After a decent traveling breakfast (at my favorite restaurant across from the albergue) I hailed a taxi to the bus station and boarded the bus to Porto from Santiago de Compostela.
Porto is Portugal's second largest city after Lisbon. Many pilgrims bused down there after their Camino was over and some even walked to Porto from Santiago de Compostela. Porto is also a part of the Camino Portuguese, designated the halfway point between Lisbon and SdC.
I loved Porto, the art and culture, the cobblestone streets, the smell of roasted chestnuts from vendors along the main thoroughfares, and the beautiful buildings. I sincerely wished my ankle was better because walking was extremely painful, but I did the best I could and saw as much as I could with the help of my trusty boots and walking stick.
I stayed in a very cool hostel Chris and Melle helped me find. The hostel was decorated with movie posters and each room had its own theme (my room was the Ice Age room). I shared the room with three girls from Lisbon.
Chris and Melle came to find me after a day spent at the beach. They were tanned and relaxed after being here for almost a week. We wandered down the Rua de Santa Catarina which is the main shopping drag in Porto. There is always time for a cocktail with pilgrims, so we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for sangria and then went shopping for clothes at the local mall. You have no idea what a luxury it is to wear new clothes after hiking for six weeks!
At the mall we came upon the "Liberty American Store" which was stock full of American products like Jiff peanut butter and even coconut oil. Melle was over the moon for the Costco size bags of peanut M&Ms. After that we even went on one of those mall 5-D rides which was hilarious (5-D includes a moveable chair and water being sprayed on your face).
We stopped by Chris and Melle's B&B and then went to dinner with Rafael (Switzerland) and Renilde (Belgium). They were a couple who met on the Camino. I had actually met Rafael for a brief hour right outside of Burgos, so it was a pretty neat to see him again. Chris had gotten a recommendation from their hosts on a good place to try Porto's own "francesinha" dish. Francesinha is a sandwich with three types of meat and cheese, covered in melted cheese and a tomato beer sauce, served with fries. I think a full portion is 2,500 calories. I had a half portion, because "when in Rome" and it was DELICIOUS.
Once dinner was over Chris, Melle, and I went clubbing at a place near to my hostel. I was still hurting, but between the wine and pain killers (over the counter) that I had taken, I was able to shake up the dancefloor just enough to make it count. :)
The next day I hobbled over to the Airbnb I had reserved for Elisa and I. It was so great to see her rolling her suitcase across the street to meet me as I let her into the apartment building - a familiar face from home! We left to see a little of Porto and grab something to eat. We were both pretty tired, me from walking on my ankle and Elisa from the jet lag, so we made it an early night.
The following day Elisa and I walked through the city to meet our group for the Porto Food Tour that Elisa had arranged. Our group consisted of a family from England, two friends from Canada, Elisa and I, and our adorable guide, Sara, who had quit her job as an engineer (awesome) to do something she loved - sharing her love of food and her hometown, Porto.
The first stop - Pastel de Chaves... uh, yum. These little pastries are savory and sweet and bused in from the city of Chaves (to the east of Porto) every morning for authenticity. We ate one savory chaves (veal) and one filled with chocolate. The chaves were just as flaky and satisfying as they look in the picture.
Then we strolled through the outdoor market that has been alive and thriving in Porto for over a hundred and fifty years. Sara told us stories explaining how the market had changed over the years and pointed out some of her favorite stalls. Get a look at those tomatoes!
Our second stop was actually a stall inside the market. It is near to impossible to obtain a booth in the market, booths are handed down through generations. And even if you do inherit a booth through your bloodline, you have to keep it the same - same product, same look. The people at this stall had somehow started a new trend of restructuring and redecorating their stall as well as selling new and local products from Porto. We had our first taste of sardines, an incredible olive oil that we dipped bread in, and a Muscat wine to wash it down with. With the wine we were given a Queijadinha, a coconut muffin, which began in Portugal but is also popular in Brazil.
We walked through the streets of Porto towards our next stop. Sara pointed out the codfish for sale in the store windows. Portuguese people love their codfish, in fact, they import more cod than any other country in the world (codfish is not caught near Portugal so they import from Iceland and Canada).
Our next stop was one of the oldest restaurants in Porto. We were treated to a layered sandwich with roasted pork loin and smoked ham (the meat had been curing for 24 months). To. Die. For. We also tried a sparkling red wine with our meal. It was nice to have a seat after all that walking. The rest of the tour went upstairs to see more of the restaurant but I chose to stay downstairs and check out what they had behind their counter.
Next, on to coffee at one of the most famous coffee houses in Porto. Sara explained to us how important coffee is to the people of Portugal, not just the quality of the coffee, but the social and ceremonial aspects to such a treat. She said that Portuguese people didn't understand the need to "take coffee to go" (something Elisa and I noticed when I asked for a latte to go and was handed a tiny water cup with espresso from a confused waitress).
