Travel to Porto, Portugal

Over the rough winter (thanks to many things, including the Coronavirus Pandemic), Donna and I had plenty of time to figure out how we would spend our retirement. We decided we loved our motor home tour of the states so much that we should go international! With MUCH research (okay, maybe an hour, tops!) we settled on checking out Portugal, first. Our daughter Kathleen had visited the area and recommended we visit. After day 1, our verdict? Thank you, Kathleen!
Donna and I flew from Chicago to Porto, Portugal via Lisbon on TAP Air Portugal, which was pretty neat. We took off from Chicago O’Hare at 4:00pm and flew ‘overnight’. We scheduled a three and half hour layover in Lisbon, which worked out well. When we arrived in Lisbon at 5:30am, we moseyed to customs. There was a line already, and there were only four customs agents working the checkpoint. After standing the the queue for an hour and a half, other agents filled the booths, and we were through by 7:15am. We had enough time to consume a cup of coffee (uma xicara do café) and make our way to the flight to Porto.
The connecting flight was a regional prop plane; an experience neither of us had had in quite some time. At around 10h30, we finally arrived in Porto. And our transport arrived on time to get us to our hotel – the Legendary Porto Hotel. As I write this, I am currently sitting with my feet out on the balcony overlooking a busy city square, complete with water fountain and a cool statue. The weather is lovely!
After a brief nap, we ventured down to the Douro River. We walked across the Ponte Luis I, an incredible bridge. We checked out Jardim do Moro, which is a hilltop park near the Ponte Luis I. There were people lazing on the grass soaking up the sun and basking in the beautiful weather.
We returned to the hotel side of the bridge and made our way down many (many) steps to the banks of the Douro. There were cafés and shops and venders all along the river. And there were plenty of people. We made our way back up all those steps and back to the hotel.
After dinner at a place right across the square, we grabbed a couple glasses of Tawny Port at the hotel bar. After quite a long day, we retired to our room and collapsed for a great night’s sleep. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Douro River Panoramic View