We're at day 5 of our trip to Porto, Portugal, and we've luckily had unusually nice weather, according to the 'tripe-eaters'. That's what the Porto denizens call each other given it's a local delicacy, so hopefully it's not too rude for me to use the term too. I haven't had the tripe yet and probably won't, but I've had lots of nice grilled fish, and we were amused to watch a little girl eating a little octopus (served whole) a few nights ago, obviously a perfectly normal dinner for her. It's a confusing city of great opulence beside sad decrepitude. It seems the really old buildings in the center of town are often abandoned as people opt for more modern housing and there are many shells of buildings everywhere. We did go up the coast and find a wonderful beachside community - Foz do Douro - and it's as nice as can be with a long seaside park and cafes right on the beach, some with couches and also lights on the surf at night. Gerald loved the rugged rocks and there were sandy beaches too. Further up the coast was the main port and unfortunately some factories spurting dark smoke at regular intervals, but it wasn't pervasive into Porto - I don't think. The pace is very nice - people don't speak English all that much but with sign language and rusty Spanish, we're easily making our way.

We won't have time to explore up the Douro Valley (the New York Times ran an article in Sunday's paper on this area's wine-making, which was fun to read sitting just downriver) but that is certainly a future trip for us as we do find this area intriguing. Gerald was in heaven on Friday when we went for lunch to the Taylor & Fladgate Port warehouse across the river for a tour of the warehouse and then a first class lunch. He could even have a Cuban cigar with his tawny port, right at the table - yes it's that different here. So - see how he just fits right in?









We were very surprised to hear Finnish instead of Portugese as a young couple were seated near us - we chatted a bit as they left and they were very pleased to welcome us to Finland, while in Portugal. We left Finland just after the school shooting tragedy and it was such a shock to everyone in the country, so quite a sad time there. They all lit candles in their windows as condolences the night afterwards and I was sorry to miss participating in that.

We are enjoying a reprieve from the Helsinki weather as Gerald's boss called today and said it was snowing and raining there. I was out in a sweater this afternoon, and had to use sunscreen yesterday. It's chestnut days in Porto and there are sellers roasting them on the streets this week - an event marking autumn here.
I'll add more posts with pictures now.