Sometimes It's More About the Journey

Portugal September - October 2013
Porto, Portugal

"In 800 yards, keep left. Then. Keep left. Keep left. Keep left."

The GPS Could Be Repetitive

We had a difficult time finding our way out of Sintra to get to the autoestrada for the journey north.  Not knowing where we are is very disconcerting to me. John, on the other hand, said as long as he "felt" like he was headed north AND the Atlantic Ocean was on his left, we were probably going to be just fine.

Since I am able to post this, you know we made it to our destination.

There Were Other Technology Struggles

Our hotel in Porto is in a converted warehouse and is trés chic. It's also technologically wonky. The elevator has a mind of its own.  You push "1", it goes to "-3",  then back to "0", and finally to "1". At least it does not go to "11" as the top floor is "4". We are on the first floor and take the stairs as much as possible. They are predictable. (Except the lights will randomly turn off....)

Oh my ..... Our hotel room door. WE COULD NOT FIGURE OUT HOW TO LOCK IT. Both of us are IT professionals and are generally considered to be smart and technologically savvy.
When we arrived, it was fairly obvious that you wave your card in front of the lock and when the green light comes on, the door is unlocked.

It was the locking that was hard.

Step 1) Close door. 

Step 1A) Realize door is not locked. 
Step 1B) Try other things, including waving key in front of eye. Door is still unlocked. 

Step 2) Call downstairs. Front desk says "Damn technology."
Step 2A) IT Team of two 24 year olds appear. 
Step 2B) Pipsqueaks show how if you wave your card, stand on one leg, and chant, the light goes to red and your door is locked. 
Step 3) We fumble each time we leave to make it lock. 
I only have a picture of the green light. Once we got it to go red, I didn't have time to take another one.

A Walk Was Necessary

To clear our heads, we headed down to the Cais da Ribeira along the Douro River.  Think San Antonio River Walk, but with a bigger more beautiful river. 
The Cais da Ribeira is lined with a multitude of restaurants, bars, and port tasting rooms. We skipped those and plopped ourselves at a little terrace on the water for a cold drink.  (I do not believe the young men in the lower left corner were the same ones who showed us how to lock a door.)
Tomorrow we are going to the other side to at least one port lodge for tastings, thus our decision to skip the ones on this side. 

Porto reminds me in some ways of San Francisco.  It has a similar hilly terrain and there are narrow alley-type streets with indoor/outdoor restaurants. As we were exploring, we came across what appeared to be a publics work project where walls were discovered.  It was obvious that digging had halted and it was being carefully excavated. 
I saw something similar in Cologne, Germany where Roman ruins were discovered. These did not appear to be as old as those. 

Must Go in Here

With a name like that, how can you not?

Cannot Forget the Food

The front desk made some excellent suggestions for dinner. We ate at A Grande, a tiny place up an alley. It was definitely not touristy and we shared a table with a Portuguese couple. John ordered the cod and I the octopus. There was no question which dish was mine. 
It had been a rather trying day. As we arrived at the restaurant, John said, "It's time to drink heavily." Keeping it local, we ordered a Douro Valley wine. It was quite good - light, crisp, and dry. 
To end the evening, the restaurant did not take credit cards. This should not have come as a surprise. Their phone was rotary and attached to the wall with an "scissor accordian extension" arm.  (Incongruously, they did have a secure wi-fi network.)
Naturally, we did not have enough Euros on us. 
Fortunately, there was an ATM around the corner, so I waited while John got cash. If not, we would still be washing dishes, or possibly chopping octopus legs.