Reunited and It Feels So Good

So after 4 days without my luggage, we are finally reunited!  Turns out it arrived in Lisbon on July 2 and was then sent via TAP Airlines to Porto...where it sat for 2 days.  The ladies at Delta Baggage Services in the US were the best throughout the process!  When the agent today told me my luggage was in Porto, she said I would be better off going to the airport and looking for it myself rather than waiting on them to deliver it.  Clearly this was not her first rodeo as that was the best advise ever...we learned from our Uber driver that the ground crew was on strike so chances of me getting my luggage before I leave for Croatia on July 15 were pretty slim.  The process for retreiving my luggage was rather pleasant as the Police, airport security and baggage staff were all so nice (definitely not the same experience in the US).  After the Police give you a special sticker, you go to security and they let you behind the gate until the baggage staff comes to fetch you.  Once you are in the land of lost luggage, you are set free to find your luggage.  When you find your luggage, you just head for customs...guess they work on the honor system that folks are only taking their luggage.

After we took my luggage back home, we walked back over bridge to Gaia to check out the vendors along the river and ride the Teleferico de Gaia (aka gondola).  Elaine bought a beautiful Portuguese wooden box with all kinds of secret storage compartments for her new place.

Views from the Bridge

Bridge that connects Porto to Gaia.  When I was here 4 years ago, the top was pedestrian and train while the bottom was for cars.  They are in the process of converting the bottom to pedestrian only.  It is a nice walk and a great way to see both cities.

Views from the Teleferico de Gaia

The Douro Valley is where the grapes that make Port are grown and the heavenly liquid is produced.  In the days of old, once the Port was placed in the barrels, the barrels would be loaded on boats and sent down the Douro River to Gaia to the producers lodge where it was aged.  The sun exposure and cooler climate than the Douro Valley makes Gaia the perfect place for storing wine.  These boats are replicas of the boats previously used for transporting wine to Gaia.

On one of her explorations in Gaia, Elaine found 7G Roaster and said it is some of the best coffee she's ever had so to 7G we headed.  It is definitely come one of our afternoon rituals to have coffee in the afternoon.  

On a side street in Gaia is the Half Rabbit.  It is made from found materials and trash from town.  Half of the rabbit is painted and half is left in it's original condition.

We rode the gondola back up the hill and then headed back to El Corte Ingles since we got there so late yesterday. Elaine hit the mother load on linens, towels and other homegoods.  Three hours later we left with two large bags and a town cart (yep a little push card often used by the elderly) full of goodies.  As gorgeous as these Dolce & Gabbana appliance were, she did resist them...the price tag did make it pretty easy.  While we didn't accomplish the things we had planned to for today, we still accomplished a lot and have fun along the way.  A quick bite in the food court and back across the river then off to bed.

A Day of Shopping

I'm getting better at remembering my way around Porto...though it has changed quite a bit since 2018. Elaine's new place is next to a metro stop so we met up at Manteigaria for coffee and pastry before heading out to the look for things for Elaine's new place.  

We took the metro out to Norte Shopping Center in Senhora da Hora about 30 minutes from Porto.  Norta Shopping is the Portuguese version of The Mall of America as you need to do a pin drop when you arrive so you know which door to exit. This place was huge and has multiples of some stores so it makes for some confusion when you think you are where you need to be only to find that is store number 2.  We hit the mother load at Continente (think fancy Target/Walmart) where she filled up 3 very large bags with household items.  Back to her place we headed to unload our loot.

Before heading back out to shop some more, we popped into a cafe for a little pick-me-up and I decided to try a Mazagran.  This drink originated in Algeria and is iced coffee with lemon. I haven't figured out how they layered the coffee and water.

It was definitely a different taste and refreshing though not sure I would get again.  It was like iced tea with lemon and not typically one to have lemon in my tea but had to give it a try.

After our little respite, we hopped back on the metro to held to El Corte Ingles over in Vila Nova de Gaia (just on the other side of the Douro River).  El Corte Ingles is a vertical version of Norte Shopping Center (they like their malls big over here!).  We got there around 7:30pm and thought we had a few hours as the site said they closed at 10:00pm but we quickly learned it was 8:00pm on Sunday so we'll head back over tomorrow.  

