Porto

Travel day from hell.  Iago, who lives in Vigo, happened to book the same flight as me for our long holiday weekend.  We decided to take a bus to Luxembourg where we would catch our economic flight.  We arrived to the bus 20 minutes early, early enough for me to ask all the other bus drivers to wait. They helpfully pointed to the stand, but they each said it is usually there by now- or something to that effect. Must be traffic.

I decided I had time to go into the train station for the restroom. As I was leaving, on a whim, I asked a Deutsche Bahn worker if they knew anything about the bus. Of course they did! These are professionals! I was Shepparded to the info desk.

It turned out the bus company had changed the schedule but not updated any of the online listings. Iago and I were up a creek without a paddle. There were no buses or trains that could get us remotely close and there in time.  We asked a taxi: 100 euros per person. We started trying to rent a car using our phones online. I texted Jochen to ask where the rental car place was.

Jochen dropped everything he was doing and insisted on driving us.  We broke speed records in the car.  Iago had a nervous laugh he couldn't stop.  I may have cried a little bit.  Jochen reminded us that he was once a professional (taxi) driver.

When we arrived to the airport, early than if we had caught our bus (we left Saarbruecken 45 minutes after the bus would have, if that gives you an idea of what happened on the Autobahn), we both received emails that our flight was delayed for 4 hrs.  We inconvenienced Jochen for nothing!

In Porto, all of the public transit was closed (1am), so Iago's dad drove me to the city of the town to meet the bros.  I wish I remembered more of my Spanish- he seemed like a super nice guy.

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Porto:

Russell had to work, so Will and I explored:

There was this really really really really cool bookstore:

Apparently JK Rowling spent time in Porto during school and this bookstore was one of her inspirations for Harry Potter settings (according to Iago).  We then got a Porto specialty: el Diabetes Double Meat Sandwich doused in la Regret Sauce. I can't remember the exact Portuguese spelling of said sandwich:

After our double-bypass surgeries, we pushed on-wards.  The tile on buildings was very pretty:

Strange trees:

Will and I then decided to slip into a free photography museum.  The photos on the wall were.... different.  But the building was really curious. I mean, look at these windows:

And the door was weird:

This view was really pretty, but somewhat obscured by the window:



And then Will and I saw the picture of this guy and our curiosity got to us:

OOOHH "Prisao" means "Prison".  Thank god for Google Translate, we wouldn't of sounded like idiots explaining how weird the museums architecture was- if not for your magical language powers.

The favorite part of the museum was a museum (inception!) of cameras that was inside.  It was fun seeing the novelty cameras, as well as the development of camera technology.

Spy Camera:

For those 3d pictures:

We moved on from photography.

Porto has cool buildings:

And we stumbled upon a beautiful lookout:

So many stairs:

As we were walking, we happened upon a model-ship builder. It was really cool:

The shops along the water were very colorful. Will approved:

More with the tiles:

Picture or didn't happen:

                                    

Will and I then went to every other church we could find.  I think this picture is from a museum on churches from an old de-commissioned church:

Typical view:

Russ liked how they made the old steel frame of the destroyed building into public art. I did too:

Will and I stopped at a cafe to have the famous Portuguese "Natas"- which is no more healthy than the signature lunch sandwich.  Natas are incredible. I bet there are songs and poetry about them. It's a flaky breaded bowl filled with custard that tastes like the heart of a cinnamon roll. And then they caramelize the top.  We sent Russell this picture:

And then he stuck his head out the apartment and joined us.  Once we finished our snacks, we walked to the wine producing side of the river.  Good views from the bridge:

We went to Sandeman on Russell's recommendation and our own Nostalgia for Dad's Squadron's coffee cups.  (Quick fact: Port the dessert wine/brandy is named after the Porto region, because only the grapes there can make it.  Sandeman is foreign owned, but has been in the same warehouse for hundreds of years).

Russell asked a lot of questions... we're afraid he may develop an expensive taste for Reserve Porto.

 We were very friendly with our servers during the tasting, so they took our picture.  It also helped that she knew Will was secretly that actor who played the dangerous driver who was really cool (Ryan Gosling).  We were very impressed she recognized him with the new beard; it made us smile (definitely not the port):

Anyone who has ever been to Porto has taken this exact photo:

It was a very nice view. We stopped here just to soak it in.

We then went to a Tapas restaurant that was really nice. The owner/waitress/maybe-cook was a real firecracker and set us up with delicious food: