Oporto

Arrived back today from Porto, Portugal. The holiday began arriving at Oporto Airport. A fairly new and modern Airport and apart from the usual long walks it has a brand new Metro/Tram connection bring you right into Trinidade Metro station where several lines meet. The Hotel Malaposto was easy enough to find, however it was a long walk mostly uphill and Oporto has a one way traffic system which made it difficult to access the Hotel by Bus. The boring, to some bits first. Yes there is a modern new Metro system with 5 Lines and also you could see new old tramlines being put down for a Heritage Tram. There is already a very old tram line running along the North quay which makes a nice trip to the sea side (well a short walk further along) and again you can follow about 3 Km of tram lines due to be re opened after years of neglect. Talking to an English guy running a shop it has taken 5 years to put the rails down, almost as long as it took to build the new Metro system. Most of the shops and Cafes seem to be in a bit of a time warp. Coffee can cost as little as 50 cent and a bowl of soup 80c. But maybe not Haute Cuisine is on offer. On the first day apart from going on the old tram we also hopped on a bus which eventually reached a little beach called Madalena. Even in October it was like a warm Irish Summer day. The bus trip was not for the fainthearted and the driver was blowing his horn around each twisty corner and shouting at motorists around him. On the bus we met an English Couple who had just arrived by car and caravan and they also couldn’t believe the roads and relayed the nightmare journey driving a car and caravan to their camping site ( Only mad Englishmen drive caravans in the midday sun?)
On another day we went on a short boat trip along the city quays with a supposed free trip thrown in to a local Port tasting trip. However the free drink of port was really a con and left a sour taste in the mouth (sick joke sorry). We also visited several cafes and one famous one the 'Majestic' stood out. Mum noticed there were at least 3 'Ernest Hemingway' types in the cafe and several people writing letters and passing a whole afternoon over coffee. We also visited Mac Donalds which in Oporto was previously a Cafe rather like the Majestic and the 'art Deco' interior was retained plus they still do nice coffee and local soup. More to follow........