Porto Portugal

1 June

We flew to Portugal from Brussels. We dropped our stuff at the airbnb then walked to a restaurant for lunch. It seemed that they didn't really have a menu and that they only served one thing. As I was walking around the next couple days it seemed fairly common that places have a set menu or limited options. It was easy to find places with options though. Our lunch was pork, rice, beans, and tomato. We went to a cafe for a slice of carrot cake with chocolate sauce that was amazing. We came to Porto for Daron to attend WordCamp Europe so in the evening he went to a party and I walked along the Douro River. Porto has much steeper roads than Prague did. Some of the sidewalks are staircases for a block. I walked a couple hundred feet down to the river and walked it back up in a much shorter distance. It was quite a workout but I could tell my legs were stronger than when I was in Prague! Part of my walk along the river actually jetted out over the river. It was a half grated walkway but thankfully it was very sturdy. People passed me jogging and I didn't feel the walkway move.

2 June

For breakfast we went to a cafe. I had eggs, mushrooms, avocado and ham. It was basic but very good. Daron and I walked around a lot today. We went to where the conference was so he could check in. There were lots of peacocks at the Palace Gardens. For lunch we stopped at a cafe and I had a sweet bread sandwich I later learned is called Lanche Misto. It was amazing. On our walk we found a carnival, but we didn't attend. We went to a market, it was a food hall market mix. I got dark chocolate and lemon gelato and Skyped with my sister. I walked back to the airbnb to rest and then met Daron for dinner at Bao's Taiwanese Burger. I had a pulled pork bao, cheese fries and a passion fruit bubble tea. It was very delicious.

3 June

For breakfast we went to a different cafe and I got buckwheat pancakes with yogurt, granola and apple slices. I tried genmaicha tea which tasted very interesting. It's rice tea. I walked with Daron to the Palace Gardens for the conference. I walked through a small shopping mall and a museum on my way back. The permanent exhibit for the museum was closed for renovation so I paid just €3 for 2 temporary exhibits. The first was put together by a doctor and discussed the usefulness of art in medicine. It was very interesting. The other exhibit I didn't really understand. It was 2 Portuguese artists with different styles representing the past 4 decades. Not too far from the airbnb was a craft shop with a limited yarn selection I got the skein for only €1.3! In the afternoon I got my hair cut at Lab Sixtyone Organic Concept. I had a great experience and am so glad my hair is lighter! For dinner Daron and I walked to a nice restaurant and I got a salad that had a lot more fruit on it then I was expecting but it was great. We stopped at a gelato place and I got dark chocolate and passion fruit and Daron got strawberry cheesecake.

4 June

We took a taxi at 4:45 am to make our flight. It was quite a harrowing drive. The roads were empty but the airport was pretty busy. All of the cheap flights leave in the morning. Our airbnb host did let us know so we didn't have any timing issues. I had 2 common Portuguese foods for breakfast before the flight. After arriving to Brussels and a short rest my Aunt took my to Sint Niklaas. The next post will be about that!

Knitted Square