Porto 1

I found A Padaria Portuguesa on the avenue to the station which as its name indicates is a bakery but it also served a natural breakfast. It was a cool morning and I savoured sitting in the open air.

The station architecture was attractive and light-filled but with sufficient shelter.

I had plenty of margin for the train as I had booked my tickets online for a mid-morning service of 0939. It cost me only 9,5 €. Portuguese trains are very affordable and even more so if you buy them sufficiently ahead of time to take advantage of promotional prices.

Unfortunately the punctuality of Portuguese trains falls short. (So leave enough leeway in your plans.) This is not the train I boarded. My train actually arrived about an hour late. We made up some of the time en route, only to lose time again due to trackwork near Porto.

Our destination was the Campanha station in Porto so the train crossed the Douro using the Ponte de São João. This means that the closest bridge is the Ponte Dona Maria Pia designed by Eiffel, and the one in the distance is the road bridge Ponte Infante Dom Henrique.

I walked to my Airbnb lodgings because I would pass a restaurant reputed to serve the best francesinha, a signature dish of Porto. Think of it as a croque monsieur with cheese and gravy. It usually comes with chips, so it's a very filling meal. Servings are large in Portugal so don't order too much.

I settled into my room. I should have noted that it was on the second floor. I had to lug my suitcase up several flights of stairs. My suitcase was chock full at the beginning of a trip.

In the evening I took a short walk to Praça dos Poveiros where there is a Pingo Doce supermarket around the corner I could get provisions from. The Praça isn't much to look at as it's mostly concrete, but the weather was cool and pleasant.