Looking at the weather, and looking at the map, and looking at the amount of time at our disposal, on Monday, Oct. 20 we jumped on a bus and headed for Porto!
- the weather says it is unseasonably warm and sunny in Porto for the next week
- the map says it's on the coast in northern Portugal, only three hours by bus
- the Internet says it's no more expensive to stay there than it is here
- the calendar says we have at least a week we could spend there
- and the heart says "Go."
Not knowing much about it, we booked two nights at a hotel in the city center, and lucked out again. Vera Cruz was right beside City Hall, which is a happening area of town. When we came out of the subway station and started looking for street names to pinpoint where we were, the first thing we saw was the name of our hotel, less than 100 meters from the Metro.
After those two nights, we did some leg work to follow up in some of the cheaper hotels - to make sure we would want to stay there before we booked one - and found the family-run D. Filipe I, and moved there for the next five nights.
The weather for the week was AMAZING. 28 to 32 C every afternoon. Cool enough (barely) to sleep well in the night. Everyone tells us it was unusual for this time of year (normally 10 C cooler), so we certainly enjoyed it!
The beach - dotted with cafés, etc - was very relaxing. The water was warm enough to enjoy, but we learned the hard way you don't turn your back on the ocean. Waves were regular and strong, with the occasional one being larger and much stronger. Lorraine got pummelled pretty good by one of the larger ones. Not only did it scare her, it flipped her around, took her glasses and that was that. Because of the steepness of the beach, the undercurrent was strong, and when something is gone, it is gone forever. Fortunately, for the FIRST TIME in our lives we had travelled with an extra pair of glasses, so it was only a matter of getting back to the hotel to be back in the swing of things.
The tourist "things to do" - there were sufficent of them, and many at a reasonable rate, that we found Porto a very easy city to hang around for seven days. Two-day passes on the Hop-on-Hop-off bus, a cable car ride, a tour of a wine cellar, church after church, a high tower, a River cruise, and lots of walking through the different areas filled the time rather nicely.
Although far from the Camino, I would have to rate the week in Porto as a success! We were sad to say goodbye, and would definitely return if the opportunity ever affords itself.
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