Porto, of course, is famous for its port wine.

But actually the bulk of the port warehouses and tasting rooms are to be found on the other side of the river from the historic city, in the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia.

Today was port day.

We rode the metro to Santo Ovidio, taking in, on the way, more great views of Porto's amazing topography from the top deck of the Dom Luis I bridge (this was built in 1886 by a student of Gustave Eiffel).



The day started murky, and kept lapsing into drizzle. Nevertheless, as we made our way down the hill, it become obvious that this side of the river is just as charming and characterful as yesterday's side.










Port experiences do not come cheap, so you need to decide what's going to constitute the best investment of your euros.

Having read several guides (this one is a good place to start), we'd decided that what we wanted was a tasting, rather than a tour (after a tour, you do get to do some tasting, but usually only two or three types).

We opted for Quinta do Noval. Here you can order port by the glass from the list, or you can order a "flight" of five samples (which can, of course, be shared). There are three tiers of pricing, depending on the age of the tawny. We went for the middle band, with the 20-year-old tawny. This cost a not insubstantial EUR 26.60, but the environment was relaxed and pleasant, the server was very informative, the pours were generous, and the quality of all the wines was good (you get one standard Douro red wine, three ruby ports, and a tawny port, which alone costs a whopping EUR 70 should you want to buy a bottle).

All in all, we were happy with our little foray into the world of port wine.




We headed round the corner for lunch at the Cafe Sandwich. This is a lovely little place. They do a great "menu do dia" (the next cheapest way to eat after cooking at home), with soup, bread, a choice of main dish, a carafe of wine, and a cup of coffee all for EUR 8. We chose the bacalhau a Bras, which is a really tasty mixture of dried cod, potato, and egg, with exactly two olives on the top. We felt slightly guilty that we'd got in just ahead of a big crowd of workmen, who were forced to wait for their lunch until more places became available. I hope they weren't thinking, "Bloody tourists. Why don't they go down the road to the expensive places?"


To shake off the effects of our indulgent aperitif and our copious lunch, we climbed up to the terrace of Serra do Pilar monastery for more lovely views of this exceptionally sited city.





We crossed back to Porto by way of the bridge, and took the scenic route home via yet more lovely streets, and the camellia-, tulip-, and peacock-filled Crystal Palace Gardens.








I've not talked much about our Porto "home" yet. The apartment is in an old building, but you wouldn't know that from the inside. The interior is modern and incredibly well thought through, with every bit of the space used absolutely optimally. The bed folds back; the kitchen nestles between two bulkheads; there are storage spaces everywhere.




Nearby there's a little supermarket that supplies nice Portuguese things like cheese made from a mixture of cow, sheep, and goat milk (delicious both in taste and texture), and tins of beans and sausage a bit reminiscent of the cassoulet we used to buy in France, and really decent local wine for EUR 3 a bottle.

Next door to the supermarket there's a wonderful grocery store called Gastronom Slaviansky. Here you can buy kefir, smetana, dark chocolate, tasty fish salad, and lots more good Slavic things.

We have absolutely loved Porto. We're moving on tomorrow, with great regret. The rest of Portugal is going to find this city a really hard act to follow.