Day 12 Thursday 18th April

 Wake up. breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon. Fruit and yoghurt. One cup of juice two cups of coffee.


Shower. Brush your teeth and out the door. That's the routine give or take a few pills and such.

The first port of call is the magnificent food hall which was closing down last night. Today at 11 am it is bustling with people. Many are drinking wine as they wander the rows of stalls here. The displays are impressive and the stall holders are very friendly. So colourful. It's a delight to spend time just looking at what's on offer.


From there we walk to Porta Calling to grab a Smiths T-Shirt for Liz. I give the owner a copy of the new album by The Fiction and chat about Rowland Howard and Nick Cave and everything Australian. Liz and I do a mini photo shoot with all the Clash memorabilia. We also look at the vintage store next door but Liz doesn't find anything.

Across the road is a dedicated Tin Tin shop which is loaded with Tin Tin toys including the rocket I have at home. The biggest one they have is $2500 dollars and they also have a tin tin submarine for a substantial sum too. As we wander the city every turn displays something to look at. Ornate buildings that house artist work areas. We seem to go around in circles sometimes.

We pop into a church with a very high tower that we don't go up and then we buy some French Fries from McDonald's that look like a 5-star Michelin restaurant with chandeliers and stuff. We pose in front of what looks like a government building with a huge Porto sign. and we continue to walk the town discovering new things all the time.


We head to a record shop called Sicoro which means 'Help'.A great-looking record shop with plenty of space. But I don't buy a record I buy a Batman toy. That looks like a robot.

Back to the hotel for a siesta before heading out to dinner at the Food Hall once more. We had seen them preparing pasta dishes there and wanted to try them. They mix the pasta and sauce up in giant cheese wheels. fantastic. And with a few glasses of wine from the wine stall, we have a great feed. walk off the food with a leisurely stroll and then back to the hotel.








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