The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
A River Runs Through It
There's good news and bad news about traveling the way we do -- renting apartments rather than staying in hotels. The
good news: we have more room, we can spread out, settle in for a spell and set our own schedule. The downside is that, for
the most part, we're on own and need to sort out the details ourselves ... and there were plenty of details to sort out
this time.
The first was how to plug in our various chargers, hair care appliances and the like. Of course, all my European cords and
plug adapters were in the lost bag, but the variety store four doors up the street had them. We also needed to lay in
basic food supplies as there was nothing provided in the apartment except two pods for a Keurig-like coffee maker and a
couple of tea bags left by an earlier occupant. My new friends up the street came through again with basic groceries.
Having access to the basics within walking distance is one of the reasons we've gravitated from outlying properties that
required driving for everything to in-town locations.
We did manage to get out and around at least a little bit today. With a prime parking spot I'd hate to lose, I chose to
feed the parking ticket machine every two hours (1 euro each time). Fortunately the parking charge only applies from 8am to
8pm Monday-Friday. I'll need to find more permanent parking on Monday, but I'm sure by then we'll want to get out and drive
up the river anyway.
PS: No sign of our wandering third bag yet. Thanks for asking.
While Porto is on the Atlantic coast, the city itself straddles the Duoro River. Farther
upstream is where you'll find the vineyards that produce the grapes that ultimately end up as port wine. I hope to get
more into the process before we leave, but I digress. There are several bridges across the river but the one most
photographed is the double-decked Dom Luis Bridge. The top deck is a railroad and pedestrian crossing. The lower level is
for people and cars.
Happily our apartment is right at the end of the upper level on the city side (the right end of the bridge in the first
photo), so it was easy to walk around the corner and out over the middle of the river to see the lay of the land. A bit
unnerving when a train passes no more than two feet away, but that's why Mom always told you to look both ways before
crossing the street!
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