Of course we woke up starving since we had skipped dinner the night before.  And because we have been eating well since arriving in PT. We decided to walk down & across the river to where the first hop-on bus stop is and look for breakfast along the way. Nothing was open on the river side! And it was nearly 9:00. So we decided to hop on the first bus and hop-off somewhere when we saw restaurants open. We were one of only 2 couples on the bus when it pulled out and we had good seats up on the open top level. It would have been great for photos except for the bumpy cobblestone streets!

We rode a while then got off near the tourist site of Clerigo Tower and found a pastry place. After breakfast, I went in to use the toilet. This was my first time on this trip that I had to do the nasty squat since there was no toilet seat. It was challenging for my arthritic hips and aching legs, but I managed without peeing on the floor (better than others before me) thank you very much!

We went next door to the pharmacy to get some sun block since it never occurred to us to bring any. (We were sure it would be cool & cloudy in Porto.)  I showed Wayne one small tube that was 18.99 euros. He was like “no way.” Then the pretty girl came to help.  She grabbed one off a shelf and he said “sure.” It turned out to be 24.95 euros. Never buy anything at a pharmacy near a tourist site.

We did more riding around on the tourist bus then eventually got off in Vila Nova de Gaia right near where our rental apartment will be so we could check out the ‘hood. After walking quite a bit, we finally found what we thought would be our nearest real grocery store – a Pingo Doce. We spent about an hour there as I made note of prices of things so I could compare them to what we pay now. When we got back to the apartment with our purchases, my brain was too fried to convert ounces & pounds to grams and kilograms plus dollars to Euros. But I can tell you this. We bought a bag of ground coffee, a single pear, a big chunk of excellent soft cheese, 3 fresh baguettes, a bar of soap, a 1/4 pound of gourmet olives, and a bottle of tasty red wine. The total was 13.22 euros. Far less than it would be in the US.

We spent the next few hours in the apartment. We had to move to the apartment next door today. Long story short, it was because I had changed the booking after this turned into a research trip instead of a vacation. The new apartment next door does not have all the windows so our view is not as awesome. But the bathroom is better.  Back at the apartment, we just snacked on our purchases instead of going for lunch and drank some wine. Ok – Wayne had to go out to get another bottle…

Dinner was reserved across the river in the Ribeira at Terra Nova which I found and reserved through TripAdvisor.. We got a great spot and the food was exceptional. We shared a starter of cod cakes that were light as air. Then shared a small beef (bife) Wellington and a dessert. It was just perfect with the cool night air and amazing river view.  It made the walk back across the bridge and up the hill almost bearable for my old bones. Even though this was a hop-on, hop-off, day, we still posted over 14,000 steps and 18 floors!

Wow – the days here are whizzing by so quickly!