Ola from Porto, Portugal

Elena and Richard on the sightseeing bus
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Well I successfully met with Richard in London and we flew into Porto on Sunday afternoon. Our hotel was fantastic, only 20 euros a night but much better than my 75 pounds a night hotel in London. It was situated in a little alley right in the centre of Porto, close to the river and historic district.

Richard and I went down to the river for dinner. It is very scenic and beautiful, with lots of old buildings and hills. This area is a World Heritage Site. Richard was very impressed with his dinner, something called a 'franceshina' and a Portugeuse specialty. [Richard steals keyboard here] Picture this, starting from the bottom: bread, 3 kinds of ham, chorizo sausage, steak, bread, egg, melted cheese, surrounded by a sea of chips in gravy. Heaven is a one meal heart attack. And how. [Back to Elena] We also found out that here in Portugal, when you eat out they give you a plate of appetisers such as savoury pastries, bread or olives without you even asking, and also dessert pastries after dinner. We found out the hard way here that they actually charge you for these though!

Heaven is a one meal heart attack

Porto and the river
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The next day, we went on another hop on, hop off bus sightseeing tour around Porto. It took us to all the major sights, including monuments, parks, and along the beach and river where we saw all the bridges of Porto. It was so pretty. Next, we crossed to the other side of the river, where all the port factories are located. We wanted to do a tour/tasting but unfortunately they were closed for lunch, so we bought a port sampler from the local bottle shop and had that instead.

Next stop, Lisbon!