Still wet. Very wet. Wetter than a very wet thing.
We took ourselves to the Parque Biologico de Gaia. An AIRE attached to a nature reserve on the outskirts of town. Neatly hedged pitches with water and drainage and deer in the background. It wasn’t a cheap stay but entrance to the park was included so in we went.
I think we were the only ones there. I suppose they can’t give the animals the day off if it’s quiet so they may as well open. It’s pretty much what you’d expect in terms of European wildlife but we enjoyed watching the foxes and the otters appeared to enjoy watching us.
A peaceful if wet night night and we set off next morning to explore the city.
A new experience for us... We booked an Uber. We’re not used to such metropolitan ways but it worked out very well. Picked us up where we wanted when they said and the price was pre-fixed so non of that meter watching. Well use it again (and we did.)
Porto looks a fine city but the shine was taken off much of it because of the rain. But in full sight-seeing mode the churches and museums tended to be dry and indoors so they were an obvious attraction.
We took an old tram to the coast, watched the waves crash spectacularly over the breakwater and caught the same tram back. At the first stop was a bearded, slightly scruffy individual who explained in perfect English the workings of the tram, the route, the cost, very helpful. As we boarded he said, rather apologeticall, “If you could spare a little something, you see I’m homeless.” We could and did. He was clearly an intelligent man who was doing something positive to collect a few euros.
An excellent meal on the old harbour made up the rest of the day before another cab home.
A good, if wet, visit
We took ourselves to the Parque Biologico de Gaia. An AIRE attached to a nature reserve on the outskirts of town. Neatly hedged pitches with water and drainage and deer in the background. It wasn’t a cheap stay but entrance to the park was included so in we went.
I think we were the only ones there. I suppose they can’t give the animals the day off if it’s quiet so they may as well open. It’s pretty much what you’d expect in terms of European wildlife but we enjoyed watching the foxes and the otters appeared to enjoy watching us.
A peaceful if wet night night and we set off next morning to explore the city.
A new experience for us... We booked an Uber. We’re not used to such metropolitan ways but it worked out very well. Picked us up where we wanted when they said and the price was pre-fixed so non of that meter watching. Well use it again (and we did.)
Porto looks a fine city but the shine was taken off much of it because of the rain. But in full sight-seeing mode the churches and museums tended to be dry and indoors so they were an obvious attraction.
We took an old tram to the coast, watched the waves crash spectacularly over the breakwater and caught the same tram back. At the first stop was a bearded, slightly scruffy individual who explained in perfect English the workings of the tram, the route, the cost, very helpful. As we boarded he said, rather apologeticall, “If you could spare a little something, you see I’m homeless.” We could and did. He was clearly an intelligent man who was doing something positive to collect a few euros.
An excellent meal on the old harbour made up the rest of the day before another cab home.
A good, if wet, visit