Porto Day 2
Free time in porto
The day was ours to do as we wished. Our first stop was the Portuguese Centre of Photography, a free museum focused on photography and housed in an old prison in the center of Porto. It was one of the best museums we have seen dedicated to photography and was in an amazing space. After the museum we explored Porto and stopped at a couple of notable locations. We visited:
- “The most beautiful McDonald’s in the world” where pigeons and sea gulls have become such a problem that they have hired a hawk to keep the pest birds away.
- The São Bento Train Station, a train station in the center of Porto with 22 thousand tiles that tell a series of different stories around the walls.
- Crossed one of the 6 bridges and climbed many different stairs and hills.
We finished with lunch having the famous Francesinha sandwich. a Portuguese sandwich, originally from Porto, made with layers of toasted bread and assorted hot meats such as roast, steak, wet-cured ham, linguiça, or chipolata over which sliced cheese is melted by the ladling of a near-boiling tomato-and-beer sauce called molho de francesinha. If the above was not enough, you could also add a fried egg.
On our way back to the hotel from lunch we stopped to try the Pastel de nata, a Portuguese egg custard tart pastry.
Port Tasting
Near the end of the day we had a planned port wine tasting at the only port producer still owned and run in Portugal. We learned the history of the company, learned how port is produced, and tasted a variety of different ports. In addition to the included tastings, we tried the only 50 year old port.
Fun with the Group
To finish the night, we had dinner and more wine with our tour group at a local market. As we made our way back to our hotel, we found a Ferris wheel and had to give it a go.
