Before I start on the day, I want to tell one small story from yesterday….. I was doing some housecleaning and walked out to recycle our bottles and throw away the trash, having the key in the same hand as the trash.  Since my hands were full, I popped open the trash dumpster lid and quickly tossed the bag into it.  Just as I released it, I realized that the apartment key had hung on the handle of the bag, dragging it out of my hands and into the dumpster.  Fortunately, it was a smallish dumpster and was fairly full so it landed where I could get to it with a slight reach, but it did send my heart to racing!!!

Today we welcomed Roy and Diane to the Arnold Adventure Tour family!!  Roy and Diane are repeat customers….having been on two previous trips….Oxford, England and Rome, Italy!!!  

Before Michael headed to work, he wanted to fill up the car but we found that we had to wait in a line to get to the pumps.  Amazingly, a passenger bus (a BIG bus) pulled in behind us and waited patiently for our little car to fill up with Diesel!!

I dropped Michael off at CIBIO and headed the 20 minutes to the airport, arriving a bit early.  I found an interesting magazine cover…..

I am afraid that this is the basic feeling over here.

While I waited, I made a welcome sign…..

…and before I knew it, they had arrived…..

As I stood at the Arrival Gate, I contemplated the enjoyment of arriving on an airplane!!   People come out looking excited to see family and friends, scared of what new things they might encounter, or down-right bored that they are once again in the Porto airport!!!!  

Even the little man at the Arrival gate is happily waving …

After a lunch and short rest time, they were ready to set out and see Vila do Conde….rain included!!!

We started just walking down residential streets, enjoying the door knockers that we found…..

I loved the bright colors in these shutters……

…and this scroll work ……

However, some of the buildings were quite dilapidated…..

….although looking inside was quite riveting……

It is easy to imagine how beautiful the place would be…..with a lot of work!!!

The rain came and went as we walked, but it was a wonderful time…..

As we moved into a more modern neighborhood, we admired the houses and courtyards…..

I am not sure what this beautiful succulent plant is, but it is magnificent….

We doubled back to our local Cafe for tea, coffee and yummy goodies…..

We decided that this cat had the right idea that it was nicer looking out from a warm dry room……

….so we trekked around the corner to our abode!!!

When Michael finished teaching at 6:00, he joined us for a nice meal and a relaxing evening!!

On Tuesday, I needed to do a lot of accounting work and some house cleaning so I told Michael to keep the car for the day and I would just walk if I needed to go anywhere.

I got a lot accomplished, however every time I saw the sun, I grabbed my camera and headed out for a walk.  The first one came at about 11:00am!!  As I walked around the neighborhood I took photos of the tiled walls…..

….and tile decorations on the homes….

I passed a cemetery and walked in for a look around.  It was a newer facility and had a different (very crowded) look to it…..

There were new crypt areas being dug….

I saw this stack of boxes on the sidewalk and wondered what they were used for…..

My musings were interrupted by the strong smell of fish as I walked past so I am pretty sure that they previously held fish!!!

I continued looking at the imaginative doors that I found…..

We Americans simply don’t do doors this well!!  Of course it helps that I am walking directly past them and not trying to notice them from a wide street!!!

It had started to rain again so I  returned home for lunch and to do some more  work.  I looked up about 2:00 and it was once again sunny…..really sunny, so I grabbed my camera and headed out again.  

This time I started walking along the sea wall and suddenly realized that I could actually walk along the beach if I wanted!!!  It was great fun walking along and taking photos of the shoreline…..

….the sea spray…..

….and various findings along the beach.

However, while I was bent over studiously taking this photo…..

…..I heard an ominous lapping behind me as the surf rolled over my photo op and also my feet.!!!  I spent the rest of the walk looking like this…..

.].but at least I can say that I have been IN the Atlanta Ocean!!!

I came to one area where Backhoes were rebuilding the sea wall beside the road.   It was entertaining to watch them as they worked together to replace the rocks that were making their way toward the sea.  I was reminded of dance in the way that the moved and interacted…..

I  also was astounded to think that they were so very close to the surf.  You would think that a stray wave could start the sand eroding under the machine and cause all sorts of trouble.   It shows me that they know what they are doing!!!!

I had put the Google Translate App on my phone this morning and had been playing with exactly what it could do for me.   One of the coolest features is that you can point your phone toward written words and it will show on the screen in English.    I tested it on this sign…..

Here is the translation on my phone….that is if you can read it behind all of my fingerprints (I really need to clean my phone!!!!!)…..

It says…. “Zone Dangerous,  Machines in Movement, Forbidden, Stay in this Place”.

I could seriously sit and watch the ocean movement for hours at a time.   I am enamored with the way that the waves pile on top of one another or the way that one outgoing wave will suck the incoming one under.   Even watching the foam dissipate on the sand is entertaining…..

