Porto, Day 1.

Camila, Brazilian friend, roommate from stay in Lisbon, who is currently studying/living in Braga, had entreated me to ring her up as soon as I approached Porto for possible hangout. Did so two days ago, while in Aveiro, and went to meet her at the train station today at 1:00 p.m. (It is uncany and wonderful, isn't it, how easily friendships are made while travelling?)

Before that, having a lot of time to kill, went out to find a laundromat and do some window shopping. I recently figured it all out about laundromats: the trick is to do your laundry in small towns, where they can finish the job easily in a day (most people here, it seems, do not use laundromats, they either wash at home or....I guess they wash at home then {shrug}), for in the big cities it seems they are always too busy--took me three laundromats before I could find one that could do the job in a day. And I only have like 4 T-shirts, and all my socks to wash (the rest can be washed in hostel, dries faster, but socks never dry on their own after washing, and besides, everyone knows they always disappear since they're either pairing averse, or recombinant-phillic, for you biology-inclined folks ha ha, so....)!!

Speaking of socks, had to buy another pair (see above). But this one came bundled up with a second, so, might as well be pretty socks, right? I got me some nice blue-and-green-striped ones, a la Cat in the Hat, only ankle length. Cool, huh? (maybe I'll post a picture of my "European" sock collection one of these days, it is getting rather variegated as I haven't been able to keep buying them all white the way they should be).

Anyway, after catching up with Camila over some nice buffet lunch (cheap! for 7 or so Euros you get quite a nice variety of stuff: pork spiedini, rice, fish, fruit, you name it) we headed off to the Torre dos Clérigos which is the tallest tower in Portugal. Had nice views and all, but only 240-something steps. So it is not too tall, after all.

From there we stopped at the Sè Catedral to admire the azulejo-covered cloister before heading for the fun part: wine tasting on the other side of the river, at Vila Nova da Gaia, across the magnificent Ponte Dom Luis I.

Aaaaah, what a beautiful, beautiful day. The wine tasting part, man, now I understand a California friend of mine. I could do this forever. And chattering the day away with Camila was so much fun. Wine tasting, like many other things, is so much better in good company.