After our day on Lisbon this was our first ever visit to Porto and the port of Leixões. Our planned special evening meal in The Club restaurant was rather tarnished by an exceptionally grumpy server…https://www.ianhardacre.com/august-2024-bordeaux-and-portugal-lisbon/
Day 5: Tuesday 20th August 2024: Leixões, Portugal
As we watched the ship manoeuvre before docking we were surprised at the hundreds and hundreds of seagulls that we could see. Leixões was a busy port we could see ships tied up loading and unloading containers. Opposite our berth, we could see the fishing boat port. This understandably was a magnet for the birds
I watched the Regent ship spin and then reverse up the channel opposite. From our perspective this channel was narrow especially as the ship had to pass an already moored ship. Beyond the Regent ship there was a bridge carrying lots of traffic.
We ate upstairs in the Grill for breakfast.
From Leixões to Porto
Once off the ship, we went through the cruise terminal to wait for a shuttle bus to take us into Porto.
The shuttle bus went down a one way street and past the very busy beach on our right. Cars were parked close together and the bus had to avoid car doors opening and a series of pedestrian crossings – very stop start!
Our route to Porto took us through heavily built-up areas with shops and houses on both sides. The road was often in deep cuttings. I lost count of the number of traffic lights that we stopped at. Or, even the roadworks that restricted the road to just one lane.
The bus wound its way around Porto and eventually stopped close to the tower and museums as promised in the port lecture.
Day 5: Tuesday 20th August 2024: Porto, Portugal
I asked the guide the way to the River Douro and she pointed us down a street to our left. At this point we should’ve checked our map then we would’ve seen that the left turn at the first junction would’ve leads the streets to get down to the river.
Instead we went down steep narrow streets and made a left turn down and even steepest street on both sides, some of the buildings were just for sides. We could see steels holding the walls up between the adjoining houses. Some houses had roofs and others had just a few tiles.
After a right turn the street became an alley and then we had a choice to keep going down the steep Street or go straight ahead and go down even steeper steps.
Around the corner, then we could see the steps going down probably 100 or more. These were handrails which we needed as the steps were not even. At one point, we were both holding onto the handrails.
Beneath as we could see smashed bottles of wine which only made the steps even more uncomfortable. When we reach the road below, the pavement was dug up and a work crew were busy doing even more excavation. For some reason a policeman was there too. He cheerfully pointing up the road to a café. This was Rua Nova da Alfandega.
Coffee time…
The pavement was very wide and then we realised that we were walking along a tram line!
The café had tables on a raised platform on the opposite side of the tram line. All these tables were taken so we found a table inside. The café was busy with locals. We had lattes and custards, all at a very reasonable price.
We jumped in surprise as a tram rumbled past completely blocking all the light out of the windows and the door. After we rested and recovered from the steps, we left the café and turned left again to walk up the wide pavement and tram line.
River Duoro
Almost immediately we had a tram heading towards us down the hill. At the top , people were queueing for the trams. To our left was a small open area and above us was a church with groups of tourist coming and going from it. We crossed the busy road and went down a steep slope to the side of the river. This path was high above the river with a wall on side and houses or shops on our left.
When we passed restaurants, the path was even narrow as there were then tables and chairs spread out across the walkway.
Below as we could see the tourist boats lined up taking on passengers for trips up and down the river
The path came to an abrupt end and then below us was a large square with kiosks selling tickets for the tourist boats. Ahead of us we could see the Luís I Bridge over the river carrying trams. We checked the time and decided it was time to return to the shuttle bus stop. To our left was a wide street with shops and bars each side. It was steep but not as steep as the streets we had just come down.
With our tourist map, we could see that we could follow the streets back to the pick up point.
Once we reached the top of the street from the river the main difficulty was linking the map to the streets as often we couldn’t find any obvious street names.
One wrong turn later and we found ourselves passing the covered market. Unfortunately, this was down yet another steep street. This one seemed even steeper when we had to retrace our steps and go back to where we had turned.
We did worry that some of the side streets on the map were actually alleys that we were passing. After yet another deep hill we recognised where we were. This was the street that we first have been directed to to follow.
Back to Leixões
The shuttle bus carried on up the hill past the The tower. It was then that we realised that further up from the shuttle bus stop was a thriving area of bars and shops and absolutely no steps or steep streets. Definitely somewhere to look when we next come to Porto.
The journey in had been boring as we had passed through built-up areas and cuttings with high concrete walls. The right back was completely different. The bus took us along the side of the door past interesting buildings and great views of the river.
We were sat at the front and had great views of everything. This including emergencies stops when even the driver had not been able to anticipate the crazy behaviour of other drivers. The most notable was when we were passing parked cars and a BMW X6 reversed without warning into our path trying to make another attempt to parallel park.
The route took us through the busy streets of Lake sauce until we could see the beach and the ship.
The roundabout that we turned away from the beach was covered with a sculpture. The street to the cruise terminal was very narrow even before the bus had to squeeze between strangely parked cars.
The Leixões cruise terminal
Once out of the usual security checks, I tried my luck at capturing silhouettes of returning passengers through the obscured class in the corridors of the terminal.
At the side of the large open area we could see a lift to the upper floors of the terminal.
At the top we went through the opening and out onto the roof.
The door was incredibly thick and we could only imagine why such a door will be needed. The views from the roof was spectacular.
Spirit of Discovery
Back on board we watched we went to the veranda for a lunch.
A mist suddenly descended across the harbour and then just as quickly dispersed.
The ship was later than planned leaving Leixões and we were warned that there would be 25 knot winds across the decks.
Speciality restaurant – The Club
This was the evening that we had booked a meal in the speciality restaurant called The Club. We planned to have a pre-dinner drink at the bar next to the restaurant. I had to go back to our cabin to pick up extra jumpers as the bar area was so cold.
We were shown to a table next to the “hole” that allows views of the Grand Dining Room on the deck below. This made everything very noisy and we asked to be sat somewhere else. Our final table was at the end of the restaurant by the bar but did meet our request for a quieter table.
Our server was not very happy and after some discussion we did manage to get glasses of wine and order our food. The poor Service continued with our starter dumped in front of us. About as soon as we’ve finished our plates were whisked away and our sorbets dumped again.
In the ordering process we had missed that the sorbets were mint flavoured. This was a new taste for a sorbet for both of us and I for one was not very impressed. Again our main course have arrived with all the delicacy of a sack of potatoes being dumped on the floor. And just like our starter the food was excellent.
The fast food service continued and as we ordered our desserts we asked for a tea and an Americano. The tea was a half filled cup with a teabag. The Americano was instant coffee which was hardly dissolved. Both were pretty disgusting and we simply left the restaurant.
Evening
We had had a very busy day going up and down lots of steps and the hills of Porto. Instead of going to the theatre, we went back to our cabin to watch the comedian, Phil Melbourne, on the TV. The ability to watch shows live on the cabins TV probably explains why often the theatre was empty at times. The comedian was miked up but we could not hear hardly any audience interactions.
The comedy at times was uncomfortable as members of the audience were picked upon from either the stage or even as he walked through the theatre. We were pleased to be in our cabin and decided to miss his later show a few evenings later in the Britannia lounge.
The clocks were changed overnight ready for the following day in Vigo.