After coffee it was time for dessert, and what's better for dessert than eclairs! Portuguese love French things - you can see that all around Porto and other parts of Portugal. One thing they adopted was the eclair, except theirs are filled with chantilly (or whipped cream). We each tried a lemon and chocolate eclair - very sweet, but delicious.
Before our last stop, we wandered through the Jewish Quarter of Porto and were afforded magnificent views of the city.
And finally we ended the tour near our apartment, at an unmarked door where Sara's friend's shop is located. The shop owners had taken a year to travel around Portugal and sample food and drink from all over the country, selecting their favorites to bring back and sell at their shop. We ate lupin beans (tremocos), meats and cheeses (goat, sheep and cow), bits of freshly cooked chorizo, sardines (pickled and lemon flavored), and olives. We also tried three types of wine. It was such a wonderful way to end the tour and our group really loosened up and chatted while we ate. We had to be nicely kicked out at the end, otherwise we would have stayed forever.
On our way back to the apartment we admired the street art and all the musicians playing in the street. The weather was beautiful (which was a treat because we experienced a lot of rain during our trip).
After a brief rest, E & I struck back out into the city for some port tasting. We walked back to a place Sara had pointed out on our food tour and had recommended to us. The owner even shared his special stamp with me - bonus stamp for my passport! We tried three types of port - ruby, tawny, and white. We also were given two extra tastes of older tawnies because of our affiliation with the food tour. The owner and his wife were a riot and had both walked the camino portuguese the year before.
E and I also stopped by the Porto McDonalds for the sole purpose of checking out the inside of the building. Sara told us the the city had a deal with McDonalds whereby they could have a franchise in Porto and they could rent the building, but they had to maintain the old mural work inside, so they agreed.
In the morning, we metroed to the airport, rented a car, and left for Coimbra. The roads were lined with pine trees and eucalyptus. It reminded me of the Camino and Elisa of San Diego. Elisa was a champ and drove the entire way in Portugal. With her extra points she even got us a Volvo for the trip! (Riding in high style... awww yeah...)
It was pouring rain when we reached Coimbra. We stayed in the car chatting until we were able to check into our Airbnb. Once we were checked in, we took a walk over to the campus at University of Coimbra to see one of the oldest universities in the world (established in 1290).
Our main focus was to see the famous library, but our ticket included seeing the Royal Palace which is still used for doctoral examinations.
The library was tremendous, but unfortunately no one is allowed to take pictures inside. Needless to say if you ever make it to Coimbra, take a peek inside the library and look up - the ceilings are filled with beautiful paintings and the library is filled with thousands of old books.
After the tour it was back to the apartment to listen to the Michigan vs Michigan State football game, much to our disappointment (having lost at the last minute). But what a game!
I couldn't wait for dinner, my pilgrim's metabolism was totally thrown off from going back to normal life, we wandered down to a student cafe for pastries. Portugal's pastries are hands down the best pastries I've ever had (and you will continue to see pictures of them throughout my post). They love to cook with egg yolk, so anything bright yellow is an egg yolk. They also love making sweet muffins made from all sorts of things, including sweet potato, pumpkin, rice, coconut, and cheese.
The next morning we left Coimbra (in the rain) and drove to Conimbriga - a large excavated Roman settlement. It was huge, amazing to see how much of it they had dug up and started to restore. Most of the floors were in tact mosaics from that period (itty bitty tiny pieces of tile still intact). There was a large group of Portuguese tourists that blocked us in for awhile, but we made our way around the outside area before touring through the museum. I thought it was really well done, loved seeing the old scissors and combs.
Our next stop was Fatima. a very holy site for the Catholic church. Unfortunately we arrived right after their big celebration in October, so the church was closed. Fatima is famous for several miracles that occurred at this site, namely one in which the Virgin appeared and told three secrets - one being a description of hell for those who did not pray, one prophesizing the second World War, and one being a secret for a long time (later it was revealed to be the death of a pope). The Vatican had kept the last one a secret until 2000. Some believe the secret was intended to prophesize the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981, but people at the Vatican say that isn't true. Whatever the reasons behind all this are (way too much church drama for me), it seems to be a very sacred place for many people.
I wanted to join in the ceremony of burning the candles, and followed this woman with the big stick (which turned out to be a candle) to where you purchase velas (candles) to throw into the fire. Yes, throw... it is very weird, the ovens are so hot you can't really place your candles in the racks without burning yourself, so people purchase candles and then throw them into the flames. The wax is collected and made into new candles to be sold. So I bought four candles and... well, threw them into the fire one by one. The flames were so hot I thought my eyebrows were going to melt off my face.
