Porto, our first day in Portugal, Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Our first real stop in Portugal was in Porto.  As we crossed into Portugal from Spain, the scenery seemed to become more mountainous and the weather rainier.




We felt right at home because it was raining!





Like Vancouver Porto  is a coastal city with a similar climate.






This was our hotel in Porto









Porto is an up and down city with trolley cars





The rain through our bus window made each scene look like an impressionist painting.






We already were seeing those beautiful mosaics on buildings


















Our first real destination was across the river in Gaia.






We stopped along the waterfront and had a very tasty lunch. For just 10 Euros it included wine, soup, fish, chips, and olive flavoured rice!





Then we met and trudged up the hill to Crofts' Port.







We had an excellent guided tour




Learning about how port is harvested and processed (and yes stomping of grapes is actually involved), and we got to see the port stored in barrels.










Needless to say tasting was involved


And we had our own Port export, Diago, who with his partner, Ashley, had chosen this tour because it included Port.  They actually visited a few more Port houses after we left this one.






I had had white port in Australia and here I had pink port!







We considered buying a bottle to take with us for Sue's friends in Mallorca, but decided against it.  Too heavy at this point.



But everyone was in a good mood despite the weather after the tasting.





I am sure it would be pleasant to sit on the deck on a nice day!






What a view!




A modern take on mosaics  below!




We headed back to our hotel to check in.  We really liked this hotel, Hotel NH Collection Hotel Batalha.  It was in a heritage building but very modern and nice and centrally located.





and then Sue and I went exploring





Below are the delicious Portuguese custard tarts, pasteis de Nata.  In case you feel like making some here's a recipe.




I love Portuguese tiled streets with all the beautiful patterns.






and of course the mosaics.



Below is the Church of St. Ildefonso, just near our hotel




Porto was once a very wealthy city


and you can see this in the detail of the architecture.






We loved the up and down streets and you can see it did stop raining!








and we caught our first real sunset in Europe!



We just don't get buildings like this in Vancouver.






We were fascinated by the products made from cork.







and I ended up buying a couple of change purses






But this larger purse was beautiful and I couldn't help but think how much my friend, Donna, would have liked it!



There seemed to be a golden light over the city!





I always appreciate interesting shops!











and I loved the streets themselves
























Shoes anyone?













This is there beautiful theatre.









We were trying to figure out what was going on with these young people by our hotel, and discovered it was a kind of university freshmen initiation.






We had a group dinner in the hotel





Excellent presentation of tasty food.  Ah Portugal was living up to my expectations.

Location:W 21st Ave,Vancouver,Canada