As I walked, I also pondered how long these rocks have been here, how deep down they go and how tall they were originally……

I found one quilt inspiration.   I have been playing around with English Paper Piecing Hexagons and Pentagons but they are all regular shaped and sized.  What if I used irregular patterns like in this wall……

The pieces would still have straight lines and would be SO much more interesting than everything being the same shape.   Of course, I will have to design the entire thing first and be sure to keep track of which piece goes where.    Oh great….another idea and no time to sew!!!!

I passed two men doing some surf fishing and appreciated the movement in this photo……

….and the serenity in this one……

I could see the storm clouds rolling in again……

….so I turned around and hot-footed it back to the apartment, but diverted to our local Cafe to have a cup of tea with Christina, arriving just as the rain started!!

Michael called about 6:00 to say that he was on his way home so I got organized to cook our dinner.  The only problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to turn the stove on!!!

It had a touch control and although I ran my finger over the ON button again and again, I could not get it to work.   I called Michael and told him that I was having trouble and while I was talking, I rested my hand on top of the controls for a few seconds and, lo and behold, it turned on!!!!   Obviously, I was moving my hand away too quickly for it to turn on!!!

We had a nice dinner of pasta with melted cheese and bottled Pesto sauce…..

 

Afterwards, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and go out again for a walk.  I love this photo of him but it looks like he is standing in front of a Blue Screen…..

I promise….we really are in Portugal!!!

As we headed back home for the evening it was enjoyable to watch the sun setting behind the storm clouds…..

On Monday, Wayne and Kathie needed to be in Porto at 7:45 to catch a river cruise down the Douro River.   We drove them early that morning, enjoying that there was NO traffic on the roads. 

There was also NO people in the city area, except for the ones taking the cruise.  It was a great time to take photos…..

We said goodbye to Wayne and Kathie……

….and set our GPS to head Home.  The only problem was that it sent us down a SUPER, SUPER narrow road……

….that had a 10 kilometer per hour speed limit, and a speed detection device at the end of the road……

It was an exciting start to our Monday morning!!!

Michael started teaching his course this week and needed to be at work all day, so  I dropped him off and headed to the Laundromat again.   It was quite busy but I noticed that most people were bringing in their washed clothes and simply using the dryers.   I imagine that this is a common occurrence  in an area that rains so much!!

I had used one of the dryers and had another load ready to go into the next open dryer.  Just as one was being emptied, another woman rushed in and put her stuff in.  I didn’t say anything but noticed that the young man sitting next to me looked at me in a puzzled manner.   When his load was dry, he blocked the dryer so that I could get to it next…..so sweet!!!

I got home and spent some time doing accounting work and then looked up to see that the sun was shining…..WHAT WAS I DOING INSIDE?????  I grabbed my purse and camera and headed out for a few minutes. 

I started my portfolio of cool door photos with this beauty…..

I laughed when I passed this “yard art”……

….a reminder that I need to be REALLY careful when I am driving!!!

Many shops close during the “siesta” period between Noon and and 2, so I  passed a lot of these signs……

I did a quick run to the store as I picked Michael up.  One fun thing that I found was at the Bread dispenser.   I had shown previously that you use a paddle to move the bread out of a storage bin and into a basket.   Then you pick it up and put it in a bag using these gloves……

I picked Michael up at work at 6:00 and we happily returned to our “steak” place for dinner.  Tonight we ordered the “Picanha Beef on Stone”, the signature dish of the restaurant, but first we had the appetizers…..melon with Prosciutto, Black Olives and Bread Rolls. 

Our server, Luis, brought out our cooking utensil…..

…..and then brought out the marinated meat and showed us how to cook it properly……

We asked Luis what the marinating sauce was and he told us that the cook doesn’t even tell him!!!!

We enjoyed the meat with potatoes, and rice with black beans…..

This restaurant is so accommodating and pays particular attention to the details, including placing the table cloth over my jacket so that spits from the grill wouldn’t hit it!!!

It was a great meal to end a wonderful day!!!!

 

Before we start on this day, isn’t this snail gorgeous……

I had so much fun trying to get a “head on” photo but am sure that the snail wondered exactly what kind of nut farm he had stumbled onto…..

This morning we set out for an area that Michael had visited on his very first trip to Portugal.  This park is the only National park in the country and is located to the Northeast of Vila Do Conde.

It took about 1-1/2 hours to drive there, not accounting for stops to photograph the lovely surroundings…..

There were grape vines growing all around the area and it was interesting to see that they were trained along wires that put them quite high off of the ground…..

It was delightful to see the new growth coming off of the obviously old vines…..

The day was, once again, cloudy and bands of rain moved thru at regular intervals.  On Friday, Wayne had purchased a “stylish” sweater so he would have something warmer to wear.   Since it didn’t rain any of the times that we were out and about, we started calling it the LUCKY  Sweater and would send Wayne out ahead of us so that the rain would stop before we got out!!!   Here is is modeling it for us…..

