Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit

Here’s what happened our last two days in Porto! Yesterday we did something very fun… we took a surfing lesson! We got to go surf in the Atlantic Ocean. We booked a group lesson through our hostel and ended up with a private lesson, just the two of us. Our instructor was lots of fun, he really knew what he was doing… although his driving was questionable to say the least. Getting ready to surf Happy in the Atlantic Ocean! We went to a beach in the smaller city of Matosinhos to surf. This town is still in the district of Porto and has many fancy restaurants and great beaches. Surfing was a blast, we both had a lot of fun catching waves and falling over. It was definitely much warmer than surfing in the Pacific off Tofino! The beach where we surfed We had a relaxing afternoon, and then went out for a walk in the evening to Gaia city. As I mentioned before, Gaia is just across the river from Porto, so it has beautiful views of the city. We also accidentally came across about four markets ...

 Today was our first full day in the city of Porto! The name Portugal actually originates from the name of this city. We arrived here yesterday afternoon after a pretty miserable travel day, but the taste of port wine helped us forget about late busses, lost things, and exorbitant ATM fees. Port wine originates in Porto, but was actually invented by the British as a way to help wine survive the journey from Portugal to England. This fortified wine comes in several varieties. The main two are “Ruby” and “Tawny”. Ruby is generally more fruity and has a more vibrant colour, whereas tawny is aged in oak barrels and is more nutty and honey tasting. We both enjoyed the tawny more than the ruby. Sampling white, ruby, tawny, and reserve port wines This morning we took a “free” walking tour through the old city of Porto. Our guide told us many interesting tidbits about Portuguese history and society.  The city has many beautiful buildings, but also lots of construction everywhere ...