Day 10 Tuesday 16th April

 


Leaving Sintra today to go to Porto so have breakfast, pack bags and call a BOLT. We requested to go to the station just close to us but he took us to the bigger one. We have no clue where anything is here and all we see is steps since we have all our cases that's just not gonna work for us so we get him to take us to the end of line Sintra station.

Get tickets and get on board to Lisbon first. Change trains at Oriente. A newish main station for Lisbon but we don't have time to look around although it's supposed to look very cool. Then we are on the train to Porto. 3 hours and we are travelling backwards and nothing much happens. At least they had a kiosk on board so we could get something to eat.

Arrive at Porto station and transfer to Sao Benton. This station is a work of art and we'll be back to take more photos. A stunning start to our Porto adventure. There is a lot of roadworks around the station, creating a haze of dust and noise. We catch a taxi to the hotel and arrive in no time. The cobblestone driveway is a pain with the suitcases but check-in is smooth and the girl looking after us is charming.


A lovely room with a balcony and easy access to coffee and tea. And a complimentary bottle of wine. Red though and we are in a white wine mood over here. So we walk over to the grocery grab a bottle of white and sit on the balcony. There is a day centre next door so we can hear screaming kids. Yikes.

We decide to wander around 6pm aiming to catch up with Richard Bergman and his partner Kim around 7. Richard was the guitarist in Sunnyboys one of my favourite bands back in the day and who we used to support a lot. We even supported them a couple of years ago at the Corner.

The walk is all downhill which is great and Port looks fabulous. Liz manages to find a vintage store and buy herself a dress. We meet Richard and Kim at a waterfront restaurant MU Ro Du Bacaulha. Food is a selection of Portuguese delights, Pork, duck, beef and cod. All delicious. And the conversation over wine was excellent. A lovely meal followed by a walk along the waterfront. Buskers play under the Luis Bridge. Lots of people out for 10pm on a Tuesday night. 

We say goodbye and promise to catch up another time. Then Liz and I walk the uphill slog to the hotel vowing that next time we'll just catch a bolt. However, we haven't walked much today so let's just count this as an exercise.





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