to drive in to get there, so after circling around a bit, we decided to give up and make our way to
Porto.
Our drive was a bit slow, with lots of weekend traffic. Once we got to the outskirts of Porto, we took an exit that told us central Porto was in that direction, only to find ourselves lost in the suburbs of Porto. After a bit of random driving, we suddenly spotted a sign to the camping ground, and shortly after found ourselves at Parque de Campismo da Prelada, the exact spot we had been aiming for.
A while later we had
our little tent pitched in the middle of lots of trees and small hedges, and a nice spot to sleep in for the night.
We decided to spend the afternoon exploring Porto, so we caught the bus from outside the camping ground into the middle of Porto. We got off the bus a few stops before the end of the line, and found ourselves somewhere at the top of the hill. We guessed that following was of the downhill streets would eventually get us to the river, which it did, and then went to the Museo do Vinho, supposedly a museum that looks at the history of wine- and port- making, that also does tastings. It seemed to be more a museum showing the history of the building, which used to be a port-wine storehouse, and the tastings were non-existent, but being a sunday, it was free entry, so after a look around, we wandered onwards.
We stopped at a bar along the river for a drink before climbing up the steep and winding little network of streets and alleys until we were back at the top.
We climbed up the 225 steep steps of the Torre dos Clerigos (one of Porto's churches) for a dizzyingly good view of Porto in all directions, and then climbed quickly down before the church bell had a chance to chime while we were standing next to it. Inside the tower itself, we saw what looked a little like a church organ, but what turned out to be the 'keyboard' for the bells in the tower. You could go in (asuming you could actually play the thing) and ring out your song of choice over Porto. Earplugs would be a must!
After all those steps we stopped for a coffee and a snack of something that turned out to be a great big fatty sausage, brought to us sizzling in more fat on a plate. The waiters eager question of 'You like?' a short while later was answered with enthusiastic 'Si's!', and it was nice enough, but I can wait a while before I have another :)
We walked back down the hill to the river, going along some different streets, and then sat at a restaurant called O Muro drinking wine, eating dinner, and enjoying the sunset.
Across the river, on the far bank, we watched all the huge signs that advertise the various Port houses start to light up, and so after dinner, Tim asked the owner if he could try a port. We ended up being given two wine glasses full to the brim with port, one glass of tawny port, and the other of white port. They turned out to be a nice end to our meal, before we once again made our way back up the hill to the bus stop. We waited a long time for a bus, and in the end gave up and caught a taxi back to the campground where we slept for the night.