There was a strong tailwind so the flight from Newark to Porto arrived an hour early. I was at my hotel, Infante Sagres, at 10:00 AM, dropped off my bags and set out to explore the historic town center.
In 1996, the area within Porto’s 14th century city walls was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site including the Monasterio de Sera do Pilar and Ponte Dom Luis I.
The Infante Sagres is perfectly situated in the historic town center near the Cámara Municipal (town hall). I wandered for hours. I took a tour of Porto’s magnificent Catedral where I purchased my Pilgrims Passport, my “credencial”, for my upcoming Camino.
In order to receive your Compostela when you arrive in Santiago you are required to present your Credencial establishing that you walked the minimum 100 kms by having a minimum of 2 stamps for each day of your pilgrimage. This Credencial is going to be special because the first stamp is from the Catedral in Porto and my final stamp will be from the Catedral in Santiago.
After the Catedral, I made my way to the Ribeira district, the historic waterfront along the Douro, loaded with bars, shops and restaurants. I had a delicious lunch of grilled róbalo at a cute restaurant tucked away in a narrow alley which I discovered accepted no credit cards when they brought my check. Fortunately I had a few Euros left from my trip to Mallorca but the bill was 26.5 Euros and I only had 25.
The waiter had little interest in American Dollars and directed me to a nearby ATM which I was shocked to learn charges a markup of 14.5%! Naturally I cancelled the transaction and tried a second ATM which charged the same exorbitant markup so I canceled that transaction as well. But with no other way to pay the remainder of my bill, I reluctantly reinserted my card having decided to pay the markup only to discover that my bank, apparently sensing a possible fraud in the works, had locked me out of my account.
With no way to pay, I sheepishly returned to the restaurant and in my broken Portuguese apologized profusely to the owner promising to return the next day with Euros. The owner was “um cara bom” and told me to not be concerned but I was.
With a step count over 22,000 and it being time to check in, I returned to the Infante Sagres to check in, shower and change, and then to cross the Ponte de Luis I also known as the Ponte de Ferro to visit the Monasterio de Serra and explore Vila Nova de Gaia where the port wine houses are all located.
There are 6 bridges that cross the Douro, the most centrally located of which is the Ponte de Ferro. It’s a pedestrian bridge over which also passes the tram. The panoramas are gorgeous and I was excited to see a funicular moving up and down the hillside. I love to ride those funiculars, engineering marvels of the late 1800’s so I made a note to take a ride on it the following day.
Every port wine house has wine cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia most of which were established in the late 1700’s and all of which offer tastings and tours. I did a wine tasting at Ramos Pinto and wandered in and out of a dozen tasting rooms each one unique and upscale.
The wines of the Douro are notoriously high in alcohol as high as 14% but Port wine which is fortified with brandy runs as high as 22%. In the late 18th Century when the English found themselves with limited access to French wine due to war and high tariffs they turned to Portugal and the wines of the Douro valley.
The first shipments spoiled on the long journey so distilled spirits were added to stabilize and preserve the wine and Port was born. The English loved the sweet fortified wine and before long English merchants and businessmen dominated the port wine trade.
There was a time when every proper English gentleman would buy a “pipa” or “pipe” of Port to lay down for his first born male heir. A pipe is a huge oblong barrel that was used to ship the wine to England. A single “pipa” might hold enough wine to supply the young lad with Port to last his lifetime depending on his level of consumption.
I walked zombie like for a couple more hours determined to stay awake until at least 10:00 PM. Once back at the hotel, I spoke for half an hour with my bank, had my pin and card restored and was assured that it would be working the next morning.
Unlike Sunday when I wandered aimlessly, I set out yesterday morning with a purpose. First to Banco Santander to withdraw Euros from their ATM which sadly also charged 14.5% (200 Euros cost me $229.00) and then to the incredibly beautiful Sao Benito train station to buy my “passagem” for the next day’s train to Valenca do Minho.
