Porto has a very different feel from Lisbon. It is smaller and poorer, but I really like it. Last night as Mike and I went walking around at night, as we tend to do, we stopped by a cafe and had a coke. While there Mike asked a nearby table for a cigarette. He offered to buy it from the gentleman who was sitting there. Not only was his request to buy a cigarette denied, but the man gave him the remainder of his pack and got another one from his car. This has happened often in Portugal. People are very warm and generous here even though their unemployment is absolutely ridiculous and their government is deteriorating in front of our eyes. (Several ministers have stepped down this week)
I feel than my walking tour of Porto was a great success. We did not get even close to going through all of it, but I think it gave us a good feel of the city. We started by getting breakfast and then walked around the center. I have linked the tour document I have created here. We got through the Photography Museum. I definitely feel that we all could have used another day or two in Porto. Jessica commented on the fact that our honeymoon is like the tapas of Spain and Portugal and I completely agree. The highlights of our walk for me were the view of Vila Nova de Gaia from the Porto Cathedral, the amazing tiles in the Sao Bento train station - 2000 tiles that took 10 years to finish and have scenes from Portuguese history, and the 360 view of Porto from the Torre los Clerigos - it was well worth the 225 stair climb. We polished off our tour of Porto with a winery tour that we finished by tasting 5 different kinds of port. I have discovered that I do not like tawny ports because I don't enjoy the oaky flavor, but really like the rubies, and the whites. Also, apparently most ports are blends, but exceptionally good years are bottled separately and are the best. Finally, I couldn't leave Porto without trying the city dish - Francesinha which literally means "frenchie" and I loved it. Here is Wikipedia's description:
It is said that the Francesinha was an invention in the 1960s. Daniel da Silva, a returned emigrant from France and Belgium, tried to adapt the croque-monsieur to Portuguese taste. Other versions date the Francesinha to the 19th century. It is a very popular dish in Porto and is connotated with the city, although it can be sometimes found elsewhere in Portugal. It is often a ritual meal for some that will eat it once a week or whenever they get together with friends before or after attending a football match from a local team (FC Porto, Boavista, Salgueiros, ...) A classic francesinha meal would include the sandwich, surrounded on a bed of chips doused in the famous sauce, and complimented with a fino (literally meaning thin) draught beer.
Locals will have their favorite restaurant with the best Francesinha in town, typically arguing about the quality of the sauce (a secret recipe) that varies by
Francesinha sauce is a secret, with each house having its variation. The only common ingredient is beer. Most, though not all, sauces are tomato based and vary in their degree of spiciness. The color is usually red or orange. Different restaurants that serve Francesinha are characterized based on how good their sauce and mix of meats is perceived to be.
A couple of observations about Portugal: A lot of people told us not to bother with it, because it's not as nice as Spain, but all four of us have agreed that the experience was just very very different. It's true that Portugal has less historic sites, because of the earthquake that demolished everything in the 17 hundreds, however from what I have seen so far - Portugal has other things going for it. The people are warmer and the cities reminded Yan of SF. People stay out late and talk to one another. The feel is run down, but that gives Portugal charm. I personally am very glad that I have visited Sagres, Lisbon and Porto - they are all very different from one another and I loved all of them.
After Porto we had a long road ahead of us. We drove about 5 hours to Oviedo, spent the night, and drove another 3 to get to Bilbao. I really really liked Bilbao. We started our time there with a guided walking tour that lasted from about 5:30 to 9:30. We got to know the history of the city, sample some extremely delicious tapas and take lots of pictures of the Guggenheim Museum. At 9:30 we had reservations at "La Baracca" which is a restaurant owned by the family of one of my coworkers - Javier. I am excited to report that I had the best paella of my life at the restaurant. The decor is also very very cool. There is a collection of old telephones in the main dining room area and a collection of coke bottles from around the world right as you come in. Mike had Yan take a picture of him with it :)
My favorite art installation in the whole city of Bilbao is the puppy made out of different colored flowers which is an art installation in front of the Guggenheim . It's absolutely amazing. When I looked at it I just wanted to climb inside of it and live there. The building and the other sculptures around it are also very impressive, but my heart was given to the flower puppy.
My second favorite part of the city is the Zubizuri Bridge. It is arguably also the most impractical. The Zanziburi Bridge connects the two banks right by the Guggenheim museum and it is beautiful. I will post pictures. The sides are white painted steel and the floor is made up of glass tiles. At night the light from the street lights illuminates it from underneath as you walk. The problem with the bridge is the glass. Bilbao is a wet city, there is a lot of rain and flooding. Walking on wet glass is not the safest of activities. Our guide told us that the Bilbaoans have called it the falling bridge. The city has tried putting down rubber strips on the bridge but that did not work. Currently its the only bridge in the world with a carpet over it.
