| Datum: | 10-08-2016 Leixoes - Porto | | | | Sunday, 31-07-2016 to Tuesday, 09-08-2016
Today we go from Viana do Castelo on our way to Leixoes, a marina close to the city of Porto.
It is a very gloomy, cold and humid day and a thick fog hangs over the river. Not a very promising prospect. ”The Circle” leaves some time before us and is almost immediately absorbed by the heavy fog. We sail down the river mostly on our instruments and can’t even see the riverbanks now. Off harbour it is not getting any better, so we have to stay on guard, because there are a lot of fishing buoys/sticks along the coast of Portugal (with or without flags). On our way we see a lot of flags flattened down and we guess that the boat before saw them too late. Luckily, we know how to steer clear of them, also because of my sharp eyes and our artful steering! We also just avert sailing over a holiday-fishing boat, bunch of morons! Who gets it in his head to just ride at anchor in this heavy fog without light or sound?? We sail on, a bit further from the coast. Only in the afternoon the fog recedes and the sun tries to break through and the nearer we get to Leixões, the better the view gets. At the end of the day, around 17:45 we near the training wall of Leixões, when suddenly the wind increases. Again, here, you have these nasty little finger piers, not the most ideal spots to berth. Fortunately, there is a harbour master to assist us. We will stay here in Leixões for more than a week, so we can receive some parcels and letters from Holland.
Leixoes Marina, Marina Atlantico
We choose this marina, because pricewise it is much cheaper than the Marina in Porto and also the distance is not a big difference; from both harbours you have to cover quite a distance, before you are in the old city centre. The marina is not very big and the facilities are limited. Also, there is a great difference between the “his” and “hers” facilities. We ladies have to help ourselves with 2 showers, 1 sink, 1 toilet and a narrow bench, while the men have 3 showers, 2 toilets and a large space with a broad bench! Considering that we ladies always need a little more space…. But maybe that is because there are not that many sailing ladies on this globe! The marina staff is very friendly and certainly helpful, but a discount is not going to happen, unless we stay more than 14 days, which we are not going to. Because big cargo boats sail up and down the river, we regularly get these very big waves, causing the boat to shake up and down. All a matter of getting used to.
The city
Leixões has a pretty centre with a broad large beach with eateries and even a swimming pool, for which you have to stand in line! On the boulevard, about 20 minutes walking, there is a large supermarket, “Continente” and when you buy in for a minimum of €50, they deliver the goods, up to the deck of the boat!
Matosinhos
Lays about a 25-minute walk over the bridge, there you can find the subway and buses. Some nice little streets, with lots of restaurants and a grill stands outside every house.
Porto
The old centre of Porto is built against a hill (so we have to walk up and down a lot) and is certainly worth the visit. An attraction not to miss out by bookworms is the Livraria Lello, the oldest book shop in Porto. It was founded in 1906 and is sometimes called the most beautiful bookshop in the world; the interior appears to be overwhelming, especially the staircase. But nowadays you have to buy a ticket to get in and since there was a line of 50 metres for the shop and another line just for the ticket box and given the fact that it was about 35 dgrs. Celsius, we skipped this.
There are a lot of impressive buildings (decorated with colourful tiles and cast iron balconies), palaces, towers, the Sé cathedral and let’s not forget the Ponte Luis, built by a pupil of Eiffel (of Eiffel tower-fame), with a beautiful view over the river and the town. There are large wide streets, but also narrow alleys and enough opportunities to relax on a terrace. You see a lot of little buildings with pretty facades, which house shops, café’s or enterprises, like a guitar maker.
When you want to drink port for a few euros, you definitely have to visit the cellars of the “Vila Nova De Gaia” port wine exporters, along the river at the south side of the city. On the river itself, there are still some of the traditional boats that originally transported the caskets. Of course, we could not resist the temptation and enjoyed 4 different kinds of port with a delicious ham on the side. From a young Dutch couple, we get another ticket for 2 more free glasses of port wine, because they find the taste too strong for their liking and they overheard us saying how much we love the taste! Real sweet of them and so we ‘booze’ a little more! A pity that we have to walk quite a stretch and then you can really feel the port wine!
Inside the city there also is a large department store, called “El Corte Inglés”, with 6 floors and it is nice and cool inside. According to other sailors, it has everything and they even distribute from house to house! As a tourist, you get a 10% discount on your second buy. The right moment to buy some bags of kitty litter crumbs, but alas, they don’t distribute to our marina! In the end, we only can buy one item on our list and that does not count for the tourist-discount! Bitterly disappointed we return to the harbour.