Travel tip: when in Porto, purchase an Andante card if you plan to use the metro or bus.  You purchase by zone and number of trips.  To be safe, purchase max zones so that way if you cross zones you don't have to pay extra.   

It was time for some dinner so we popped into a great Italian spot Elaine found earlier in the year.  We started with mozzarella frittata with honey and wow was it good.  A spicy spicy salami (aka pepperoni), onion and mushroom pizza and wine finished off our dinner. I noticed a couple times servers doing a fancy table side pasta service so of course I had to take a peek. They take a large wheel of cheese and shave off some on the inside and add hot pasta then toss in the cheese. Once they’ve tossed it, they place in a bowl and top with a mushroom cream sauce and truffle oil. Definitely will try if we end up there again. The server was kind enough to let me take photos and explain the process to me.

 

After dinner, it was so nice out we decided we would walk back to my place (Elaine now refers to her old apartment as my place).  For those of you familar with Porto, we were still in Gaia and were walking back to Clerigos Tower. I must say I do love my new iPhone 13 Pro as the camera is so much better.  Never would my night photos have looked so good with my iPhone 11.

We passed a cafe with these signs and i just couldn't resist taking a few pics.

Today was a 21,000 steps kind of day and not going to lie, I was a little tired and excited to lay my head down for the night.  As someone that is not a good sleeper, all these steps since I've been here have resulted in me sleeping 6 straight hours a night which is truly Christmas in July!

Daily Life

We started our day with a cappuccino, pastry and fresh squeezed orange juice.  I had the Tambo Chocolat (chocolate drum) and Elaine had the Bola Creme (Portuguese version of Bavarian cream).

After breakfast, we headed over to Elaine’s new apartment to do some measuring…her current place was temporary until she got her residency card and now she’s moving to a larger more permanent place. She moved into her new place today but has a lease on her current place until July 15 which is coincidentally the day I depart for Croatia. 

Just 3 doors down from her place is Manteigaria.  They make some of the best pasteis de nata I’ve ever tasted. I first found them in Lisbon and am excited they are in Porto as well.  Pasteis de Nata are little cups of happiness filled with custard. They were making some when we walked by so we stopped to watch the magic happen. Yes that is a picture of butter…they put A LOT of butter in them! 

Elaine’s new place is cute and comes furnished but doesn’t include dishes, pots and pans, sheets and towels and a few other necessities so we wanted to measure and figure out what all is needed. Days like today are things I really enjoy as  I was experiencing daily life and not just checking things to see off a list. It’s fun and interesting to see all the different appliances available here and how they compare to what we have at home. 

         

We logged 14,000 steps today wandering the streets getting me aquainted with her current and new neighborhoods.  It was a gorgeous day and everyone was out and about...locals and tourists hanging out in the parks and visiting one of the many little markets all around town.  For lunch, we stopped in the food court at one of the shopping centers.  Food courts here are fancier than those in the US and food is served on china with real utensils and glassware.  

A cake made of all marshmallows

One of the fun instagram shot spots around town.
Appropriate message for me so I had to get a pic!

Sardines are really big in Portugal and there are stores of nothing but them.  We stopped in one on the way back to the apartment and I picked up a can of sardines with pimentos (they call them peppers) and a can of bacalhau in olive oil (cod fish).  I can't eat sardines at home but I can here...definitely all in the preparation.  

We met a friend of Elaine's in the park for drinks with the Clarigos Tower as our backdrop.  Everyone in town must have had the same idea as the park was packed!

One of my most favorite things to do in other countries is to stroll up and down the aisles of grocery stores.  I absolutely love Nutella and when I saw these, I just couldn't resist!  They are delicious...so glad we don't have them at home as it would be too hard to resist them on a regular basis.

Dinner tonight was at an Italian restaurant around the corner and then back to our respective apartments.  It is always so nice to enjoy a leisurely two hour dinner and not have the server trying to rush you out the door.

Update on the luggage...apparently it is in Portugal but Delta tells me to call the airport to find out when it will be delivered and the airport tells me to call Delta becuase they can't access Delta information.  So when you start seeing me in the same outfits in pictures...don't judge!

