Not Enough Time

We're going to have to come back.

When DW and I originally planned our trip to Portugal, we initially thought that we could visit the northern city of Porto as a day trip from Lisbon. We'd take an early morning train, arrive in Porto by lunch, see the highlights, visit a port wine cellar, have dinner, and then catch the last train back to Lisbon.

But when we did the math and figured out the time, we just didn't have enough time to make a day trip worthwhile. So we thought we would arrange to stay overnight and ensure that we got a good day and a half to see everything without feeling rushed.

Problem solved.

But as we began to make more concrete plans and as we watched more travel videos on YouTube, we realized that Porto needed more attention and that we would start our Portugal vacation in this historic city. We would stay in the city for two days, take a day trip up the Douro Valley and visit a quinta or two (wineries).

It's still not enough time.

We arrived in Porto just after 1:00 in the afternoon. We were jet lagged and tired, having not slept much on our flight, from Montreal to Lisbon. And our hotel wouldn't let us check in until 3:00.

We spent a good part of our first couple of hours, looking for a shop where we could purchase a data card for our phones. The first two locations that we got from Google Maps, when we were using the WiFi on the train from Lisbon, were closed. The third location, which was thankfully open, was a long walk from our hotel (DW stayed outside our hotel with our bags and waited until we could check in while I wandered the city in search for a Vodaphone that was open).

By the time I returned with both of ou phones, set up with unlimited data, we were able to check in. We quickly freshened up and then rushed to City Hall, were we were meeting up with a free guided tour of the city.

The tour lasted for three hours and ended near the riverside of the city. DW and I rushed across the Luis I Bridge and to the monestary in Gaia, in time for sunset.

It's a photo that I've wanted to take since we planned our Porto visit.

We ended the day, sitting on a patio at Sandeman winery, enjoying the view of Porto, across the Douro River.

Sunday started with a stroll to Manteigaria, a chain cafe that specializes in the Portuguese custard tarts, pastais de nata. They are so incredible that I've vowed to start every morning in Portugal with one.

We strolled the Crystal Gardens, ate lunch, took a tour of Taylor's cellars, and had a great meal on the Gaia riverside. It doesn't sound like many things but we actually ran out of time for other things we wanted to see.

Today, we're in the Douro Valley, visiting two quintas: one, where we plan to stomp on grapes.

Tomorrow, first thing, we fly out of Porto and head to our next destination, on the southern coast.

So many things we wanted to do. So little time.

As DW and I sat down to dinner, last night, I told her that we simply have to come back. Porto may be a small city, where you can walk practically everywhere, but there are so many things to do that two days (a day and a half, actually) is not enough time.

I hope we don't have the same issue in the Algarve region, but if we run out of time to do everything we want to do, it would be no great issue to return to Portugal.

Time will tell.