Porto, Portugal9 Sep 2009
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Porto riverfront
The port lodges at night
Port lodges
| After a bus ride (no more Portuguese trains for us!), we arrived in Porto, home of one of Jerri's favorite drinks: port. Since Porto lies on the hillsides that lead down to the Duorno River, the city is made up of steep streets lined with tall houses, some of which look like they might fall down the hill at any moment. After hauling our luggage up the 4 flights of spiral stairs to our hotel room, we set off to explore the city, heading first to the riverfront where we discovered a pretty area with lots of great restaurants and a lovely old iron two-level bridge. The night view across the river with the bridge at one end and the neon lights of the many port lodges staggered from the riverfront up the hillside will be our enduring image of Porto. Next day, we set off across the river to fulfill the main reason for our visit - to visit the places where port wine is made, known as lodges. Many of the lodges offer tours and free samples so we took full advantage. Taylor offered the most insightful tour and a couple of great tastes; we also bought a sample of one of their vintage ports, a luxury that we are not likely to indulge in many times in our lives! As a final treat, we bought a tiny (5 cl=1.7 fl.oz) bottle of 40-year old port. Just last evening (Saturday, 12 Sept), we opened it and did a taste comparison with some 10-year old port Jerri already had. But there truly is no comparison; beside the 40-year old, the 10-year old was barely drinkable. Our next stop will be in Madrid, our third entry into Spain. |
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