I noticed there was a money exchange at the station offering .93 Euros to the dollar so for $200.00 cash I got 186 Euros. Still a ripoff but much better than the 14% markup charged by the ATM’s. The charges on my credit card were being exchanged at near par. For example, the 30 Euro wine tasting I had at Ramos Pinto was charged at $30.44 on my credit card.
The lesson is if you go to Portugal exchange and bring with you Euros from your bank in the US and once in country use your credit card as often as you can.
After the train station I stopped for coffee and a pastel de nata at the cutest coffee shop I could find. I love these little buttermilk pastries, they’re just delicious. I’m averaging about 2.5 per day so far.
I made a stop at Porto’s public library to see the beautiful 17th century tiles, strolled on Rua de Santa Catarina, Porto’s pedestrian shopping thoroughfare with its magnificent tiled church and then set off to find the Funicular dos Guindais and my only disappointment of the day.
Sadly, the funicular was closed to the public while undergoing maintenance. I love the funiculars. There are 3 of them in Lisbon, the Bica, Lavra and Gloria as well as the Elevador Sao Justia, each of which is on my list to revisit when I get to Lisbon week after next.
Then in the afternoon I returned to Vila Nova de Gaia for a port wine tour of Sandeman’s incredible ancient wine cellars. I picked Sandeman because the tour guides dress in the cape and hat which are emblematic of this iconic brand and it was really fun. They have enormous “barricas”, wine barrels from the late 1700’s that are still in use today.
And then I took a 6 bridges boat tour on the Douro (touristy but what the heck, after all I am a tourist).
And after that, clutching a 5 Euro bill in my hand, I crossed back over the Douro to the Ribeira district, searched out and ultimately found the narrow alleyway and restaurant where I had lunch the previous day.
It was past lunch time and not yet dinner time so it was closed but I found the owner, presented him with the 5 Euro note and said to him in my best Portuguese “aqui está o dinheiro que te devo de ontem com juros.” (“Here is the money that I owe you from yesterday with interest.”)
At first he hesitated to take the money but I insisted and then he chuckled and told me that next time lunch would be on him.
After returning to the hotel to shower and change clothes, my thoughts turned to rotisserie chicken. Rotisserie chicken in Portugal is wonderful. The most revered rotisserie chicken restaurant in Lisbon is Bon Jardim known as O Rei do Frangos. Cary and I stumbled upon it 1990. The best chicken I ever ate.
We returned on every trip to Lisbon, the last time with all 3 kids in December 2009. William was 7 at the time. Somewhere there’s a picture of him at Bon Jardim with a piece of chicken in each hand and the biggest broadest happiest smile on his face. I couldn’t find that picture but I did find a picture of me taken outside Bom Jardim in the fall of 1990 when we first made its discovery.
The most revered place for rotisserie chicken in Porto is Pedro do Frangos which oddly is located on Rua Bon Jardim. Of course the original Bon Jardim was the one in the book of Genesis, the Garden of Eden.
I headed over to Pedro do Frangos on Rua Bon Jardim and the chicken was well worth the 30 minutes I waited for a seat at the bar. Really delicious, salty and juicy with crispy skin but maybe not as good as O Rei do Frangos. I mentioned the odd coincidence to the man behind the bar, he knew of the Bom Jardim in Lisbon but had never been there and had no explanation for the odd coincidence.
Emerson famously said that “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” I think an “odd coincidence” can be a hobgoblin as well, at least this one is, at least it is for my little mind.
So I had a really awesome couple of days, Porto is dope, totally dope and I just had the best time.
And I’m now enjoying a delightful ride on the train to Valenca Do Minho and looking forward with great anticipation to taking my first steps tomorrow morning on my Camino Portugués 2022 from Rubiaes to Santiago de Compostela. It’s just going to be so much fun!
Muito obrigado por se juntar a mim e
Bom Caminho! (Thank you so much for joining me and Buen Camino!)
