Slept in, had a really nice breakfast with delicious butter. Kirk had his normal, omelette with everything. Took our time getting ready and headed out after 11. Damn photos are still not pulling in. Ugh.
Off to Sao Bento train station but we went by it and then looped around to see the castle and some beautiful tiled buildings. Saw a kid getting handcuffed and put in a police car - well there were 5 police cars. Most have been a quiet day. Tried to cross the street (they really don’t like it if you jay walk) and the light was out so a tour guide next to us announced ‘we are just going to go as a group’ so Kirk said “lets use them as our shields and go!”. Finally found the train station and honestly it was stunning. The tiles tell the stories and are divine. One looked slightly like me and Kirk said ‘that’s you only younger. And the eyebrows of course.’ Lol I love European train stations. The easy mode of travel to the beauty they put in to them is so unlike America.
Speaking of America. We have sat with, talked to and even just heard in passing some variation of ‘we are not trump supporters’ when Americans are talking to or with locals or other tourists. A LOT.
Decided to do a super touristy thing and climb the tower Torre dos Clerigos. There was a small bit of art and artifacts plus information on the graves below they dug up about a decade ago. The views were really cool and cool aka breezy, which was nice after climbing. Here you could see the city is building, building building b/c there were more than a dozen high cranes. We saw a lot of land level building going on as well. We talked about how the tourism is undoubtedly playing a big role in this. So on our way down we got to look at the pictures they took of us - super touristy! - me pushing Kirk off the tower, us kissing on top of the tower and then us just sitting up on the tower. $10 euros for one cheap ass pic. Lol no thanks. They were a little pushy even saying “you need your memories!”.
Found a cute, tiny restaurant just off the beaten path and had the crazy large piece of octopus while Kirk had the bachalau, the traditional Portuguese dish. And of course some wine - Mateuse, a local, slightly fizzy rose which I love and 2 beers for Kirk. Kirk made up a cute song “I’m shaking my caboose while drinking my Mateuse”. Clever The toilet was crammed into a teeny tiny corner next to the kitchen. Kirk didn’t fit very well and had to use his gymnastics background to pee.
Headed across town to Parque das Aguas. Kind of disappointing. May be a gay hook up site. View was spectacular but it really need some love and care.
Decided to head back and took the literal high road b/c if we went down to the river we would have to climb up the staircase to heaven. Walked through some peaceful, treelined neighborhoods and by elementary schools and back to our hotel for some drinks by the pool. There are quite a few people at the pool and Kirk and I discussed how people are either on Holiday or on a travel vacation. We rarely take advantage of the areas like this b/c we are the travelers. The hotel pool area has a garden you can relax in as well as around the pool/spa. It’s very very serene and feels so relaxing after all the walking we have done. Although today is a measly 6 miles . Haha.
A little more…strolled up to dinner and had to wait for a protest march to go buy. They had police escorts and it was all very civil, made up of mostly older men and women, vs teens or young adults. I have to look up what it was as I couldn’t translate with the few words i know or the Spanish equivalent. The restaurant was a quaint tapas place. The waitress suggested we order 4 to share and we laughed. We started off with 5 and then added 2 more and another bottle of wine. Started talking to Chris, who sat next to us. He was admiring our food and said he wished he ordered what we had (at the time was steak). From London and we got talking about travel. He has a home in Puglia and one in London and has traveled quite extensively. He is planning a month long trip next year from Puglia up to the Dolomites and maybe a bit beyond. Lots of talk of our ‘leader’ and the economy as well. And wine of course. How a great bottle can be $10 here and in Italy. Italians love their local wine even if it’s like a red Zin on a hot day. He said that’s the only problem!
Unfortunately we had to wrap it up b/c something hit my stomach wrong. Unfortunately it was not a good end to the evening 💩.
I’m loving your blog💕
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