Preuscher: A quick day in Porto

A quick day in Porto

The Portugese rail system, Comboios de Portugal, has an app with English as an option so you can order online and reserve a seat as with Lufthansa. Of course, the only works if your credit card works. Despite having notified Citibank of my travel plans, they chose to deny the charge. And once denied -- even though I had confirmed via response text to Citibank that it was indeed me -- the app refused to let me re-submit because (lucky, lucky me) Citibank and Mastercard were protecting me. [Sigh.]

The app also had an option where you could add an additional passenger, though you needed to enter for all passengers their ID details -- identity card, passport, driver's license or a couple of other options. So I kept having to ask Kimberley for her passport number, and then the app would reject me (thanks again, Citibank) and I'd have to start from the beginning. I finally figured out how to add Kimberley's details into the app so I didn't have to keep re-entering them. And when I finally realized nothing was going to happen with my Citibank card (and they only offered a US toll free number - grrrr) I used my American Express card which I didn't have with me but, fortunately, have memorized the number and other details. Finally went through.

Problem was that it only listed my details and not Kimberley's. Hmmm... Since it seemed keyed on your ID number, I downloaded the app on her phone and set up an account for her, entering the ID details so it should pop up, right? Nope. And of all days, the activity wasn't showing up on my AMEX app so I couldn't tell if it had indeed charged me for both tickets or only one. And it still hadn't updated in the morning, either. Odd. So I figured we would just need to check in with a -- gasp -- real human at the train station. Which we did. And apparently in all my anger and frustration with Citi, I had indeed neglected to add Kimberley as a passenger the last and final time.

I asked the very helpful agent if he could put us together on the train. He said something about my seat being a single seat so I assumed that he had managed to put us together or across the aisle or something. Well, kind of. It was 1 + 2 seating so I was in the one seat and Kimberley was in the one seat the row ahead of me. Close enough, I guess? The more odd thing, though, was the seat numbering system (or lack thereof, as I couldn't quite understand its logic). For example, my seat number was adjacent to Kimberley's (she was 81 and I was 82), even though we were on the same side of the train and in different rows. And on the two side, it was 75/73, then 76/74 and then jumped to 85/83 (the latter was in Kimberley's row).

So here's your brain puzzle for the day. Solve for the seat numbers represented by question marks, where seating is left to right 1+2:

? -- 73 75
? -- 74 76
81 -- 83 85
82 -- ? ?

I will admit that I do not have the answer to this quiz, but would be curious if someone else does.

We traveled in first class, which probably wasn't worth the little bit extra, but it was only EUR 45 for a three hour ride. WiFi was free on the train (and much more dependable than the free WiFi on Amtrak, though not as good as the free WiFi I experienced on LitRail in Lithuania) so I was able to draft yesterday's blog easily. (By comparison, I am attempting this one while en route to Regua but there are no tray tables and no WiFi so not as convenient.) The car was very new and clean, though apparently first class does not include free coffee (contrast with both free coffee, a bottle of water AND a free sandwich on LitRail). I paid EUR 1,10 for a coffee that was basically an espresso in size but with an intensity that was akin to drinking grappa as it felt like it would grow hair on my chest, which wasn't my objective. It was an uneventful trip, though, and arrived right on schedule.

We grabbed the Metro from Campanha station and took it to for about 10 minutes and it dropped us off just 200 meters or so from our hotel, the Art Senses Rooms and Suites. It was just a door next to a supermarket with a keypad and we would have missed it were I not looking for the house number. We rang and the door clicked open. We quickly found ourselves heading up a light colored wood staircase next to an exposed rock wall -- very modern looking. Our hostess met us, got us checked in such as it was, and helped us with a map and some suggestions on routes to take and which things on my list might not be worth the visit. I was very impressed by how automated everything was, including that our suite, "Musica," was accessible via a combination lock built into the handle. Same with entry via the keypad from the ground floor as there wasn't any sort of attendant on duty at all hours. The room was also large with two comfortable chairs with a few pastries, apples and a carafe of water awaiting our arrival. Kimberley's favorite feature, though, was the Nespresso machine. Very surprising, too, that even though our room faced the street and there was a bus stop right outside, it was really quiet.

We set out on to see the city. The hotel is located right at Casa da Musica, which is apparently an amazing music hall that is said to be worth the effort to tour even when you're not attending a concert, but given our limited time I satisfied myself with the view from outside.

We then continued on to a place the hostess had recommended called Mercado Bom Sucesso. To call it a "food court" would be to grossly understate what it is. The sign called it an "urban concept. But basically this 1940s-era market hall has been completely updated and includes a bunch of permanent mini-restaurants and a few other stores on two levels. While they had central racks where you were to place your tray and dishes when you were done, each restaurant seemed to have its own trays and dishes and you could see the attendants taking the dirty dishes back to each restaurant. Fascinating. This collage shows an overview of the venue, a literal over-view of the mini-restaurant we chose, and a gratuitous food shot. The food was tasty and I enjoyed that they had a basil plant and kept picking off leaves to add as garnishes to plates when served or to actually place in the sauce itself. Wonder how many of those plants they go through each day....

Fueled, we headed to Jardim do Palacio de Cristal or Crystal Palace Gardens , which had not been on my list but was a waypoint on the map the hostess had outlined for us. Shortly upon entering, we heard quite a loud shriek, which it turned out emanated from a wandering peacock. We watched him for a while and then continued on, only to find another, and another, and another. There were only a few female pea fowl and they all appeared to be entirely unimpressed with the displays by the guys. Certainly was fascinating for the humans to watch, though!

