Portugal, near Porto, July 2023

Monday

Went for a run, then a swim. Felt very virtuous.

R woke with a headache, which was a shame as today was her choice of activity (port tour) combined with F’s (trip into Porto). She thought she would be okay, so after a slow get up, F and G ordered Ubers and off we went.

We were dropped at the cathedral. Porto reminds me of Rome—lots of pretty squares, old buildings, and music. The cathedral had various buskers, nice atmosphere. Husband suggested he could lead us on a walking tour. After following it for a few streets he was fired/resigned and F took over. We walked across the railway bridge (at the same time as trains, which I found as unnerving as the height of the thing) while M told us how fantastic it is (first ever bridge to double as both a suspension bridge on the lower deck and a sitting-on-a-support bridge on the upper level). It’s not pretty though.

Husband persuaded M to climb a wall, and he grazed his fingers. More blood than expected. I was more concerned than he was. We wandered down to the river, and F suggested a restaurant area, and J found a suitable restaurant on Google, and we sat down for lunch. Patched up M with plasters. Food was really good (I had a cod burger, very tasty). Used the washrooms (because this is often not easy in a city). There was a busker nearby who couldn’t sing, but thought he could. It was painful. G had bites on his hand (I assume a mosquito not R) and his whole hand was swelling. We offered sympathy, but no one had anything more helpful.

Went for a walk. It was hot. M wanted to post a postcard, so went into the Tourist Information to ask where to post it. We were directed to a tiny shop selling trinkets, who had a shoebox-sized box in the doorway. This, apparently, is the box for international mail. It will be amazing if the card ever reaches home.

Went to Calem Port place. Had a tour, which we all remembered from when we did it last time (though it’s actually very well done). Went into the port tasting room. As we are seven people, we asked a couple if they would move so we could sit together. They refused. I photographed them (but family were adamant that I should not post it on my blog). R took some aspirin, which didn’t bode well. However, it turns out that aspirin and port is good for headaches, perhaps I’ll try this next time I’m ill.

We tasted 3 ports: a white, a rosé and a tawny. I preferred the rosé so gave my others away. M ended up with a row of tawnys, J did well with the whites. Husband chatted to the strangers next to him (of course he did). Nice afternoon. Ice creams, then ordered Ubers back to the villa. They arrived in about 5 minutes, it’s a really good service.

Within 3 minutes, at the most, of arriving home, Husband was persuading people into the pool to play  a game. ‘Keepy-Uppy.’ It’s a game that’s very noisy and lasts for about 6 hours. They seemed happy, though I fear Husband might have hyper-active tendencies. R and I tried to read, but it’s hard to concentrate with the noise coming from the pool. Sometimes I think nothing has changed in the last 20 years.

Thanks for reading, I’ll tell you more in my next blog.

Hope you have a fun week. Take care.
Love, Anne x

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