September 8, 2022
I walked today; I walked a lot today!
First, I slept in, which was glorious. It was coming up on noon when I finally got to the tourist bus.
I met two college students from Boston who were delightful, intelligent young women. They are both studying bioengineering and smartly saved their “easy” classes for senior year. They are spending the semester in Madrid and are taking advantage of long weekends to go on trips. It sounded like they had the entire semester’s worth of weekends booked up! It was nice to have company and talk to fellow humans.
I got off the bus at the Palacio de Cristal. It is primarily a park with beautiful grounds and fantastic views of the Douro River. A local had encouraged me to check it out. I could only partially enjoy the book fair that was going on, though, since I don’t speak Portuguese. Overall, the stop was worth it; I’m thankful for that recommendation.
I then returned to the bus to head to Serralves, a former estate with extensive grounds, gardens, and museums. The first part I saw was a modern art museum. Most of the things in it were garbage, really. I went through that part rather quickly. Then, there was a section with sculptures. That was more interesting, still weird, but interesting. The coolest part was a hallway with bars across it at angles. Partway through, you had to duck and weave to get through. That was the best one. There were two rooms, one intense blue and one intense green, with sculptures. They were cool, too.
Next, I walked the grounds and saw some of the outdoor sculptures. There was a large shovel, at least 15 feet tall, a round metal sculpture, and a mirrored sculpture. Then there were all kinds of gardens and a series of pools in front of the pink Art Deco mansion.
The best surprise was that there was a Miro exhibit inside the mansion! Such a treat; I adore his whimsical style, and I got the bonus of seeing the inside of the villa.
There was still so much more to see, though! The treetop walk, the farm, and more gardens. I was wiped out after walking around.
Oh, but there was more walking in store for me! I got to the bus stop just in time to see my bus leaving. I sat on the curb, thinking I would wait for the next bus. Then I realized that I could walk down to the Foz neighborhood. I was also suffering from hunger and the need to go to the bathroom. Maybe I would see a café along the way. I didn’t have to walk far before spotting a Pingo Doce grocery store. Did I mention this was a ritzy neighborhood with sizeable mansions? So, it was an extra-nice grocery store. First, I went down to the parking garage to use the bathroom.
Then I went in search of some lunch. I put together some chicken lunch meat, Portuguese Fritos, and a fruit-coconut drink. The corn chips were better than Fritos, a little thinner and lighter.
Even though my feet were tired, it was a relatively easy downhill walk to the water. I ended up at the point where the Douro meets the ocean. I was so tired that I couldn’t even walk to the end.
But then I had some motivation to walk a little further. I saw a woman with a Daura Damm gluten-free beer. She told me she had found it at Go Natural, right up the street. I was darn tired, but I made it and hit the jackpot! They even had Celia, the Czech GF beer, and a GF Super Bock. Ahhh.
Wandering Shannon 