Dinner last night was at our apartment. We had shallots, green olives and penne pasta. Jill suggested we construct a meal from what we had and what we could pickup at the local grocery store, wrinkled tomatoes, chicken tenders and a bag of assorted greens which we made into a delicious meal. The kitchen in our apartment is not well fitted out. Just a dull paring knife and crappy chipped nonstick pans, which I wouldn’t use, and some old stainless steel pots. We made do. It was better than camping. I was happy that someone had left pirri pirri sauce, a welcome bit of heat to my concoction. It was a success and delicious.
We had a good sleep in and hit the road a little after ten. As we stepped out of the entrance of our apartment it started raining steadily. We had our semi-protective rain gear on so off we went. We took the same trail along the river. Every time we walk the cobblestone roads I imagine how labour intensive it must have been. Surely and sadly as a result of slave labour from their colonial days.
At our turnaround, the rain got heavier for several minutes and then stopped. We dried off quickly by the time we got back to the Ponte Luis bridge. We were craving a bifana so we headed to where we knew we could get the best. We crossed the bridge using the high pedestrian path then followed the river to Azul e Branco. It had stopped raining but the outdoor seating was wet so we sat inside. Today the bifana was a little more spicy but still delicious. The portion was especially large. We couldn’t help raving about how good it was between mouthfuls. It started raining heavily so I ordered a triple espresso and a pastel de nata. It was so satisfying after the bifana. The rain stopped and we paid our bill, three beers, two bifana, espresso and pastel de nata came to 11.80 €. A bargain. Back home this would have cost us at least three times as much. This was not a tourist location which explains why the cost was so low.
Interesting to note that all the wine we have purchased has come with a cork. No screw tops here. Also, we have not had a corked wine, a flaw which comes from a bad cork. Why? Portugal is the number one country in the world for cork production and they apparently, know how to prepare corks to avoid this flaw.
We took the high trail back to the bridge and took the stairs down to the river level to walk through the market which was bustling with tourists eating and shopping. We took a road up to a small park where there was a statue of Prince Henry the Navigator, 1394-1460. He was responsible for Portugal’s influence in the Great Age of Exploration. It was then back down to the lower pedestrian bridge to Gaia. We still had to navigate our way up stairs and steep streets to get to the top of Gaia where we are staying. At this point we had been walking for almost four hours and were getting weary. We had to reach deep down to get ourselves back to the top with frequent stops to muster up our strength.
Dinner tonight is a combo of leftovers and a tomato spaghetti. Tomorrow we move to the airport hotel for one more night in Porto. It’s been a wonderful time. I feel like I’ve lost three to four pounds and have become more fit. Bonus!
Is that your Portugal apron, or supplied by the apartment?
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