Sunday, August 4, 2019

We slept reasonably well at Hotel Dom Henrique Downtown in Porto.
The breakfast is also good, only Pia lacks some vegetables for breakfast. The espresso, from Douwe Egberts, is somewhat less drinkable.

At the reception we buy tickets for the Yellow Bus Tours; 2 days including boat trip and wine tasting.
Today we will do the Historical Route, with the boat trip. At the bus we get ears, we get in and sit at the top and we drive through the center of Porto. It is nice to see, but we have little chance of taking pictures.
We get off at the Bairro de Ribeira along the Douro and walk to the tour boats. We have to wait half an hour, and it is very busy. If we can get on board, there is a long line ahead, there are only places left inside. It is a nice boat trip under all the bridges of Porto and to the mouth of the Douro in the ocean.
We go back on the bus that now runs through Gaia, on the other side of the Douro. This piece is less fun, there are a lot of new buildings and it seems that the bus only runs here because of the wine tasting.

Back in Porto we get out and look for something to eat.
It is in Rua das Flores again, tapas and bacalhoa, bill 30 Euro.
We walk towards the Douro and suddenly we see a hotel where we have slept before. The Rua das Floras was then a very small street without restaurants. Porto has changed considerably.
We walk to the river and it is very busy on the boulevard, so we leave quickly. Via a steep, narrow street, where we have a drink, we come up the hill again and from there we go to the hotel. It is not too bad, it is not that far to walk.
We watch TV and then we feel like eating again. We have eaten once in the Via Catarina Shopping, it is a 10 minute walk. But it's already half past nine, and the shopping center closes at 10 pm.
A bit back is Champ's da Baixa Bistrô where we eat, moderate and expensive.

Written on: 2019-08-05

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