The Global Slowmad

The Alfa Pendicular (AP) train to Porto was much nicer than the Intercidades (IC) train we took to/from Evora. Large, comfortable seats. Reasonably clean windows. Snack and beverage service. But we still opted not to venture anywhere near the restroom this time around. Fool me once and all.

We arrived a little too early to check into our room at Fontinha Hotel (booked with points earned via the Wyndham Business Earner credit card), but that gave us time to enjoy a pizza at the hotel restaurant (conveniently named the Fontinha Pizzeria, located on Rua da Fontinha) before dropping our luggage off at the room and heading out for a mid-afternoon walking tour with Hi Porto tours. Another feature of the Wyndham card is that it comes with Diamond elite status, which translated in this instance to an upgraded suite with a private outdoor patio.

When planning this side trip, we decided that a guided walking tour would be the most efficient use of our time since we would only be in the city for one evening. It became obvious that something was up on the walk from our hotel to meet our tour guide. Everywhere we turned, we kept seeing young people dressed in long, black capes, often wearing matching hats and/or sashes. More alarmingly, a growing crowd of these caped crusaders was lining up along seemingly every major thoroughfare between us and our destination. Unfortunately, we did not get any pictures of the spectacle because we were running so far behind schedule after having to reroute multiple times.

It turns out we were in Porto for one of the busiest weeks of the year. College graduations in Portugal are a week-long spectacle of parades and parties, with all 20,000+ students (and their parents, grandparents, friends and apparently random strangers) gathered to celebrate the event. One of the fun facts we (eventually) learned on our walking tour is that the Hogwarts uniforms in the Harry Potter series were based on the very student outfits we were seeing around town because J.K. Rowling lived in Porto when writing her early drafts. The locals have taken to calling the students Harry Potters, and I honestly can’t tell if it’s a term of endearment, frustration, pride or sarcasm. Probably all of the above.

In the end, the tour was a great overview of the city. Porto’s natural beauty rivals that of Lisbon, but it is grittier and has a bit of a rebellious vibe. There are fewer grand buildings, decorative tiles and similar signs of wealthy days past. However, residents are quite proud to share that the city’s nickname is “Invicta” (which means invincible) because it was never conquered during the Portugese Civil War in the early 1800’s and even survived a year-long siege. A favorite pastime of locals and nomads alike is to head to the south side of the river and climb the hill outside an old monastery (from where the siege was defended) to smoke pot and watch the sunset. If you zoom in on the panoramic photo below, you may even be able to see some of them crossing the bridge.

While we did not partake in that particular herbal delicacy, we did enjoy a couple of excellent meals in Porto. Atrevo was delightful. We shared a few small plates and a hearty lamb lasagna before finishing our meal with a decadent chocolate truffle mousse. And the pizza our first afternoon was so good we opted to cancel our reservation at a Michelin star restaurant that would have involved an unnecessarily long walk and relax at our hotel pizzeria instead after touring the Douro Valley the next day.

As for that Douro Valley tour, we have mixed feelings. The scenery is breathtaking, and it would not be wise to enjoy the local ciders, wines and ports if you have to get behind the wheel on those steep, curvy and narrow roads, so we had no practical option but an organized tour. Thankfully, we chose a small group tour with only five other people. We enjoyed our guide and our minivan companions, but we struggled with the cattle call feel of a couple of the tour stops and felt that the food was some of the least inspired of what we tried in Portugal. We saw multiple bridges designed by Gustav Eiffel and Ferdinand Magellan’s childhood home, took a a scenic round-trip boat ride to nowhere and had some great charcuterie at a biker bar on the Portugese section of the Camino de Santiago. But even the highlights of this tour had their quirks, like the lovely town of Amarante with its grand cathedral and scenic river view that is somehow most famous for its, um, fertility pastries. We learned a little about the history of the Douro Valley and, going forward, will deliberately choose those wines over most other options, but there wasn’t quite enough time spent learning how the chorizo and port are made to satisfy our admittedly nerdy personalities. That said, it was probably just the right amount of fermentation talk for the average person.

Due to a train workers strike that effectively shut down intercity rail transit for a couple of days, we elected to rent a car and drive back from Porto. This was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed us to squeeze in a couple of bonus stops in Coimbra and Obidos on the way home. Both surprised us.

We had been really looking forward to visiting Coimbra, an ancient city that is notorious as the original capital of Portugal, burial place of the country’s first king and home to the oldest university in Portugal (established in 1290). Being a college town, we of course saw plenty of Harry Potters here too. We tried to follow the self-guided walking tour outlined in our trusty Rick Steves ebook (which also claims this is the most enjoyable city in Portugal), but Coimbra had other plans.

We heard some bands, chanting and banners while enjoying a pastry or three on the town square but had become so accustomed to graduation parties and train strikes by then that the commotion didn’t even register as unusual. It wasn’t until we left the bakery that we realized something was up. We were watching the jazz band that had been lingering around the square all morning playing Backstreet Boys covers when the national press corps backward-walked in front of us. We turned our gaze to see what they were filming and saw a well-dressed, middle-aged gentleman surrounded by very enthusiastic younger men waving signs. You can’t see it in the video below, but he actually stopped to kiss the woman standing to our right.

Some quick Googling revealed that we had just been within about 5 feet of the prime minister of Portugal. That’s not necessarily the A-list celebrity sighting you initially might think, as Luis Montenegro has been under investigation for a few months (and is largely the reason the President of Portugal called for an emergency election to be held for the entire legislature this weekend after losing a confidence vote in March) due to a series of allegations about awarding government contracts to private entities in which he and his family members had a financial interest. (I’m sure that sort of thing would never happen in the United States.) The event was over quickly, and the crowd dispersed soon after. We were just thankful we hadn’t inadvertently stumbled into a much worse kind of rally. Unfortunately, we never made it to the historic university itself because the free elevator was out of service and we were out of energy. We only caught a few minor sights before hitting the road again.

In contrast, we did not have high hopes for Obidos because we had heard that it is touristy and crowded. And it was. We don’t do well with either. But Obidos still surprised in a positive way. It is a remarkably well-preserved medieval city, complete with a largely intact stone wall and a castle at the top of the hill looking over a verdant valley. The city was alive with flowers in bloom, chocolate shops and ginjinha bars. Not even the throngs of people brought in by the busload to choke the hilly, pedestrian-only lanes could detract from its irrepressible charm. We did not meet any controversial political figures in Obidos, but we did see a giant statue of Super Mario in a 1,000-year-old town that happened to be hosting a competitive gaming event while we were there. It was a fitting end to a most unusual road trip.