Porto to Matosinhos
Walking out of Porto along the River Douro is one of the nicest ways to leave a major European City.
No endless suburbs, no dock yards, no light industrial estates, no endless rows of social housing. No need, in fact, to get the 500 bus at all, or the tram.
The river is held in place in a fairly narrow calley, crossed by the Ponte da Arrabida. Not built by Eiffel, but leaning on his legacy in reinforced concrete.
We passed a chap asking for money and obliged him. One a day is our rule and we keep a small denomination note to hand.
We reached the lighthouse where the Duro reaches the Atlantic and were kept back from the edge by 50m for 400m because of the danger of the energetic sea.
We made our way along the elevated promenade until we were allowed down and had our regular mid-morning snack. Water, coffee, croissant. A Fanta would have been preferable, but wasn't available.
Then on to the Tourist Office and our second stamp in the Credential.
Through the Fish Port... full of restaurants offering very fresh fish dishes, and probably worth a look at some point.
Over the Port Bridge and about 1km later were in our hotel for the next couple of days.
So, we'll explore this side of Matosinhos tomorrow before heading to Labruge on Sunday.
