George and Deborah's Great Adventures: 09/01/14

Monday, 1 September 2014

Porto

We arrived in Porto after two train rides taking a little over three hours. Our hotel was a short walk from the train station (it was actually quite long but that was only due to getting a little lost).

Even the Train Stations Make You Look Up.

Gathering Around St. Sam for Directions

Our hotel was the 137 year old Grande Hotel De Paris (I think it was much grander 80 years ago), the oldest hotel in Porto. After dropping our packs we immediately left for a walking tour of the city in search of the Fabrica Da Catedral Do Porto, the start of our Camino. Again, with Sam’s guidance we arrived at the hilltop cathedral. A church official stamped our passports and after taking a look around we posed for some pictures at the trail markers outside.

We Are Official Pilgrims - Passports Stamped!

Look, its ...

Making Sure We Are Headed the Right Way - Santiago

Not wanting to let the day slip away, we embarked on a Hop On/Hop Off bus tour of the city. As is our usual pattern, it was a Hop On only tour of both the city of Porto and across the Douro River to the neighbouring city of Gaia.

So Close to the Sea - Fog Rolling In

We ended our first day sipping port on an outdoor patio watching the young people emerge to fill the city streets, as we got ready to head home to bed.

We were up early on day two and enjoyed a full breakfast seated outside in the garden courtyard.

Once again, with Sam leading the way, we headed out on another, closer up walking tour of the city. We headed down to the river. This area is always bustling with activity.

Your Neck Tends to Get Sore Always Looking Up

and you can be surprised by what you see.

One of our stops was to take a tour of the five major port wineries of the city. Port is a trademarked name for the fortified wines of this region. There are many makers of fortified wine in the world but like Champagne, the only ones who can legally use the name port, are those from Porto.

The grapes are grown approximately 150 km up the river and back in the day, the barrels were shipped down river in the replica boats you see on the river today. Today the wine is shipped by truck and placed in containers for ageing. Stainless steel for the whites and amber (tawny) and oak for the middle to dark rubies. We had a guide that explained to us the difference between wine and port and how the addition of pure alcohol stops the wine fermentation process. Further she explained two different ageing processes. Their oldest barrel was made in 1937 and is only tapped when the market demands it. This port sells for 650 Euros a bottle.

Interestedly the large oak casks can be used for 100 years to make port but then they are sold/shipped to Scotland to continue their lives making whiskey.

Oak Casks for the Aging of Dark Ports

Burmester Winery

It is a beautiful city and one could spend more time here but we start our Camino in the morning so it will be an early night to repack our packs and ready ourselves for the warm up Day One walk. (Only 15 km tomorrow, two 33+ days to follow).

PS. I did manage to enjoy one of the local delicacies - Francesinha. Bread, topped with sausage and bacon, layered with four types of cheeses. (and as always in Portugal, Super Bock Beers.