We have returned to Moscow and all things being equal, I’d rather be in Porto. It is grey and slushy with mounds of dirt-darkened snow piled hither and thither. The roads seem clear but most of the sidewalks remain unshoveled and treacherous. Our four days in Porto were filled with warmth and rain and avalanches of smiles. What a great undiscovered gem of a city. It is filled with a mishmash of architectural styles that somehow all fit together. The old town has lots of little alleys with more coffee and pastry shops than you can imagine, and they are all filled, all the time. Most of the older buildings are covered in blue and white tiles, some with intricate scenes of Porto history, others just whimsical depictions of nature.
Our dear friend Tom was there for the entire visit and we spent a good deal of time on various tour buses going in and around Porto. We all agreed that it would be a fine idea to visit in the late spring and explore all of the large gardens, parks and beaches that are just trolley rides away. And by trolley, I mean real old-fashioned wooden trolleys, as well as modern light rail. The streets of Porto have two directions, up or down. Everything dumps into the Douro River and we walked and walked and walked, up and down the entire old town and then over the river to the Gaia side where all of the large Port Wine aging cellars are located. We walked up to Graham’s, which is a really amazing hike, and were treated to spectacular views of the river and Porto, as well as treated to a Port wine tasting that we enjoyed immensely. While not a big fan of Port, I did learn a lot and will incorporate it into my wine classes. I’m also not a big fan of Portuguese wines in general with the notable exception of Vinho Verde. This is a young wine, low on alcohol and high on flavor, with just a hint of sparkle. It tastes of fresh fruit and sunshine and is always served ice cold. At one place where we ate, the waiter made a big show of pouring our glasses of Vinho Verde from a height of about two feet. What he lacked in precise aiming, he made up for in flare. The food was good, not spectacular but certainly enjoyable, and served in immense portions. We always ordered the smaller of the two sizes offered and always ended up with too much food. We finally got smart and ordered two dishes for three people.
The one major exception to the quality of food was the dinner we had at the Pousada Palacio Freixo overlooking the Douro. Tom had stayed there the night before we arrived and insisted on taking us to dine there to celebrate the New Year. What an extravagant treat! French Champagne while seated in the drawing room of the Palace, followed by a dinner of fish and meat and veggies served in an elegant manner in a room with vaulted ceilings and frescos. Three varieties of wine to accompany the dinner and then lovely local cheeses and nuts to finish the Port wines, which were poured with the compliments of the house. Simply an amazing evening.
Among some of the little gems of Porto, one stands out the most and that is the Livraria Lello-Prologo LIveriros. This is one fancy bookstore, both from an architectural perspective and the sheer number of volumes. While I’ve attached a few photos that I took I’m sharing this link with much better pictures.
We did a little shopping this morning here in Moscow since there is nothing in the house and Cindy wants to make her famous lemon bread as New Year’s gifts for people at AAS. The Russian Christmas was on Friday and I don’t think the store has restocked yet, so things looked rather tired and I limited myself to just the basics. The entire time I was shopping I could only think of the marvelous markets of Paris and Porto, with their luscious displays of fruit and vegetables and fresh meats and poultry. One doesn’t come to Moscow to enjoy the shopping experience!
I’ll bore you with details of our time in West Virginia and Paris tomorrow. Today I need to get a few more loads of laundry done and finish the unpacking. With luck, I’ll have time and energy to cook a chicken dinner to welcome us home. Last night we didn’t arrive at the airport until eight and then we had to wait for another family who arrived at another terminal. We were welcomed to Moscow in the way that Moscow loves to welcome everyone, a traffic jam. Seems two cars hit each other and they blocked two of the three lanes leading from the airport to the main road to Moscow. It took twenty minutes to go two kilometers, so we didn’t get home until ten.
I’ll leave you with some photos of our marvelous time in Porto. With best wishes for the New Year, Cindy and Wm.
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