Ponte de D. Luís

First full day in Portugal... i cannot say it enough. i love this city.

After sleeping in for a bit after the excitement last night, we headed into the city for another day of exploring. As we got into Porto we decided today was the day we would take a boat and wine tour because .... Why the hell not!

First up, we took a boat tour of the Duoro River that connects to the Atlantic Ocean and seperates Gaia from Porto City. The river is famous for its 5 huge bridges crossing it built by 5 arxhitexts. Honestly the tour was just relaxing and we got to see a complete view of the city! There were these men on the boat who sat near us from Manchester... Let's just say I know they are all doctors and they make a lot of money. Because they kept saying it. To each other. Im pretty sure my eyes rolled out of my head and Taylor's weren't far behind.

After the boat tour, we headed to the Gaia side to take our wine tour! We started at a cute cafe where we had pastel de nata - Portugese custard treats. These have always been a favourote of mine but man, are they amazing in Portugal. Next stop: Calem wineries for the tour and tasting!

We did the wine tour in french because A) it was an hour earlier than the engliah tour and B) the girls are fluent in french and I underatand it. I actually learned ao much about the grape growing process and why they use the caves in Gaia to store port wine! We got to see the barrels where the wine is stored and learned about the different classifications of Port Wine (white, Rose, Tawny and Ruby)! And I understood all of the french thankyouverymuch. After the tour cane the best part... The tasting. I am a huge fan of port wine but for those who know me, white is definitely my favourite. We were served a tawny and a semi dry white in these gorgeous Calem wine glasses... Which may or may not have left te building with us. Oops.

Next stop was a wine museum where we didn't learn anything but we got 2 more glasses of wine. I love Portugal.

We stopped by the Taylor wineries so Taylor could see her namesake before heading to the mall (El Corte Ingles) where we all did a bit of shopping! After shopping, we sat in Starbucks and made friends with the barista (as usual) and I am pretty sure I will be movong to Portugal sometime soon. Mark my words.

We walked around Porto after this to try and find some night life... And we didnt find any. So we sat at an outdoor PATIO and had a pitcher of sangria to end the night.

Did I mention I love Portugal?Read more