Sunday, April 28, 2024. Arrived in Porto.

Porto will be my home base for the next three days.

The flight from Denver to Newark was eventful. We departed forty five minutes late because we had to deice. At the end of April our plane had to deice before it could takeoff. What strange weather.

On the flight from Denver to Newark I had an aisle seat and the guy sitting next to me in the middle seat was so big that he spilled out over the shared armrest and into my seating area. I had to sit sideways facing out towards the aisle so that the two of us could have enough space to make the three hour flight tolerable.

After we took off my next seat neighbor rummaged around under the seat in front of him and pulled out a submarine sandwich the size of a football and spent the majority of the flight methodically devouring it. This sandwich was so big that if he had the foresight to bring a cutting board and a knife he could have fed the whole plane with it.

We landed in Porto at about 9:00 AM. After clearing customs and retrieving my checked bag I took the train into the city center with three other pilgrims. I wandered around for a half hour trying to find my hostel. I am staying at the Best Guest Hostel.

This is my private bedroom at the hostel. The bed is as hard as a rock. But I am not complaining.

I am dog tired and significantly jet lagged but I wanted to do a little bit of sightseeing before dinner.

Just outside the front door of the hostel there is a Camino marker. I will have no excuse if I get lost when I start my Camino on Wednesday.
Interesting building facade on the Douro riverfront.
Porto Cathedral.
The altar of the Porto Cathedral. Spectacular!
Hola means hello in Spanish and the “h” is silent. In Portuguese they dispense with the silent “h.” That makes sense to me.

Dinner was at Casa Guede. I had cod cooked with veggies in a tomato sauce and a couple of glasses of green wine.

This cod dish was delicious.
The green wine was the perfect wine pairing for the fish.

One glass of wine was enough. The second glass was one too many. Google maps got frustrated with me and shut down as I tried to stumble back to the hostel. Two big glasses of wine and severe jet lag made navigation a challenge.

Steps – 13,495

Kilometers – 9.91

Stairs – 14 flights of stairs

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Good evening from Porto, Portugal.

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