Porto, Portugal

Hello Hello!

Well its been a short while since my last update but alot has happened since then.

So after leaving Ireland with Dad we flew to Porto, Portugal for 3 days. First impressions were really good, the airport was brand new and the rail system was clean, efficient and took us close to the hotel, we kind of. After a sweaty 20 minute walk from the Metro station to our hotel we were glad to be able to rest for a while before heading out on the town to explore the city.

We walked and walked and walked all over the city, through tiny alleyways lined with buildings probably older than our country. The city has been built on the hillds of the river Duoro and looking across the water at the city it's definately a very impressive sight!

Next was to jump on one of those hop-on/hop-off busses and shoot around the city in order for us to get a feel for the place. The bus trip took about 1.5hrs and drove all over the city, along the river, up and down the hills and across bridges, definately a worthwhile journey.

One evening Dad and I decided it was time to try out some of the Port that the city has grown famous from. We tasted 4 different Ports, 3 reds and a white, and eventually decided that we'd buy ourselves a bottle and relax in comfort looking over at the city. We ended up having to get a couple of fellow Aussies to help us polish her off and then being the kind people they were, bought a jug of Sangria for us to share...

As night fell, our stomachs started to tell us that it was time to eat. So we made our way to a restaurant that someone had recommended. My tastebuds were set on that juicy bunny rabbit sitting in a cage out the front, but by the time we came around to ordering it was already "gone". So baked Cod was on the table for me and what a delicious meal it was!!!

As the next day came it was time to explore another part of Portugal. So Dad and I jumped on a train to a small town 1.5hrs away by train. The train ride was unbelievable with the tracks hugging the banks of the river with views of the vineyards across the way. Definately something worthwhile seeing! This town was definately small, we only ended up staying here for about 3hours, if that, but the surrounding scenery was amazing! Rolling hills covered in vineyards with the river winding its way peacefully back to sea... (I'll put photos of all this up when I get a chance, bit harder now that I dont have the laptop anymore!)

On the way back to Porto the train stopped half way and everyone got off. We didn't know what was going on so we jumped off too later to find out that further along the line another train had had an accident so we were to go no further. After an hour of waiting we got talking to another couple of Aussies and decided to share a cab back to town.

After our 3days it was time to hop back on the plane and make our way to Paris. I'll write about Paris very soon because I'm on some free internet in the hotel and some people are staring at me and telling me with their eyes to hurry up!

Keep checking back!

Don.