After such a long, hard travel day, we woke up to a “free” day in Porto. Because we had been in Porto fairly recently (December 2021), we had some places we wanted to revisit because the memories were good. First stop was a coffee and pastry shop in the University area. We remembered Leotaria da Quinta do Paco fondly and ordered a ham & cheese sandwich on a croissant, a truly yummy eclair with chocolate and hazelnut frosting, and of course, coffee (cappuccino and an expresso). 

One coffee is never enough, so we headed to the most iconic coffee house in Porto, Majestic Cafe. This cafe originally opened in 1921 and was designed to look like a Parisian cafe in the Art Nouveau style. It always has long lines to enter, but we decided today was the day to experience the opulence of this historic landmark. It did not disappoint. The coffee au lait and cappuccino were excellent and, of course twice as much as any other place. 

Next stop was Mercado do Bolhao. We had never been there and what an unexpected delight. We have visited markets around the world, but this one was the cleanest, most welcoming we have come across. Had we just not eaten, we would have delved right into this place. Everyone was walking around with 2 Euro glasses of Douro wine or port. The tapas were so fresh and looked amazing. The fruits, vegetables, meat and fish could not have been fresher. Not to mention the jamón, cheeses and sardines (we were drooling). Can’t believe we have never been there. It will be the first on our list next time.

We had decided this morning that we would give the famous francesinha sandwiches another try. The last time we had one we were not impressed but they are literally cherished in Porto. The Cafe Santiago on Rua Passos Manuel, 226 is the hands-down favorite place for the white bread, filled with mortadella, chipolata, smoked sausages, steak, ham and cheese. After  toasting, it's wrapped in more cheese, baked, then served hot, doused in a spicy sauce with an egg on top. The line waiting outside was a clue that they were worth the wait. We split one with fries and could barely finish. It was really delicious. The name—francesinha translates as "little French girl"—the story goes that a Porto waiter returned from a spell working in France invented the sandwich in the 1950s and named it because the sauce was as piquant as his memories of Parisian mademoiselles.   

Time to get “fortified” with some port tasting in Gaia. We headed toward the Luis I bridge that crosses over the Douro River. During our walk, it started to thunder and lightning and then came the downpour. We had rain jackets but decided to duck under a recessed door frame in a small alleyway. We could see the river from there and the storm was quite impressive. Once the rain let up, we continued our walk over the lower bridge along the riverfront. This is a very picturesque walk where the port boats are docked and making their way down the river. The Ribeira side with its colorful buildings is also especially scenic. 

The last two times we were in Gaia we took tours of some of the port caves and tasted ports from the ones we toured. We always enjoyed the tours but decided today to taste several brands at Sogevinus Fine Wines. We tasted a red Douro wine, a white Douro wine and three ports from Barros, Burmeister, and Cálem wineries. This was a premium tasting and we enjoyed all of them. Our favorite was the LBV ruby, same as last time. Wish we could carry some on the Camino. For ONLY 95 Euro we could ship some home!

We walked up and up some more to the Graham Cellar for spectacular views of the Douro and the Gaia and Ribeira banks. Took some amazing pictures and headed to the Central House Hostel in Ribeira where Laura Rose, a fellow pilgrim, left us two sets of trekking poles for our journey. Unless you check a bag on an airline, you cannot bring hiking poles. Therefore, many people buy them and leave them behind when they finish. As a member of the FB Portuguese Camino, Laura Rose shared that she has two sets and that she could leave them somewhere on Friday. Since that worked perfectly for us, she left them at her previous hostel. Super nice people there and we got our Camino credential stamped. Super nice if Laura Rose going through the hassle of dropping the poles off and communicating with us.

Long day with on and off rain. Decided we wanted a break before dinner so headed up the hill to our apartment. Took a well deserved break for a couple of hours, freshened up and walk d back to the riverside area of Ribeira where we had noticed a cute tapas restaurant, Tapas 65. The place was super small with only 29 seats. The atmosphere was really cool with stone walls and cool decor. We ordered four tapas: sardines on crostinis, calamari, traditional Portuguese sausage and fried cod. We got three of them, but the calamari did not show up. We asked about it and finally told the services to forget it. A few minutes later it showed up. Never had such disgusting calamari. There were six rings that were overly breaded and neither of us could taste calamari. The server brought us a complimentary small chocolate mousse, but we were charged for all four plates. As we walked back to the apartment, we talked about what a perfect day it had been up until the calamari. Guess that means it was really a perfect day! BRW, the crostini with sardines and salad greens was outstanding. 

Packed up for the start of our Camino tomorrow. Great anticipation.