July 4, 2005
O Porto
We spent a weekend in Portugal from June 25 - 27 to visit our friends Afonso and Sonia who live in Porto.
We landed in Portugal on Saturday afternoon. Afonso picked us up at the airport and took us to see his new house. It is a ground floor apartment that he recently refurbished. Dark hardwood floors, not much furniture, but there was a huge dining table that converts into a full-size pool table and ping pong table.
Then Afonso took us to the Holiday Inn Porto. It's actually not in Porto but in a small town just on the other side (South) of the river from Porto. For dinner Saturday night, Afonso took us to a restaurant called Casa de Cha (Tea House), which sits right on the "End of the world". It's built on the rocks that sit right next to the ocean. We were there for sunset and had a fabulous view. The seafood was spectacular. I shared the salt baked fish with Afonso and Sonia while Ryan had lobster. After dinner, we went to the old part of Porto and had drinks by the river.
Sunday morning, we went to Afonso's favorite place called Fundacao Serralves. The foundation includes the Museum of Contemporary Art, Park, and House.
Near the Serralves House is the pond. It's green, full of algae, but the ducks, fish, and turtles seem to like it.
On this big estate is also a farm. There were some elk looking animals, but I couldn't get a good shot. Fortunately, this guy stayed still enough for me to take a good shot.
Nearby the Serralves farm is a huge aromatic herb garden.
... Just had to take a photo with these big blue flowers...
The bank South of the river is where many of the port wineries are. We ate lunch at a restaurant with a fabulous patio, with a view of the river and the old parts of Porto.
After lunch we wandered the area to find a winery/port cellar that was open. Not many were open on Sunday, but we did find Ferreira open.
Picture of some old vacant buildings... now a parking lot.
Inside of the Ferreira winery. We took the guided tour, learned a bit about port wine, and had a tasting.
Afterwards, we went to the beach
For dinner, we went to a casual everyday restaurant to eat the local cuisine. Monday morning, Afonso took us to the airport, and we got back to London around lunch time.
It was too short. We'll have to go back again soon.
-lily