September 10, 2022

Yet another day of excessive walking. I knew it going in. I used my last bonus day on the tourist bus to ride to the city park. It was not nearly as impressive as Serralves, but I’m glad I experienced it. Seeing the locals out and about, walking and riding bikes was nice. The man feeding the geese was pretty entertaining, too! Parts of the park were more likable than others, but it was a vast park. I imagine it’s a lot to maintain.

I had a chicken salad for lunch in the park’s café. It was rather tasty, indeed! Baby greens, cucumber, sauteed mushrooms, carrots, chicken, and pineapple! The young woman who waited on me spoke excellent English and ensured my salad was gluten-free.

After lunch, I strolled through the park and went down to the beach. I wasn’t sure how far I would walk on the beach, and I went farther than I expected because it was so captivating!

I made it all the way to where the Atlantic meets the Douro. Pretty impressive! I took some nice breaks along the way and even took my shoes off for a while.

At home, I ate yesterday’s fish (too tired to cook last night), fried potatoes, and sauteed green beans and zucchini. The fish was so-so. I ate half of it and threw out the rest.

After dinner, I was hankering for a snack and stepped down to the Pingo Doce. You know what they say about going to the store when you are hungry. I bought a small container of mixed berries, fresh coconut, a package of microwave popcorn, and a bar of shampoo to have a backup. (I should have brought the one I had at home.) The berries were yummy, and so were the gluten-free cookies. Cranberry-orange!

September 9, 2022

Porto, Day Three: Another walk-until-you-drop kind of day!

I decided to get to some of the tourist sights nearby. I got lucky and arrived at the Palacio de Bolsa at 10:40, just in time for the 11:00 tour in English. The tour guide was fantastic, and the building was magnificent! I even met two men my age from Seattle. Again, it was nice to have someone to talk to.

Next, I was about to go to the San Francisco Church next door, but I felt the need for a Coke. (I rarely consume caffeine, but there are those days.) That three-story McDonald’s was staring at me, reminding me it had gluten-free buns inside! It was almost noon, and I was hungry, so why not? The funny part was that I had to walk up to the third floor to get to the bathroom, which was locked with a secret code! A few employees were having a meeting, or maybe an interview, and one of them let me in.

I then proceeded downstairs to order my lunch. The fries were disappointing because they had been sitting under the heat lamp, but the burger was delicious, one of the best gluten-free buns I have ever had!
The church was pretty cool, with interesting three-dimensional scenes. There was a museum, too, and catacombs beneath. The price was steep to get in, though, eight euros.

My next mission was to get across the river to take a boat ride and try some port wine. It felt like a long wait for the bus, but I made it. Then the boat ride was in a different location than the spot that the map indicated. I had to ask a couple of people, and one assured me I should go right in front of the children’s playground. She was right, but I had to go to the bathroom! I ran to the market and had to wait quite a while because there was only one toilet for the women. Apparently, the other one was out of service.
I returned before the boat took off but didn’t get the best seat. I didn’t care, though. It was a gorgeous afternoon, the perfect temperature out. I enjoyed the leisurely cruise and the different perspective. I also noticed a second lower pedestrian bridge I could take back after tasting port.

It was about 4:00, and once again, I felt hungry. I found a café called 7g, with some gluten-free items on the menu. The chicken bowl I ordered was delicious and hit the spot.

I then made my way uphill to Taylor’s. I was in no mood for another tour, so I went straight to the tasting room. I ordered a glass of 20-year-old tawny along with two truffles. Of course, I preferred the truffles! So glad I did not go for a full tasting; I would have been sick.

I made my way back downhill and across the river. Then it was all those steps up and a few blocks to get home. I made it, and I was beat. The tawny was not sitting well in my stomach. I finally relaxed and got a good night’s sleep, though.

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.