New Year´s in Porto, Portugal

We took a night train from Madrid, Spain to Porto, Portugal. We were awoken in our seats by the train ticket-taker at 7am and told our stop was coming up soon. We grabbed our stuff, slipped on our shoes, and got off at the tiniest train station ever in Porrino, Spain. The station itself wasn´t open, but the guy behind the counter in the cafeteria told us our next train into Porto would be there in an hour, and gave us some coffee to get going. Three hours later, we pulled into Porto. Almost immediately, a local noticed us looking lost and pointed us in the right direction as we searched for our metro stand. Another stranger, over-hearing the conversation, verified that the first was correct. We dropped our bags at the cheap hotel we´d rented (a treat for New Years) and walked to the town center. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm, few clouds and no wind. We grabbed some great views of the old city center from a bridge, then made our way in. The city was very pretty, gritty, and cramped together, all very homey. After lots of looking and picture-taking, we had to get in a power nap before New Years Eve, due strictly to the uncomfortable night train. Later, we went in search of a good dinner. Come to find out, you have to make reservations in Porto, too. We wandered for a long time, rejected at many different restaurants, until we found a cafeteria-type place with tables. It was actually pretty good, and gave us our first experience with the Francesina. The Francesina is a sandwich, made up of about 4 pieces of bread and 4 kinds of meats and sausages, covered in melted cheese and then drenched in a spicy tomato soup. It is served in a bowl, and is fantastic. After, we went to a square where some guy on a stage was singing Portuguese tunes. As New Years approached, a local noticed that we had no raisins and so he gave us each 12 (according to the VisitPortugal site, you eat 12 raisins, each a wish for the upcoming 12 months, we found out the next day). The people counted down from 10, in Portuguese (Em and I tried a little), and of course champagne corks popped all around us. Another older guy noticed we had no champagne, and promptly gave us some of his. Point of story: the locals are absolutely fantastic in Portugal.

The next day, the entire town was shut down for New Years Day. We searched for hours, and finally found a cafe that was serving some food. Since it was cloudy and rainy, we spent the rest of the day in the hotel room watching a movie on cable (Steven Segall) and reading books.

We went to a Museum of Wine and Port (Port wine comes from a region very near Porto) and then walked to the ocean. Once again, a bunch of time spent watching the waves crash on the pier. That night, we finally had the nice New Year´s dinner we had searched for several days prior.

Our last day in Porto, before taking another night train back to Spain, we toured a Port wine company. The tour was fun and informative, the best part being the tasting at the end. After lounging around (and drinking some full glasses of port that no other tour-takers had claimed), we made our way to the train station. Back at Porrino 3 hours later, the same cafeteria worker asked us about our New Year´s and gave us more coffee. We jumped on the night train (in sleeper bunks this time), and made our way to Barcelona.

Photos HERE.