Planes, Taxi and Bus

Today marks my first international trip since 2019!  I am spending two weeks in Porto, Portugal where my friend, Elaine, has just moved and then two weeks in Split, Croatia where my friend, Julie, is living for July.  My flight from Charleston to Boston was smooth and uneventful. Then chaos ensued once we landed in Boston. The international terminal is literally 1.5 miles from the domestic terminal and it was a zoo!  

Something told me to check the app to see if my bag made it to the plane as I wasn’t 100% confident when Delta rep said she’d handle the issue (during my layover I received a text saying my bag was at baggage claim 2 even though it was checked through to Lisbon.). The app now said my bag was in the baggage storage office so the purser took me back to the gate agent who told me there was a glitch in the app and she was 70% sure my bag was on the plane (spoiler alert…it wasn’t). 

I consider myself lucky I’m even here and I had a seat on the plane. We were 45 minutes late departing because the flight was overbooked and 16 people were not going to be able to take the flight. We had to wait until they figured out who would be the unfortunate 16. Then we had to wait for their luggage to be pulled.  Finally those sweet words “ladies and gentlemen, the boarding door is closed”!

Shortly after takeoff, they had to soft reboot the video system. Well that didn’t work so they did a hard reboot. Still no luck so the captain worked with the ground crew to try to troubleshoot (not like he didn’t have anything more important to do like flying the plane!). All night they tried rebooting and all night just as I would get to sleep the reboot would end and randomly turn on my very bright overhead light. It would stay on until it was ready to turn off…a little possessed if you ask me. Part of the video system is the power/usb ports so I arrived in Lisbon with 20% power. Why didn’t I charge my phone in the AF lounge you ask? Well shock of shocks, there was only 1 power strip available and a family of 6 was camped out at it.  Props to Delta as less than 3 hours after we landed, they had sent an email apologizing for the inconvenience and depositing a nice amount of points into my account!

Clearing Passport Control in Lisbon is a breeze. You scan your passport and a gate opens. You walk through gate and your photo is taken and a gate opens. A very friendly customs agent greets you (and was kind enough to let me practice my very limited Portuguese on him) and stamps your passport and off you go to baggage claim. 

Everyone is huddled around carousel 10 wondering if they will be lucky and their bag arrives or if they were going to be one of those poor unfortunate souls in the very long lost baggage line.  Given my previous spoiler alert, you know to which group I belonged. 

The lost baggage process at Lisbon airport is relatively simple once you figure it out. Depending on your airline, you either go to the orange or blue kiosk and tap the letter that applies to your issue and your number comes out. Then you hang out with 100 of your new friends all starring at the monitor awaiting your number to come up. In case you’re wondering, they were on 52 and I was number 73. Fortunately, I was able to change my bus ticket to a later time because there was no way I was going to make it through the line, take a taxi to Oriente Train/Bus Depot and get on my bus in an hour. 

It took about an hour before my number was called and a very nice agent took my claim and my address in Porto and said my bag would be brought to me when it arrives from Boston (but he didn’t know when that would be).  Next I was off to get an Uber and head to the bus depot. Side note, if you’re ever in Lisbon and need to take a train anywhere, go to Oriente as all trains go there as a transfer point. 

In Portugal, masks are currently still required for public transportation (even open air trolleys). Because I had to rebook an hour out, I got the last row of the bus. There are 5 seats and it was just me and another guy. We began playing the game “how far down are you comfortable wearing your mask”. We smiled as we lowered each time until we finally took it off. We figured we were at the back of the bus and no one could see us. I knew it was going to be hot in both Portugal and Croatia and I am not one that suffers heat well in spite of growing up in Charleston so I brought along my personal neck fan. Boy did it come in handy on the bus as it was rather warm. 

Four hours later, I arrived in Porto where Elaine was waiting for me.  We popped into a little cafe for a pingo (espresso with milk) and a pasteis de nata before climbing the hills to her place. I think I blocked out how hilly Porto was from my last visit. We had to take a picture for LuLu as she is Elaine’s stateside PA and she needed to see tow of her favorite people together. 

After wandering through town, we arrived at her apartment and climbed the two flights. Once again, I am actually thankful my large suitcase didn’t arrive and they will have the pleasure of carrying it up the steps!  Elaine took me to one of her favorite spots for dinner and it did not disappoint. She’s become friends with the owner and he treated us to wine while we waited and during dinner. What a great end to my first day in Porto!