Porto

A few weeks ago, I was able to tag along with Eric and his supervisor as they traveled to Porto, a town in northern Portugal, to plan a campaign trip.  The drive up there was uneventful, filled with micro-naps and clips of Pacific Rim (probably one of the dumbest movies I've watched...Eric disagrees with me).  Occasionally, we'd stop at a venue so Eric and his supervisor could visit and make arrangements.  During this time, I became a master at the games on my phone.

In a town south of Porto, we ate at a little restaurant for lunch.  I ordered a yummy beef and vegetable plate with rice while Eric had a francesinha, a dish popular in Porto.  (It's featured in this post about Portuguese food.)

In Portugal, you'll find eggs on foods you
wouldn't expect to find them on, like hamburgers.

In the early evening, we made it to our hotel in Porto.  It was "posh."  Very,very posh.  At least I thought so.  I'm so used to staying at Super 8s on the way to and from school, so staying at a luxury hotel was a nice change.

Chandeliers in the foyer of the hotel.

The bedroom part of the room.

 

This is the view we woke up to.  Amazing.

 

(We do what we want.)

For breakfast, we had an "American" buffet with pastries,
crepes, cheeses, breads, and fruit.  I also got my own pot of
hot chocolate!  Now that's the true definition of "posh."

After getting settled in our room, we took a walk around Porto, visiting a few sites recommended by Rick Steves and Eric's supervisor.  

Sao Bento Train Station, known for its azulejo (decorative tile)

One of the sites Eric's supervisor recommended was a bookstore, Lello Bookshop.  It has a staircase that inspired J.K. Rowling when she was coming up with a visual concept of Hogwarts.

There's a strict no-photography policy in the store, so we had to do some sneaking around to get these shots.

 

 

The following day was filled with more driving and more visits to venues.  Our last stop was at a famous francesinha restaurant, Cafe Santiago.  Out of the three francesinhas I've tried in Portugal, my favorite has been this one at Santiago.

After lunch, we walked around Porto for one last time.  We came across this cathedral that had pretty azulejo.

 

With our tummies full, we left Porto.  On our way out, we passed by a bridge that was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

All in all, it was a pleasant getaway.