First Porto Call

The same day I went Ria Arosa I came back to Lugo to get in another friend´s car and drive to Oporto, Portugal. For the second time in the now six months I have been in Spain I left the country.

It was a 3-4 hour drive to the city and on the way we had one short supper stop around 10pm to eat sandwiches in a grocery store parking lot in Porriño. We were parked next to the garbage bin and that´s when I knew this trip would be an adventure. In total we were seven from five different countries including Ireland, Scotland, England and Spain and we were friends from the weekly quiz night in Lugo. I am glad that Gallego is a lot like Portuguese (especially the northern dialect) because if not it probably would have taken much longer to find our hotel. Obrigado, or thank you was a very good word to know.

At breakfast the next morning a couple of the guys surprised us with the gift of matching t-shirts. Normally I might think it would be quite cheesy to all wear the same shirts, but the guys had a nice maroon colour and the girls in green with the words ´First Porto Call´ printed in the top left corner. I wonder if my sisters would like us to have a matching family t-shirt for when they come to visit Spain this summer.

As usual it was within the first hour of walking around Oporto that I saw the yellow arrows for the camino to Santiago. It feels like I have not travelled to one city in Spain since doing the camino where I have not seen them and my yellow arrow radar-like detection skills are still quite strong. After walking for a while, taking a short boat trip on the river and having lunch we stopped for our Porto wine tasting. I don´t remember much from the tour, but the two glasses of Porto wine afterwards were very tasty.

One of the most interesting things we saw in Oporto that day was the Lello bookshop. The staircase and wood carvings were as exquisite as the collection of books. We stopped for tea on the second level and had a nice rest.

Late afternoon the three craziest of the group, which included me went for a swim on the beach. Similar to my ocean dip in december the water was still freezing and the wind didn´t make you feel any warmer when you came out.

The next morning after breakfast we got back into the cars to start the drive back. We stopped first for mini-golf, next for lunch and then to play on the beach in Carmiña before getting on the highway ( or motorway since most people spoke British English) back to Spain.