And today we were on the train to Brighton to meet up with Emma and Dominic. We walked to inspect the new house after dropping off our bags and saying hello to Oliver who was enthusiastic in his greeting. The apartment is terrific -great location and all on one floor with the garden. We made lots of great suggestions which were ignored as they should be! After that we went for a walk to the seafront for lunch and then back to their house. And the BBQ for tea! So many BBQs in one week - can’t believe we are in the UK.

and I have just realised that I didn’t take one photo! Oh well, next time.

and now we are in Porto! The flight was delayed but that was fine. The apartment is very comfortable. very new and clean. It is just out of the centre in what I would call a more normal area. It is not too touristy and you see the locals going about their business.

We have visited the local Pingo store which is a bit of an IGA mixed with Aldi. It has this little bakery at the front where you buy an espresso and a Portuguese tart for 1 euro! The tart was the most delicious thing I have eaten in a long time - to die for! We are hooked on the tarts!

the is the view from the front window - it is not that wonky but you get the idea.

further up the street?

you can imagine that we were wondering what sort of neighbourhood we were in but Porto is a bit like this -lots of houses are empty and rundown but a lot are being renovated. It wasn’t till we started walking the next day that we could understand why people came here in droves.

Monday, we went walking - I was following Rick Steves walks which covered the main sights -churches, civic buildings etc then we just wandered about on our own. Along the way we had coffee and tarts at a Very old Cafe where people lined up to get in. We visited the narrowest house in Portugal which belonged to the Carmelite nun and brothers connecting 2 of their churches. We also went for a boat ride along the Douro River. To round out the day we visited a taberna where the beer was $2 as was some sort of sparkling wine. The tapas was about $1 .70a piece -so cheap so we have had drinks their every night!

Here are some photos of our first day