Day: August 12, 2021

Day 5: More WOW (World of Wine)…The Chocolate Story and Porto Region Across the Ages

When we picked up tickets for WOW, we chose a package which gave us access to three museums at the complex. Thus far, we had only been to one of them (The Wine Experience)…so today we decided to use the remaining two museum passes. Our first stop for the day was “The Chocolate Story,” which covered everything from the history and culture of cacao to cacao varieties to cocoa production. The final portion of the museum took us through the Vinte Vinte Chocolate Factory production facility. We even enjoyed delicious cocoa beans and chocolate samples….YUM!

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After finishing up the Chocolate Story and enjoying lunch outdoors with a great view, we moved on to Porto Region Across The Ages. We learned a TON about Porto (and Portugal’s) past. A couple of interesting facts: Portugal became a kingdom on 5 October 1143 per the Treaty of Zamora, and developed into a global influence by the late middle ages. Earlier in history, a quote typically attributed to Julius Caesar or Galba (Governor of Hispania) refers to the Lusitani (a tribe near what is now Porto) in the following manner: “There is a people who lives in the corner of the Iberian Peninsula who will not govern themselves and hate to be governed by others.” This theme of individualism and self-determination is one we have heard several times throughout our visit to the area.

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At the end of the afternoon, we made our way back across the Luis I Bridge, up the many steps of the Escadas do Codecal (codecal scaffolding) while enjoying all the cool street art and back to our hotel room….where I promptly took a NAP!

Day 6: Igreja de Santo Ildefonso and Restaurante Salmao

We really took it easy on day six. What can we say? Multiple days of walking 7+ miles has a way of sneaking up on people (see “nap” photo above…)! Igreja de Santo Ildefonso stands less than a block from our hotel (in fact, we can see it from our balcony), and is open for tours! This Baroque style church was completed in 1739, and features beautiful tile work installed in the 1930s. An older chapel once occupied the same location dating from the late 1200s, but was demolished in 1709. (For more information, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Saint_Ildefonso ). We toured the church and then decided to take a walk and maybe find dinner.

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After stopping briefly at Jardim Marques de Oliveira (a cute little park near our hotel), we settled on dinner at Restaurante Salmao (offering traditional Portuguese cuisine per the sign). Dinner was delicious!! Donna tried seabream and Kevin settled on grilled sardines. We shared a liter of wine (hey, don’t judge) and splurged on olives, local bread and fish cakes as appetizers as well as chocolate mousse and a kind of creme brulee for desert. We enjoyed sitting outside on the patio, soaking up the sun before calling it a night. Life. Is. Good.

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Day 7: It was okay.

Eh. Everybody has “meh” day once in a while. Unfortunately, our meh day happened on our 26th anniversary. Kevin (very sweetly) treated Donna to a 90-minute massage at a lovely spa around the corner, and we wound up eating dinner at a great little cafe on Rua de Santa Catarina (known for shopping….and also very near the Legendary Porto Hotel). Our vegetarian quiche and pasteis de nata (egg tarts) were delicious. Afterwards, we successfully managed to locate and navigate the completely foreign aisles of a local grocery and come away with snacks and wine for the room. With that, we headed up to our room and called it a night. We also managed to talk to all three of our adult children at some point in the day, so all things considered…life is good. And tomorrow is, indeed, another day.

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