Rainy Day in Porto

It wasn’t supposed to rain much in Porto today but… tell that to the clouds. We started the day walking to the famous outdoor market. It was basically an over-priced food market with gorgeous looking flowers, fruits, vegetables, fresh fish and other specialty foods. We purchased meh little pies for lunch and left.

Afterwards we walked to the medieval wall and bridge over the river. It is fascinating to see all the very, very old and dilapidated buildings located in the center of the city that also has exquisitely appointed tile-covered homes. The rule is that a building has to become so bad before the owner has to right to tear it down and build something new in its place that will cost much less to develop. Housing here is not as much an issue of not enough dwellings, but the condition of the homes.

I do love the variety of building styles and ages. There is absolutely nothing like it on the west coast of the US and Canada. Old is 150 years. Here old is 1300’s. And the walls and roofs grow flowers. So charming. We walked down (again, everything is on hills - very steep hills) to the river’s edge and then back up again. My legs were tired.

It was now really raining so Kirsten, Lennart and I took a nap and hung out at the apartment and have some much deserved quiet time. Sheryl had the energy to walk around some more. Good for her. It was nice to have the garden to appreciate in the rain.

We found rabbit on sale and Lennart cooked up a delicious rabbit stew with actually tasty gluten-free spaghetti for dinner. We shared a lovely bottle of wine and watched some Netflix show about Street food. A perfect evening.Read more