Porto to the Foz Day 16

Best night’s sleep in a week. Ready for our upcoming adventure to City Park and the Foz (As it is affectionately called – pronounced FAHSJ)

The Breakfast room was not quite as rowdy as yesterday but still loud enough to send us back onto the terrace. I discovered Pastels de Nata, traditional Portuguese custard tarts, on the line and overindulged. The air is particularly cool this morning so Jenny and I dressed warmly before running to catch our bus around 9:00. Didn’t have to run far or wait long. Luck is with us today (Even the elevator was there waiting for us on our floor).

Back in Barcelona, I read a fine review of Porto’s City Park. Since Jen and I always like to visit parks wherever we go, we planned to explore City Park long before we arrived. Just so happened City Park was quite close to another objective of ours, the upscale beachside district of Foz do Douro Porto. Our bus ride to the district took us under a half an hour or 20 stops, It being Sunday, traffic was light. Got off at the Southeast entrance of the park where we searched for and found a posted Park map. We determined to walk along the Southwestern perimeter to the sea and then travel South along the coast into Foz.

City Park is the largest of the urban green spaces in Porto and one of the largest in all of Northern Portugal. It covers 83 hectares of mature trees and many large open meadows. It contains three lakes two ponds and winding cobblestone and dirt paths, not to mention the frequent stone walls, benches and arches. Wildlife abounds. We came across pigeons, seagulls, magpies, chickens, roosters, ducks, coots, geese, herons and feisty lizards. The brisk air, the wonderful woods smells and the early morning exercise were all enervating. We found the park enchanting.

There were also dogs aplenty. The Portuguese love their dogs. In three cases we saw dog lovers converge to let their pups play together. Stopped to pet a few as well. Park caretakers post dog rules. Visitors had to have their canines leashed and under control and made a point of naming and identifying with pictures those breeds that are considered dangerous around the world. We didn’t meet any of those. We met only happy, contented hounds. Also watched an endless stream of joggers pass by. Seemed sinful to work so hard on such a lovely day. Speaking of which, this park is one of those that installed exercise stations at various points, all of which were being put to good use.

Coming to the end of the park, within sight of the ocean, my mermaid-wife found renewed energy. We crossed over a road to find a path to the beach. Jen  traipsed off through the sand as I climbed a rock overlook to take pictures. She paused to remove her socks and shoes, then walked into the freezing water of the Atlantic on a rocky shoreline reminiscent of what we experienced in the Portuguese Azores. While there, she was assailed by a young chocolate lab that had been splashing about in the water, gleefully greeting anyone he could reach. Jen returned, put her socks and shoes back on and together we headed for the Foz boardwalk.

SURPRISE!

We’d barely gotten started when, rising up to our left, we saw a great stone medieval fortress. Officially it’s called Fort de São Francisco Xavier but is popularly called Castelo do Queijo (or the Cheese Castle) I learned its nickname comes from the great rounded rock resembling a wheel of cheese, upon which it was built. We walked around the fort but did not pay admission to tour it.

The beach front of the Foz is a pedestrian paradise as you can see from our pictures (On FB). First there is a 10-12’ teak walk, sometimes stone and sometimes metal, that is suspended just off and above the beach. Tourists and locals alike walked, jogged, roller skated, skateboarded or biked along it. Below the walk, they explored among the rocks, scraped mussels and limpets off the rocks, swam, snorkeled and sunbathed. Lots of dogs, babies and children about. We continued four and a half kilometers, sometimes climbing up to walk the broad pedestrian thoroughfare above the boardwalk.

At the far end of our journey, we found a second fortress, Forte de Sao Joao Baptista, guarding the mouth of the magical River, Douro, as it empties into the Atlantic. There we browsed an open-air market in the shade of the trees. Jenny bought a beautiful multi-toned, turned, wooden bowl. I lusted after hats but did not buy any. At this point we headed back in the direction we came but instead of walking along the beach, we forged our way through the narrow, twisty cobblestone streets of the town, upping and downing, following Jen’s phone navigation. Our destination was the restaurant one of our guides recommended - Lapa Lapa.

The eatery was situated back on the beach, It had been closed when we passed it earlier. Now, open only half an hour, it was already crowded. Still, we were shown to a table with a view of the beach and served by beautiful dark-skinned young lady whose English sounded flawless American. I asked where she was from. She giggled and said. “Angola.” We were shocked, I said, “ You must have spent time in the states.” She said “No.” she told us she picked up her English from watching American movies and tv … hmmm, our gift to the world?

For lunch we had glasses of an excellent local rubio wine, fresh bread and seaweed butter, and for the main course, the sensational Portuguese sandwich called francesinha. Why is it so sensational? I’ll explain. Between two slices of homemade bread, one finds steak, two types of sausage and a thick layer of ham. Over this is poured a bucket of cheese, then over this is poured a thick, well-seasoned beer sauce. Theresa the guide who recommended the restaurant also recommended the sandwich but also told us it is best to just order one to split because it is so filling. We followed her suggestion. It was DELICIOUS! We then toasted Theresa for adding so much to our wonderful experience.

Patting full tummies we got back on the road. Hiking back to the park, we took a different route in the park than we did coming in. As we walked we watched the many, many families who had since flocked there to have family picnics. What a beautiful, well-cared for park. Organized yet still a bit wild and totally satisfying. Making our way to the other end, we found our bus, paid our two Euros apiece and settled in for the long ride home. I napped. Waking bleary-eyed, I thought I saw a landmark and panicked Jenny into scrambling off the bus - only to learn I was mistaken. We still had a quarter mile more to go. Sigh. Luckily it was all downhill.

Collapsing in the room we saw that the staff had not yet arrived for their daily cleaning and restocking. Ten minutes later they arrived to do their work as politely and quietly as possible, apologizing and thanking us for our understanding on their way out. Rested up and decided our dinner would be at the local Honest Greens restaurant. We truly enjoyed the one we ate at in Barcelona.

Running out of steam. Dinner was great. Such a full and exhausting day. Tomorrow we travel up the Douro River on another Port Tasting Tour. This is (yawn) the life.

Boa Noite,

I am posting a selection of the thousands of pictures we took on Facebook. Look me up there and see what we saw!