I also really enjoyed the Alhondiga. Its a building where the facade was restored and is very very old, but inside the building is very modern and artistic. There is even a swimming pool with a glass bottom on the roof and you can see people swimming if you look up.
Bilbao also has delicious food. It has been the only place so far where the tapas I had were amazing. To be fair I had them at the best pintxos place in town and they are influenced a lot by french food, but there you have it none the less. I think the name of the place is Guretoki. I have tried tapas in another place in the city and they were nothing special. My other food recommendation is a cafe that has old school jazz and delicious crepes and coffee. Mike and I went there for breakfast and it was very nice and relaxing. I will double check with him on the name later.
What made Bilbao so special for me is my nighttime walk with Mike. The city shuts down at about 1am, so it was just the two of us walking the streets. Since we were planning to stay up all night in Pamplona the next day - we wanted to shift our sleep schedule and ended up walking until about 4:30 in the morning. The city combines ultra modern with the old in a very natural way. It's clear that the city is very interested n architecture. Even the entrances to their subway were designed by a famous architect by the name of Foster. The Bilbaoans refer to them as Fosterritos.
The next day was insane. We went to San Sebasian where Yan and Jessica had reservations to some super fancy Michellin rated restaurant for dinner. The plan was that Mike and I would get tickets to the train/bus to Pamplona, sleep in our hotel room in the daytime and then party all night. While Jessy and Yan enjoy a romantic meal and meet us in Pamplona in the morning before the running of the bulls. The San Sebastian train station is the biggest cluster fuck in the world. It took us a half an hour to be told by someone that they sold our of tickets. Mike and I then had to go to 3 more bus ticket places to get a ticket to Pamplona by bus. This ate up so much of our time that we no longer had a chance to nap. We ate tapas in the old part of San Sebastian and met up with Yan and Jessya before their epic meal. We all hung our together in old town, and then went back to the car where Mike and I took a change of clothes (white and red) as well as a towel to sleep on. Yan an Jessya took the car and we got onto our bus.
Everyone on the bus to Pamplona was already dressed in the colors and ready to party. There were some guys that were running with the bulls the next morning so the testosterone level was off the charts. Leave it to the Americans to be the most obnoxious - they started basting metal at full volume as we got into the city. Everyone in Pamplona was dressed to party. We got really lucky as the train station is right by the fireworks area. We heard the shots and came up to see the most intense fireworks show that I had ever seen. I was a little sad to miss the 4th of July celebration in Chicago this year, but the fireworks display in Pamplona put Chicago to shame. It lasted for a long time and the sky was lit up in all colors. It was a great first Pamplona experience.
We made it to the old city and walked around for a bit. The San Fermin festival is like Mardi Gras meets Spain and testosterone. People were completely trashed nd having a great time. It looked like residents brought down tables and chairs and set them up on the streets. They were drinking and singing with their neighbors and friends. The main square had people spontaneously dancing and singing. The streets are littered with garbage and Mike and I were surprised by the sheer amount of it, but everyone was having a great time. We saw families with little kids our till 2 am.
We realized that I was not going to make it till morning, so we went on a search of a place to sleep. We slept in the park a little away from all the action. We were by no means the only ones. I learned a lot that night. I learned that nighttime 64 degrees is much colder than daytime 64 degrees, I learned that sleeping on the hard ground is horrible if you are over 30, and I learned that Mike and I can laugh through anything and have a great time even if both of us are shivering and our bodies ache. I slept on and of from 2:45 to 6am and then I couldn't try anymore. We got up just early enough to see the city cleaning the streets and washing away all of the hedonism of the previous night. I have never seen so much public urination :)
We spotted Yan and Jessya right as they got out of their parking garage - which was a small miracle and got to our balcony by 7:23. The streets were closed down at 7. We got some snacks and watched. There was a musket shot that got the crowd running or walking. Basically people got to whatever spot they wanted to run from. It could be at the very beginning, it could be right by the bull ring, it was up to the participants. The second musket shot signified that the bulls were coming. There were about 6 in one group and 4 in another later group. The bulls all run together pretty much in the middle of the street with all of the people running behind them. They did not look particularly awake or angry. It was the people that made it more dangerous. Around the bulls are the wildest of the participants and they are pushing the crowd in front of them to make way. There is a lot of pushing and shoving. There were several people that fell in front of the bulls and miraculously did not get trampled. I cant really describe the feeling of watching this. Once the bulls ran past us we went upstairs for more coffee and to watch the highlights on TV as is the custom.
Our drive to Barcelona was uneventful. I will write about our first day in the next installment as this took me a while to create and I'm tired. I hope to post again on Sunday. Adios
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