We hopped back in the car and drove to Nazare. I loved this town - I loved the whitewashed walls and the tiny little cobblestone streets that led to the ocean. I can see how in the summer this place would be crawling with people, but for us, it was perfect. E & I checked into our apartment and walked down to the beach for a stroll and dinner.
In the morning we ate our pastries and went to a lookout point high above on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. This was one of those times that my breath was literally taken away. The sparkling ocean shined so bright I had to shut my eyes to get rid of the glare.
Our next stop was the Alcobaca Monastery outside of Nazare. The monastery was built in 1153, geez things in Europe are so full of history!
Inside the cathedral are the tombs of Pedro and Ines, a real-life Romeo and Juliet. Pedro's father, Alfonso IV of Portugal ordered Pedro to marry Constance (of the Castille royal family). When Constance arrived, it was her lady in waiting, Ines (of a prominent Galician family) that took Pedro's interest. But he followed his father's order and married Constance; they had four children together before she died in child birth (which doesn't mean he wasn't conducting an illicit affair with Ines on the side). After Constance's death, Alfonso forbade Pedro to marry Ines so the two started living together in secret. Pedro claimed he had married Ines which scared his father because Ines had family ties to Castilian exiles and he worried a civil war would break out in Spain and Portugal would be drawn into it. Alfonso ordered the assassination of Ines which was carried out. Devastated at the loss of his love, Pedro revolted against his father and failed, but his father died shortly thereafter, leaving the throne to Pedro. Legend has it that Pedro exhumed Ines' body and made members of the court kiss her bejeweled dead hand. Legend also goes that he found the men who murdered his beloved, had them kiss her hand and then ripped out their hearts. Either way, there was drama. Back to facts - Pedro had two giant, extravagant tombs built for himself and Ines that are resting in the nave of the cathedral at the monastery.
And then... we had more pastries. I know there are many pictures of pastries, but can you blame me? They were so freaking good!
In the morning, we headed to the center of the old town to take a look around and find breakfast.
As we made our way to the Church of St. Francis, we inadvertently fell into shopping mode. Portugal is the biggest producer of cork in the world. Cork is actually bark from the cork tree that is stripped a few times in the tree's life. The Portuguese have found a way to make anything and everything out of cork - purses, postcards, luggage, placemats, and even clothes.
We stopped in for lunch and had an interesting sandwich with pork that had been flattened to an almost lunch meat thickness. It was seasoned perfectly and helped revive me.
Our last stop of the day was the Church of St. Francis where the Chapel of Bones was located. This was my favorite church in Portugal and one of my favorites on the trip. The tile work combined with the myriad of colored marble made such a colorful and beautiful atmosphere. And if there is one thing that unhinges me besides a baby goat, it is seeing colored light from stained glass hitting a wall (the Sagrada Familia almost undid me). Each royal family had created a side chapel that flanked the walls of the church leading up to the altar.
The Chapel of Bones (or Capela dos Ossos) is just as creepy as it sounds. Built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk, this chapel contains over 5,000 skeletons. The monk had wanted to convey to the general public how fleeting life was, how we all die and to be comfortable and prepared for our own mortality. I went in and walked around, in awe, but also a little creeped out. Elisa told me that normally there is a full mummified corpse in there but it had been removed for restoration... that's fine with me!
We wandered through the whitewashed maze of houses and cobblestone roads to a local restaurant where we dined on meats and cheeses and bread and olives... at least that's what I ate. The Portuguese are smart, they bring out these delicious appetizers and put them on your table. If you eat them, you pay for them, if you don't, they hand them to the next sucker. I think I was able to refuse the apps once in our entire time in Portugal. Sometimes I just made it my meal!
As we left Evora we got a better look at the wall surrounding the city. It was an amazing site to take in. Evora definitely has more to offer than I initially thought. I think out of all the cities in Portugal that I visited, this one surprised me the most.
Elisa drove us down to the Algarve which is the southern coast of Portugal. Normally this place is hopping as a tourist spot, but we did arrive at the end of October and still found people, but not throngs of visitors. I kind of like it better that way anyways. We checked into our sweet hotel that Elisa had booked with her points and were surprised and excited to hear that we had been upgraded. This hotel was swanky, let me tell you. We each had our own bathroom with a shower, toilet, bidet, and full bathtub. That means we had a total of four places to bathe in in this hotel room. Craziness.
We hopped a ride on the shuttle into the town of Villamoira and walked around a bit looking for a place to eat dinner. Most places by the water were way overpriced and stuffy. So we walked a bit inland and found a perfect place that served small plates of local foods, highlighting the seafood. Recommendations from the waitress for food and wine were perfect and we had ourselves a great little meal.
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