Day 8 - The Long Train Ride

We decided to take a train between Porto and Madrid instead of flying.  My initial thought was the distance was not that great (230 miles), so it should be faster than having to navigate through security and everything else.  I was wrong.  There are apparently no direct trains, and no high speed trains that run between these two cities.  First we ran north on a local train to Vigo just across the border into Spain.  We had to change trains (and stations) in Vigo, but had 1.5 hrs to make this transition, so no problem.  However, our train from Porto didn't quite make it to Vigo. It came within about 30 mins, then they de-boarded us, put us on buses, and took us to the Vigo station.  Still no problem, we had time.  

We arrived at the first Vigo station and started looking for signs on how to get to the 2nd station, but there was no signage.  Google maps got us there, but we were on top of building with a playground and gym equipment (hilly city put us at the top with more building below us). We figured this station was down, but had to figure out how to get there.  Eventually found our way into an empty mall (every shop closed for an unknown holiday, but with a few cafes open).  We ate our packed lunches and boarded our second train. 

This train continued traveling north (away from Madrid) for another hour before making a stop and eventually heading southeast.  9 hours later we made it to Madrid.

I was so surprised by the cars on the second train!  They had two seats on one side and 3 on the other instead of the usual 2-2.  I think the seats and aisle were narrower to squeeze in one more seat in each row.  I definitely didn't like this option.  It's just like airline seats where you can get stuck in the middle seat between two people you don't know.  At least with the 2-2 arrangement you are either on the aisle or window. 

The train tracks were very smooth and the train was quiet, so it was not a bad ride (just long).  There were a lot of dirt berms along the side of the track, so I didn't get so see as much countryside as I wanted, but still got to see a lot. 

I had never given much thought to whether the climate in Portugal differed from Spain.  Both are on the Iberian penninsula and neighbors, but there were definite differences between Porto and Madrid.   Both were experiencing record heat, but with Porto being on the coast, it was cooler.  Madrid was 95 degrees the day we arrived.  What we saw of Portugal had more green, trees, etc.  What we saw of Spain in the train ride was quite arid.  It reminded me a bit of New Mexico. 

Some agriculture

Some orchards with evidence of irrigation

We eventually made it into Madrid and took a long metro ride to our apartment. Thank goodness it was air conditioned because it was HOT!

Day 7 - Port tasting, river cruise and fireworks!

We filled our last day in Porto with so many fun things! We started with a port tasting tour at a small family owned winery, called Augustus. It had been in a single family for 3 generations and most of the employees were still family members.  What was especially nice about this tour was they offered an option of port or chocolate tasting, so I got to enjoy the chocolate while the rest enjoyed the port. 

Everyone got to taste 3 different ports after learning more about their aging process.

Port has a demarcated economic region in northern Portugal along the Douro River.  Only wines that originate in this region on the map can legally be called "Port".  Just like Champagne from Champagne France is the only "real champagne" and the rest is sparkling wine, and parmasean cheese originates in Parma Italy. 

Our guide shared that Port is aged in oak barrels from France, Canada or the US.  They are used for a limited time, then sold to whisky distilleries to flavor the aging whisky. 

Color changes not just from white or red grapes, but also how long it is aged.  Our guide was so good with reading colors that when we had mixed up glasses from the tasting and were trying to decide which one was which, he just held it up to the light and said "this is the tawny or the 20...".

I asked our guide about the image of climate change on the grapes and he said it had had a real impact.  There is an expert panel that independently determines whether the wine and port in a given year is "vintage" or not (meaning excellent or top quality).  Normally there are vintage years every 3-4 years, but they had not had a vintage year in more than a decade. 

On our way down from the bridge to the river, we passed a lot of roofs that were connected.  These were all storage warehouses for port. 

This was a historic riverboat used to bring the port down the river from the vineyards.  We saw some video footage from the river and there is some whitewater rapids, so it is an adventurous ride to do with a boat full of wine casks.  I think these are just advertisements for various vineyards now.  There were several along the water front, all branded. 

Our visit happened to coincide with the peak of sardine season, which is a really big deal in Portugal.  They are harvested May - Oct, but June is the traditional peak time of the season.  People will grill them over charcoal and serve them whole on top of bread.  

David and Scott both decided to try this out when we walked past a cafe that was grilling fish out front.  They were super fresh (and according to them - also delicious).

What we didn't realize when we booked our trip was that we would be in Porto during Saint John's Festival (Festa de Sao Joao do Porto) on June 23.  It has been celebrated for over 600 years.  The celebrations have no real religious connections today, they are just a big city-wide party.  As we walked around in the morning and early afternoon, we saw a large number of vendor selling handcrafted items, and weirdly, these plastic bopper hammers.  Our guide at the port warehouse told us not to be surprised or offended if total strangers bopped us on the head today.  It was all in good fun.  Little did we know what was coming at the end of the day!