Pea fowl weren't the only fowl there. There were more roosters and chickens, some baby chicks, various ducks, sea gulls, and, in some places, all of them together. Strange, strange combination -- especially with the chickens in the mix as I am not used to encountering them in public places.

Porto, like Lisbon, is hilly, so there was a lot of up-and-down hiking throughout the day. We started out mostly just walking down, though, as we wanted to make it to the waterfront. We lucked out finding a staircase that wound back and forth and made the descent a bit easier on the knees. The waterfront features the typical array of cafes where you could sit outside and have a coffee or glass of wine or beer and watch the world go by. Good people watching, to be sure, but fewer performance artists than you might expect in that sort of touristy area (you know, like people who are in costume and pretend they're a statue and then move and startle people, yet looking creepy all the time).

The primary objective at the waterfront, though, was the Dom Luis I bridge, which was designed by Gustave Eiffel who, if not clear by the name, designed the Eiffel Tower. And right next to it was supposed to be a portion of Muralha Fernandina, an old medieval wall. What I didn't realize until we got there (given that everything looks flat on the map) was that the bridge is a multi-level bridge, with cars at the bottom level by the waterfront, and a pedestrian walkway wayyyyyy up at the top level along with one of the metro lines. Oh, come on! Helpfully, there was a funicular to take you up there, but.... The wall wasn't in most of the tourist books and I couldn't tell whether one could actually get TO or ON the wall or only closer, so decided my heart would go on if I just noted it and continued on my way climbing up a more moderate hill on towards other destinations.

On that climb I finally had my first pastel de nata, a traditional Portuguese pastry that I can best describe as a cream tart. I had seen them before, but wanted to buy one at a place that looked like they may have actually been made there, versus at a small cafe (like the one the first dwe walked day in Lisbon where we had an espresso with the Dutch woman who happened to be eating). Kimberley is also not really into sweets, which made stopping for one less appealing. But during one uphill climb, we came across a store front display case from a cafe that showed all passersby what variety of pastries were available inside. Including the pastel de nata, of course, as well as an almond thing that Kimberley had had before. She said that if I got a pastel de nata, she'd buy one of those other things. Well, twist my arm. It was delightful. I am now, unfortunately, hooked on them. Light, flaky curst with a not-too-sweet creamy center. Yum!

Tiles continued to be a theme in Porto. They were a bit different than in Lisbon, though. Yes, some were the same colorful, flat design, but they also have some three-dimensional tiles in Porto that were quite beautiful. The tiles tended to be placed higher on the buildings rather than on the entire facade, or sometimes just narrow strips of tiles on the front rather than a full display. We also learned that in Porto, tiles are definitely not just for houses. In fact, there were a surprising number of places where murals were created on tiles.

One example of this is at the Sao Bento train station. The main entry hall has gorgeous tile displays on every wall -- some in the more traditional blue and white, others in color around the top. Really stunning. The other example is Igreja do Carmo, a cathedral from the late 17th century that is covered in azulejo tiles and a good example of rococo style in Porto.

The last planned stop for the day was one that I still hadn't made up my mind on. Livraria Lello is advertised as the most beautiful bookstore in the world and I am a sucker for a good bookstore. Apparently it was also a favorite of J. K. Rowling when she was teaching in the area, so it has a shrine of sorts for Harry Potter (and some say that the architecture of the bookstore may have influenced some scenes in the books, but I wouldn't know). The reason I hadn't decided whether I wanted to go in is that multiple online reviews called it a terrible tourist trap and worth neither the money nor the wait. Many said that the line to enter wraps around the block and it can sometimes take up to 45 minutes just to buy your ticket (yes, a ticket to a bookstore) before you wait in the other line. They apparently try to meter how many people are allowed inside at one time, but it is still packed and people complain that they can't get good photos, let alone think of actually shopping for a book. Hmmm....

It was just a block away from Igreja do Carmo so I thought it was at least worth a look. There were some people outside, but not a long line. Oh, why not. So you have to buy your EUR 5 ticket (which fee can be applied to the purchase of one book -- you can't pool your money with others to buy a book you might really want that's more than EUR 5) a couple storefronts down, which also has merchandise available for sale. In order to try to make it easier to get around in the book store itself, you have to leave backpacks, bags and strollers in free lockers in that other area. Selfie sticks are (thank goodness) prohibited in the bookstore. It took about 10 minutes to by our ticket and the size of the process/area attests to how much money they're raking in for tourism. But there was no wait once we got back to the bookstore entrance itself. The staff member working there said that it had been a crazy weekend but that this particular Monday was oddly quiet. It was still rather crowded, especially wth people wanting to pause on the narrow staircase to have their photos taken while others were trying to get to the second floor.

It really is gorgeous. The main feature is a staircase (with steps painted red) in the center that then splits to the right and left and curls around to deposit you on the second level. It has beautiful carved wooden details and is mesmerizing from pretty much any angle. There is also a gorgeous colored glass (not sure if it would properly be called stained glass or leaded glass or something else) ceiling on the second story. There are interesting miniature plaster busts/faces that are either attached to dividers in the shelves or hanging down or something that I've not seen in other old bookstores. And also a track in the lower floor where a sled of heavy books can be moved along the way with ease. As we left, they gave each of us one of the two volumes of small booklets about the bookstore since we hadn't used our tickets towards the purchase of another book.