But its always onwards and upwards when you are on a holiday so, summoned by the alarm, we were out of the apartment before 7am, and trundling off over the cobbles on our way to the station. Certainly gave us a good cardio workout for the morning as we toiled up the hills pulling our suitcases, and the sunrise in the morning was lovely from the top. Have I mentioned how hilly Lisbon is?
Caught the 7:30am train north towards Porto, but took a pit stop half way in Coimbra to break up the trip. Nice town, great pastries. Came across the ruins of the torture chambers of the Portuguese inquisition. I always thought that the inquisition was confined mainly to Spain (and ‘nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition’), but, no, there was also a Portuguese Inquisition and a Roman Inquisition, and the Portuguese one extended to its colonies in Africa and as far away as Goa in India.
Portugal makes their cappuccinos differently to other countries we’ve been to. They start by frothing a whole glass of milk, then pour a shot of coffee into it. No chocolate on top. So it ends up very frothy – not at all smooth and textured like we are used to. Wandered up and down the streets of the town just admiring the architecture and views for a few hours, then resumed our train trip north to Porto. Have I mentioned how hilly Coimbra is?
Arrived in Porto mid afternoon, and walked to our apartment. Has quite a different feel to Madrid, apart from the hills of course. Lots of blue on white tiles, especially the train station and cathedrals. Told that they were a sign of wealth, but also lasted for hundreds of years instead of painting every 5 years or so. Porto was literally a port until container ships took over, so its a working town with no castles or nobility. I like it – though its had its ups and downs economically as it lost its main source of income.
After checking in to our swank, spacious apartment (shall we eat in the kitchen or the lounge room tonight?), we headed down to the supermarket to stock up on healthy food choices since we’ll be here three nights. After tea prepared in the fully fitted out kitchen (2 types of coffee machines), we tried to catch up on email, messages, blogs and bookings.
Rua Dr. Antonio Emilio de Magalhães 4, 4000 Porto, Portugal