We had arranged for a sunset river cruise at the end of the day.  Scott was torn about which tour to pick and eventually selected one that was based off a pier upstream.  We weren't sure quite what size boat we would be on.  We made our way to the docks and were amused to find this group of young people getting ready to cruise the river with TV mounted to the front of the boat to watch the Portuguese team play in the world cup.  It looked like quite a party!

This was our boat!  There were a total of 10 of us and we all squeezed on the front deck.   

I took one of the bean bags on the prow and was super content as we cruised down river toward the sea. 

Our host was very social and talk a lot about the history of the city.  The ride was nice and slow, giving us plenty of time to look at the party building on both sides of the river along the walks.

The inflatable pylons that had been used for the Red Bull air races a few days previously had been replaced with at least 10 of the pirotecina barges, loaded with fireworks for midnight. 

They managed to pile a lot of explosives on these barges!

Although the day had been cloudy, the sun peaked under the clouds as it was setting, giving us a pretty cruise. 

Its a little hard to fully appreciate how packed the river banks were, but we were content to be on our boat instead of in the press of revelers on shore.

This was a new bridge under construction.  Our guide said it was scheduled to be complete next year, but his prediction given other projects was that it would take 5 years. 

The mouth of the Douro River.  According to tradition, after the fireworks at midnight, everyone along the river walks all the way to the Foz at the ocean front to splash in the water at sunrise.

Our guide shared port with everyone (and I got "nectar of the Gods" which was actually current juice). 

The sun was setting as the 2 hr ride finished.  We decided to walk back to our apartment along the river and check out the festival underway. 

The lights started coming up on the bridge and as we got closer to the center.

Soon we started seeing lighted paper lanterns drifting into the sky all over the city.

The lanterns were actually fire resistant fabric, not paper, with little parafin-like burners at the base.  We decided we had to have one too and bought one from a vendor to launch off our apartment patio.

We climbed 250 stairs from the river front to the top of the city, getting bobbed by friendly hammer-wielding strangers the entire way.  Words can really convey the chaos and fun of the celebration.  Streets were closed all over the old city, including near our apartment.  People were dancing, drinking, and having a great time. 

We returned to a yummy chacuterie board that we ate on the patio, surrounded by floating lanterns.  So magical!

We knew we had to stay up till midnight to see all the fireworks.  They were spectacular!  And I was glad to be able to see them from our patio instead of being in the press of humanity along the river front.  We did not go to the ocean to splash in the water at sunrise, instead we headed to bed for an early departure by train in the morning. 

Day 6 - Beach adventure

After visiting the Cathedral, David and I decided to try to visit the beach.  I had read reviews of several different beaches in the area which ranged from "party beach to rocky beach to sandy-and-sheltered-for-swimming beach". None of them were particularly close.  Although we had had some very hot sunny days, today was not sunny and only moderately hot.  We decided to try "swimming beach" but didn't bring our suits.  Our plan was just to walk in the surf and enjoy the ocean. 

We took the metro to a commuter rail station and waited for our train.  I wondered if some of these logs were from the downed trees from the winter storms that lashed the country this year.

I was really glad that I bought round trip tickets, because this is the platform that we ended up at.  No station at all, not even an automated ticket machine.  A return train comes through every hour, so we needed to keep an eye on the clock depending on when we wanted to be home.

It was a tiny town.  We grabbed lunch at this beach front cafe.  It was overcast, but not chilly at all. 

It was a good swimming beach and 10-15 kids were splashing in and out of the water. 

We decided to walk along the sea wall first and then wade into the water. 

There were so many small mussels bunched on the rocks.

This fisherman was down with his knife scraping the mussels off the rocks and into a back.  David thought he might be using them for bait. They were too small to be harvesting to eat. 

The sand was a little too gravelly to walk barefoot, so we decided to sit on the rocks and just soak our feet.

When we took the train back into Porto, we got off a few stops early and walked across the Dom Luis bridge.

This is part of the Fernandine Walls that once surrounded the city.  They date back to the 1360s and were mostly removed in the 1700s as the city expanded. 

We've noticed a lot of vacant and run down buildings around the city, even in what appear to be very attractive locations - riverside views, so I looked it up.  There are an estimated tens of thousands of empty buildings.  Problems include: Much of Porto’s center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Local architectural rules require owners to preserve historic facades and specific structural elements. Meeting modern seismic and safety codes within these old wooden and stone frameworks makes renovation prohibitively expensive for the average citizen. Properties are often passed down to multiple heirs rather than a single owner. If family members disagree on whether to sell, renovate, or divide the property, the building frequently gets caught in a judicial deadlock and sits vacant for years. Dating back to the Salazar dictatorship, many properties were locked into old rent control contracts. Landlords made little to no profit and couldn't afford building upkeep, causing a widespread physical decline of the city's buildings. Some corporate entities or private investors buy up decaying property portfolios, leaving them empty.  To combat this, the Portuguese government and municipalities in the region have implemented measures such as tripling property taxes on unused buildings to pressure owners into selling or renting them.