Found and lost at the water’s edge

I imagine that every tourist with a smartphone (which is all of them, now) who visits Porto takes some version of the photo at the top of the page.  It’s a view of Porto taken from across the Duoro (DUH-roo) River in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia.  I took that picture when we visited the Cais de Ribeira, the riverfront promenade, on a sunny morning last week.

Before we left the apartment, I used Google Maps to identify the right bus route to get us to the riverfront.  I picked the 403 bus because it drove along the river and would drop us off very close to where we wanted to go.  We enjoyed the 30 minute ride because it took us through some areas that we had not seen before and drove along the river for about a mile.  

We got off the bus one stop before the Cais de Ribeira in order to look around and get our bearings.  We walked up the Rua do Infante Henrique, named for Prince Henry the Navigator, the 15th century prince who was instrumental in the development of Portugal as a world sea power.

As we walked down a narrow, steep street to the Ribeira, we saw several stores selling Porto souvenirs and knew we were in tourist territory.  At the bottom of the hill were several stalls selling tickets for boat rides on the Douro.  

We turned left and walked up the Ribeira, enjoying the view of the river to our right and the open air cafes on our left.  

This part of the Ribeira is dominated by the Ponte de Dom Luis I (The King Luis I Bridge) that connects Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia.   When it opened in 1886, it was the longest bridge of its kind in the world.  

Footnote:  King Luis ruled from 1861 to 1889.  Among his accomplishments was the establishment of one of the world’s first aquariums, the Aquário Vasco da Gama in Lisbon. He also introduced translated versions of Shakespeare’s plays to Portugal.

The Ponte de Dom Luis I was designed by Théophile Seyrig, a German engineer and disciple of Gustave Eiffel.  (Eiffel had proposed the first design for the bridge, but his was not selected)  The bridge opened for traffic on the upper deck in November, 1886.  The lower deck was completed the following year.  

The upper deck is now closed to motor vehicles, but open to pedestrians and one the Porto metro train lines.  The lower deck is open to vehicles and pedestrians.  We walked across to Nova de Gaia, took photos, and strolled along the riverside.  The river walk on the Gaia side is new, with a broad walkway and smooth pavement.  There were numerous stalls and tables set up with people selling souvenirs, pictures, etc.  

Behind the walkway were restaurants, most with outdoor tables.  Some of the restaurants were associated with wine cellars, or caves do vinho.  Vila Nova de Gaia is home to several dozen cellars where port wine is aged.  (We have much more exploring to do in that area!)

Lunch on the Ribeira

We walked back across the bridge and down the line of restaurants on the Porto side, glancing at menus as we passed each one.  We hadn’t done any research about the restaurants, and Mary was hungry, so we picked the first one that looked interesting – the Restaurante Mercearia.  The maitre d’ handed us menus as we walked by and told us they had sardines as the daily special.  It was “tourist prices”, but we said what the hell, this will be our splurge for the week. 

As we got seated, we realized Mary’s view of the river was blocked by a boat tied up at the edge of the Ribeira. I could see over her shoulder and down river, but mostly saw people walking up and down.

Our waiter brought out a basket of bread with two small dishes of pâté – one tuna and one olive.  Unlike in the US, these are not complementary.  We saw them on the menu for EUR 3.50.  Since Mary was hungry, we decided to keep them.  It was a good decision – they were very tasty.  And, as it turned out, they were best part of the meal for me.

Mary ordered a bowl of pasta with camaroes (shrimp) and tomato sauce.  I talked to the waiter about the options for bacalhau (dried and salted cod fish – the national dish) and decided to get it prepared in the oven.  (No fried food for me today.)  

This was the third time I’d had bacalhau.  I enjoyed it the first two times and am determined to try it as many ways as I can.  That could take a while.  I’ve heard that there are more than 350 ways to prepare it.

We enjoyed the bread and pate, and a glass of vinho verde while we waited on our entrees.  It was a perfect day to be outside – about 70 degrees F / 21 degrees C, clear sky, a slight breeze, low humidity.  

The meal arrived and, with a flourish, the waiter poured vinegar and oil on my food.  It looked very good – a large portion of white fish surrounded by boiled potatoes, slivers of white onion, some olives, two halves of a hard-boiled egg and some slices of green pepper.  But with the first bites, I knew it was going to be a challenge.  I got bones in both bites.  After that I peeled the fish in layers from the top and only had bones in one bite near the end.  

The flesh of the fish was firm, but didn’t have much taste.  I should have asked for salt and pepper, but didn’t.  The potatoes were good, as were the olives and the eggs.  I tried different combinations – a bite of fish with a bite of potato, fish and egg, fish and pepper, fish and onion, fish with onion and potato.  You get the idea.  None of them really worked for me and I gave up on it about halfway through.  

Mary tasted it and said, “It tastes old.”  I replied, “It IS old. It was dried and salted, probably weeks ago.  It’s probably last month’s fish.”

I want to be careful here to make the point that the problem with the dish was probably me. I ordered something new that I had limited experience with and didn’t like it. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a well-prepared example of bacalhau. I’ll be a better judge after a few more tries.

Mary gave me a bite of her pasta, which had cooled off by the time I tasted it.  She said it was delicious when it was hot.

But the wine was good, the spot was delightful and we finished off with a couple of espressos.

And Entertainment, Too!

While we were finishing lunch, a man walked up in front of the restaurant and began playing an accordion.  This was a special accordion because it played an orchestral accompaniment to his melody.  I didn’t recognize the tune he played first, but Mary burst out laughing.  “It’s from Bad Santa!”  Sure enough, as I listened more closely, I remembered the tune.

(Warning:  If you haven’t seen Bad Santa, with Billy Bob Thornton, be advised – it’s not family fare.  If you’ve seen it, you’re welcome to pass judgement on my character when I tell you I think it’s one of the funniest movies ever made.  It replaced National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation as my first must-see movie for after Thanksgiving.)

An Unexpected Detour

After lunch, we mapped out the bus ride back to the apartment.  We walked back up the hill from the Ribeira to find a different bus stop. Along the way, we noticed this sun bather.

We got on one bus and anticipated getting off several stops later and catching another one.  The bus drove west along the river and we enjoyed the view of the water.  After about 10 minutes, we realized we had missed our stop and instead of the Duoro River, we were looking at the Atlantic Ocean!

We got off the bus at the Molhe stop on Av. do Brazil and looked at Google maps to figure out what to do next.  We could catch a bus to our apartment at a stop a block away in about 15 minutes.  Since we had time, we walked across the street to look at the beach and the ocean.  

We were at the Praia Homen do Leme, which translates roughly as “the beach of the rudder man”.  I learned later that it was really “the beach of the helmsman” and was named for the Homen do Leme statue, which honors the fishermen of Portugal.  The helmsman in the statue is gripping the wheel of his ship and is leaning into the wind. 

We’ll find the statue on our next visit, which may be soon.  We want to have an evening picnic and watch the sunset.  The Praia Homen do Leme looked like a great place to do that.  

All in All, A Good Day

So… we made a mistake and got lost.  That’s usually our goal as tourists, since it has almost always led us to new and interesting places.  Today was no exception. We got to see several sections of Porto, including one that we hadn’t planned to visit, had a good time at lunch, and found our way to the sea as well.  

---

What fascinating things have you seen after getting lost?  Leave a comment below or send one in with the Contact Form.

Until next time / Até à próxima,

Mike

The Writer

---