And of course, since we had stopped for sightseeing, we had to find something to eat as well!!!  We crossed the road to this small cafe/bar…..

We looked at the menu but decided that we were not yet hungry and just wanted something warm to drink instead so we sat at the bar and had Tea and Coffee and Wayne had a beer. 

We watched as the waitress made HUGE Gin and Tonic drinks for 5 men at the end of the bar.   Remember, this was about 11:00am on a Sunday morning!!!!

We were interested that the ice used in the drinks was punched out of a “bubble wrap” type of container.   I guess that you fill up the compartments and then freeze it.

The  Cafe had a sweet wood fire blazing and we enjoyed it’s warmth before venturing out again……

 

We stopped again a few minutes down the road to take a few more photos……

….and then drove to the Park Entrance.  There were many people milling around the small, door-like entrance to the park.   

This little chapel was in constant motion as people entered and exited…..

Since you could not drive into the park itself and it was still threatening to rain, we opted instead to  find a place to drive around.  I asked a shop keeper for a map and he directed us to a Tourist Information Office down the road.   The young woman there spoke a little English but did a wonderful job of pointing out places that we could drive and the sights that we might see along the way…..

We headed out again, this time aiming for an area with many waterfalls, and we were not disappointed…..

We laughed at the fact that there were gorgeous outlooks but no place to pull over and then there were places to pull over but the outlook was blocked by trees.  It just didn’t seem quite right!!!!

We also stopped at this particularly picturesque meadow…..

Michael pointed out the moss covered rock fence surrounding the field……

That is probably a testament to exactly how much rain they get every year!!!

There were some HUGE and gorgeous Cedar trees as well……

 

At this point the altitude was 862 meters (2,800 feet).

The drive back down was thru amazingly green, tree-lined lanes…..

We decided to stop for a big lunch and make it a “one-meal” day and found a small Cafe that looked interesting…..

You will notice that they have my favorite beer….Super Bock!!!

We carefully worked our way thru the menu, looking each item up on Google Translate to figure out exactly what we wanted to order.   When Michael and I came to “BBQ Chicken”, we knew that we had reached Nirvana!!!!

We began the meal with the usual appetizers of phenomenal fresh bread and Tuna Pate……

…and then our plate arrived with an entire chicken, smothered in French fries….

…and a big bowl of rice to boot…..

We asked to see the dessert menu (because we had OBVIOUSLY not had enough to eat!!!).  I was intrigued that it was the exact same menu that we had seen at another restaurant.  It turns out that there is a company that provides “ready-to-serve” desserts to restaurants, some even in crockery bowls.  They are all ice cream based and are yummy!!

We had missed the restaurant when we had driven past originally and had turned around to go back to it.   During that drive, we noticed an enchanting church down below the road and had planned to visit it after eating.   The problem came when we passed the church and couldn’t figure out how to get to it.   Finally our intrepid driver just turned left and we started winding our way thru the neighborhood, looking for the church!!!

After a few minutes of driving thru ever narrowing roads, we turned a corner and, Voila!, there it was…..

The Church itself was closed, but the area surrounding it was resplendent!!!

We spent some time taking photos…..

It was starting to rain again so we hopped in the car and headed back home again.

We had one scare during this trip as a car coming toward us lost control on a curve and almost veered into our lane.  He was able to correct the turn but ended up hitting the rock wall at the end.  We felt bad for him, but were glad that it was a one-car collision and not two!!

After a short time in the apartment, we decided to take advantage of some sun and go for a walk along the ocean wall.   The sea was rough (or as George on Seinfeld says…” the sea was angry that day, my friends – like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.”).  Having said that, it did make for some wonderful “sea-spray” photos……

….and these Seagulls didn’t seem to mind at all…

We spent some time wandering around in the Marina…….

….marveling at the size of the sailboats, especially in comparison to these “baby boats”…..

This photo reminds me of a Mama Duck being followed by her babies!!!

The walk back to the apartment left us covered in sea spray but happy at the way the day had turned out!!!  We spend the rest of the evening telling stories and laughing uproariously!!!   I was glad that we didn’t have any neighbors to disturb!!!

On Saturday morning we awoke to rainy skies and lots of plans so we donned our raincoats and headed out anyway.  Since we had watched the bus make the trip easily the night before, we decided to be daring and take the car into the city.  We found a parking garage close to the main bridge, set it into the GPS and headed out.  It only took about 35 minutes to get there and we happily embarked on our day’s journey.

The clouds made for subdued lighting which made the colors of the houses stand out even more…….

This little clump of flowers was hanging over the edge of a wall and caught both of our eyes…..

It was fun looking into a store named “Hats and Cats”…..

