Vila Chã and Porto

Using our trusty google maps tile method, we successfully navigated our way from Coimbra to Vila Chã, a small hamlet on the coast north of Porto, to a campsite of the same name which was to be our home for a couple of days whilst we visited Porto.  The afternoon was sunny and we arrived to an equally beaming welcome from the lovely Maria, who runs the front office there.  Following Mr B’s valiant attempts at Portuguese with a hint of Spanish – much appreciated by Maria (and I can understand why having just watched her deal patiently with a rude and impatient non-Portuguese speaker, with what turned out to be her characteristic patience and good humour), we were shown to a super shaded pitch in amongst the weekenders and away from the camper park at the far end of the site, meaning we had our own little oasis away from the crowds – special treatment I reckon J

The coastline is lovely here, a mix of sand and rocky coves with beautiful clear seas, backed by a wooden boardwalk to both protect the dunes and for walking and cycling along.  We were told we could buy fresh fish from the beach here too, as well as enjoy the daily catch at the restaurants dotted along between here and Mindelo, from where the metro runs in to Porto.

The next day dawned a little damp and we decided to have a ‘van day’ as we’d been on the move quite a bit, the laundry had piled up and we needed a general sort out.

Day two was no better but the forecast gave us some hope of sunny spells so we hopped in a taxi to the station (‘optimistically dressed’ according to our German neighbours, since we wore sandals with our waterproof jackets!) 

The trip to Porto was easy, apart from wrestling with the automatic ticket machine – even the station security guard looked resigned to the inefficiency of a machine that would take neither notes nor debit cards and sent us off to the station café to get €10.40 worth of small change for our tickets!

Titlulos purchased (1 titulo = 1 journey) we made the easy transit by metro into Porto, helped by Maria’s map and route suggestions once we arrived, making our way through the city towards the Ponte de Dom Luis I or ‘Eiffel bridge’ as it’s known, designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel, stopping off en route at the São Bento train station with its amazing tiling. 

The bridge itself is pretty impressive, although as we arrived gusts of wind and a sudden downpour made the crossing a little less picturesque than we’d imagined! 

Once on the far side, Vila Nova de Gaia, we watched as the cable cars travelled down to the various port lodges but since there looked to be a hint of sunshine, decided to walk down and around to the riverfront for a spot of lunch, admiring the old boats moored up outside, once used for the transport of barrels of port.   

Note the classy graffiti en route . . .

Replete from a delicious lunch (a great value prato do dia) and with slightly fuzzy edges from some nice wine, we headed off to one of the port lodges, Ramos Pinto, for a port tour, and tasting.  This was another Maria recommendation, and an excellent one too. Ramos Pinto is one of the oldest port houses along here and was Portuguese run until relatively recently, when it was bought by the Cristal champagne company, who opened up the inside of the building and old offices (which were used up until the 1970s) to the public.  It is absolutely beautiful inside (sadly, no photos of the interior or old offices, which were fascinating and contained some very racy tiles and artwork – think wine, women and bacchanalian pursuits!).  Our guide, Monica, was brilliant and very informative about both the history and making of port and we were allowed a photograph in the port stores.

Tour over we were treated to tastings of white and tawny ports, both delicious with the white a clear winner for us.

The remainder of the day (even fuzzier now from the generous tasting!) was spent meandering around this amazing city with its beautiful buildings . . .

. .  and finishing in the rather fabulous Majestic Café, where we took our afternoon tea with pasteles con nata – we have eaten far too may of these this holiday!

Tomorrow we’ll be heading along the Douro valley in search of a Quinta and maybe some lunch.

J.