Porto: Sunday

We arrived in Porto on Saturday. I have a conference here for a few days this week; Tim and the girls decided to tag along. Saturday, we just had time to check into the hotel and then grab a bite to eat at the market that is less than a block away. We had pork sandwiches. They were delicious.

Pork sandwiches in Mercado Bom Sucesso

Sunday, we got up early for a long day making the rounds around Porto. We started checking out the outside of Casa da Musica (Porto's orchestra venue) then hopping the city bus to Serralves Park and the (contemporary) art museum it contains. The museum was just ok (as in the art was weird and pretentious), but we had a very nice walk through the very diverse gardens. After the walk, we had a delicious buffet lunch in the museum's restaurant (which had food that was neither weird nor pretentious). Then we hopped back onto the city bus to take it to the edge of the ocean. We toured Queijo Castle, which is an old small fort right on the beach. It gave us some great views out over the water. We then started walking south along the waterfront boardwalk. After a while, we cheated and hopped on the city bus to take us the remainder of the way to Fortaleza de São João da Foz. It sits where the Douro river empties into the Atlantic. We did not go inside this fort, but it was adjacent to a (somewhat rocky) beach, where the girls frolicked in the water (brrrr!) for a bit. Then we walked out on the pier to look at the fisherman and get different views of the water. At this point, we noticed that three out of four of us were sunburned (I'm not sure what Cora has going on for her, but I want some of it), so we stopped for some refreshments and shade in Jardim do Passeio Alegre before getting on the old-style electric tram to ride into the old part of Porto. We walked briefly along the riverfront (and got some balloons from a goofy clown) before climbing up several flights of stairs so we could cross the upper deck of the Ponte Luís I. We walked across the bridge, then climbed up further to the Igreja da Serra do Pilar for great views back across the Douro to the old town. We climbed down, then took the metro to eat at Cantinho do Avillez. Cora had fried cod nuggets. It was ordered as an appetizer to share. Everyone else got a bite. Tim had a Franceschina--a Porto specialty. It's a sandwich of ham and roasted (pork) meat and (pork) sausage covered with cheese and beer gravy (in this case truffled beer gravy) and (in this case) topped with a fried egg. It looked disgusting. He thought it was delicious. I ordered the world's best tuna steak. Maya ordered rice with veal. She stole my tuna. The rice with veal was also good. From here, we headed back to the hotel on the metro (with a grand total of 25K steps and 104 flights logged on my band; also noting... this is our first trip without any mobility assist for Cora other than our shoulders and arms. So extra credit to both Cora and Tim).

The roundabout near Casa da Música is hosting a carnival. We have to walk through it every time we go to or come from the metro. The kids are antsy to visit intentionally.

The Casa da Música; it's a concert hall and venue

This is a work of art inside the contemporary art museum. It's called Fractal Trees, I think.

This is by Liam Gillick; it's part of a collection called "Campaign"

This is a Claes Oldenburg in the gardens.

In the gardens...

"Mommy, there's a longhorn!"

Beautiful magnolia tree gracing the terrace where we had lunch

Queijo Castle

Portuguese walkways are generally not Cora-safe.

This is an abandoned statue of a boat

Getting ready to wade

Already wet...

There was rock and shell collecting

Walking on the pier

Taking an ice cream break. Maya has finished her book.

Waiting for the tram

Post-tram

The Sandeman logo

Posing near some of the famous Azulejo tiles. They're everywhere. And beautiful.

Porto streetscapes

There was a clown. And he twisted balloons.

But we need to be on the top deck of the bridge...

Still going up...

Ready to cross

On the other side, looking back.

Cause, obviously, I wanted balloons.

Still reading.

This is that disgusting (amazing?) Franceschina sandwich