I get the hats but cant quite figure out where the cats come into it!!!

Wayne and Kathie posed for a photo in the shadow of the Ponte Luis bridge that was built by Gustave Eiffel….

…..and then Michael took one of Kathie and I climbing the steps to reach the bridge……

We crossed the bridge, narrowly avoiding the mirrors of the LARGE buses that were crossing VERY close to us…

….and entered the town of Vila Nova De Gaia.   

The views across the Douro River to Porto were magnificent….

I especially liked looking thru the bridge supports to see the city on the opposite side……

We passed a storage area which held many, many scull boats, with one having just come off of the water ……

As we watched, two young women hoisted another boat out of the water and carefully walked it across the road at the crosswalk.  There are two things to note in this photo…..

….the bicyclist had just had to swerve around the end of the boat and the older woman was about to be impaled by the point of the boat.   The girl in front actually whistled at her to get her attention and get her to move!!!

Then as we continued to watch, four guys rowed in on their boat, unloading at the dock…..

I laughed as the back oarsman pulled a gel seat cover off as he left the boat….his own personal cushion!!!

The four then walked their craft across the street as the cars patiently waited…..

All along the river, there were replicas of the boats that were used to haul the barrels of port…..

We waited while Wayne and Kathie booked a Douro river cruise for Monday.  As the booking process was drawing to a close, Michael walked on ahead to scout out a place for us to eat.  At the same time, the Cruise salesman suggested a local cafe and, lo and behold, it was the same one that Michael had found!!!    When we walked in, you could tell that it was a local place which is our favorite kind of restaurant!!!

Each of us ordered a “half dose” of pork chops and ended up with a HUGE plate of food.  

There was a cute letter framed in the restaurant, extoling the chef…..

After eating, we started slowly walking along the  main road again, heading ultimately for a Port tasting scheduled for 2:00 pm.

While idling for time, we found a small area where boats were being built or refurbished. ….

 

I would love to come back and spend time watching them work on this one!!

We arrived at the Ferreira Winery at 2:00 and started a tour of the cellars, followed by a port tasting.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and patiently taught us about he making of Port wine.

Port is made exclusively from grapes grown in the Douro Valley region around Porto.   It is called a “fortified wine” because it has a large dose of pure alcohol added to it during the fermentation process.   It was first produced in the 1700’s when the British people wanted wine from Portugal, but it would ruin during the long sea voyage.  By fortifying it, they could easily transport it without it going bad.

Today there are several different types of Port, including White, Ruby and Tawny.     The White port is made from white grapes and is my favorite.   It is great as an aperitif before a good meal!!    Ruby and Tawny Ports are made from red grapes but are handled differently in the fermentation process.   To keep the Ruby port clearer, it is fermented in HUGE barrels where it doesn’t have as much contact with the wood of the barrel……

The Tawny Ports are fermented in smaller barrels which allows the wood to interact more with the liquid, changing the color and taste of the wine…..

I was interested to learn that there are several types of Port, included blended,  dated and Vintage.   The dated port is made from a single year’s grapes and will bear the year on the bottle.   Blended Ports are made from a lot of different aged grape pressings  that may have been grown in many different years.   If a bottle shows an age (say 20 year old Port), it is really the average age of all of the pressings that have been used.  A  “Dated” Port will continue to age in the bottle whereas a “Blended” Port will taste the same whenever it is drunk.

The last type, Vintage, has to be given that designation by an outside panel of experts.

Interestingly, the price of a bottle of Port is based on the number of bottles of that particular type that were  produced.  I always thought that it had more to do with the flavor of the grapes in a particular year.

Finally, any evaporation that takes place during the process is called the “Angel’s Share”.   I thought that was cute!!!

We ended the tour with a tasting of five different Ports……

 

The placemat had numbered circles on it that were the same size as the base of the glasses so that you could keep track of which ones you liked best. 

On the front row was a White Port, Tawny Port, and a Ruby Port.  The back row contained a 20 year old Port and a Date Port (2011).  Both Michael and I enjoyed the 20 year old best……

…although Michael didn’t get to drink much of his since he still had to drive us home!!

Wayne and Kathie had a hard time picking their favorite although they had a FUN time tasting them……

We left Porto and headed back to Vila Do Conde with the idea that we were finished for the evening.  But then we decided to go out to dinner at another local restaurant (Paira Mar).  This one had been suggested by Jose on the first day and Wayne and Kathie had been there the night before and loved it.  SO, we had to give it a try.

Each couple ordered a “Half Dose” of a grilled steak and this is what we were given….

….along with Rice and Black Beans!!   And remember, this was HALF of the order!!!

We waddled back to the apartment and fell happily into bed.    Our sleep that night was a bit disrupted by impromptu drag races going on outside of our window…..boys will be boys!!!   I was sure glad that our car wasn’t parked on the street!!!