Transport
Of course we walked a lot, but we also went by public transport a few times. The bus stop luckily is close to the marina (Leça de Palmeira) and bus 507 (€ 1,85 a ride) takes you in about 40 minutes to the old centre of Porto (end of the line). At the book stand, next to the bus stop, we buy one inexpensive “upgrade”-card, with which we, according to the vendor, can both travel together. No way! Each one has to have his own card and then it turns out to be just as expensive! You can also pass over the bridge crossing the Rio Leça to the Matosinhos quarter, where you can get on the subway. On the south side of the river Rio Douro, at the “Ponte Luis”-bridge, there is a cableway (we didn’t do this) so you don’t have to walk down. On the north side there is some sort of skiing cable from Ribeira to Batalha, after which you have to walk another 10 minutes to the bus stop to take the 507 back to the marina and this is what we did. Furthermore, there are a good many “hop on, hop off”-buses, and old tramways, in which not all the windows can be opened, so we didn’t used them either. We walked a lot mostly,…walked a lot,…quite a lot.
Dining/eating out
Apart from drinking the wonderful port, we had ‘francesinha’ for the first time. This is Portuguese sandwich, originated from Porto, made of bread, ham, linguiça (fresh sausage, like chipolatas), steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese.
It is then suffused with a warm and thick tomato sauce and most of the time served with fries. The sauce has a secret recipe and each restaurant has its own version. The only mutual ingredient is beer. It is said that the francesinha is invented in the sixties by Daniel da Silva, an expat from France and Belgium, who tried to adjust the ‘croque-monsieur’ to the Portuguese taste. We try the version with chicken and tuna, sadly without the fries, so we are still hungry afterwards. Fred orders a hamburger and I choose the cheese croquettes with a garlic dip. Because white bread doesn’t agree with me, I ask for dark brown bread, on which the waiter answers “Are you quite sure?”. Afterwards, I understand his question; the bread I get is very dark and extremely heavy, looks a bit like rye bread. Anyway, it is delicious and is quite filling. We have crab on toast, small sardines (a little too salty for our taste) and seabass off the grill, very very tasty!
Weather
We experience the weather here in Portugal as very peculiar. One day it is steaming hot and the next day we have a thick fog and drizzly rain. In the morning you might have a shore wind, which is warm and at the end of the day a really cold sea wind, cold enough to drive you inside!
And when there is a fog all day, you can ‘enjoy’ the foghorn all day long! I guess we have to go further south to leave this capricious weather behind.
Boat chores
As known, our “Pegazusje” (“Pegasissy”, that’s the name of our dinghy) really needs to be replaced, because she is ‘sticky’ and keeps leaking. At a water sports shop, Dismotor” (av. Serpa Pinto 228, Matosinhos) we order a new dinghy, with a fixed synthetic bottom. The shop owner takes the dinghy to the marina (we ride along) and takes the old dinghy back with him. That makes a difference in toting! We also buy a few new shackle. And we finally find, after a long search, the correct salt tablets for the lifejackets!
Through this company we get the address of a timber merchant who might be able to help us to get new hand grips on the deck. We arrive at a shop, “Estancia de Madeiras”, where we find a motley collection of antique and modern cupboards, chairs and even a few rocking horses. We explain to the owner, João Inácio Costa, a very nice gman, who speaks very good English, what we need, on the basis of a drawing. He takes us to his workshop, which is just like ‘Gepetto’s’ workshop (from Pinocchio) and shows us a variety of wood. He is very interested when we tell him we live on our boat and what our plans are. He finds us very courageous, sailing the seas together and be constantly in each other’s way; you have to have a firm marriage! The shop owner and I have a little private chat, when Fred gets a business call and he asks me which one of us is the best sailor and who is captain of the ship. On which I reply: “I am, of course, but don’t tell Fred”. We both have a big grin on our faces when Fred comes back….. We make a good bargain and set an appointment for the delivery. Since it is lunchtime by now, he brings us, in his own car, to a good restaurant in the neighbourhood (Matosinhos). Two days later, João calls us to ask if we want to see the provisional result. Of course we want to. In the end we get 4 handgrips, a very nice piece of craftsmanship!
Encounters
The eldest son (and his girlfriend) of some very good friends happens to be in Porto too. Through Messenger we make contact and set a rendezvous. It is nice to meet Mark again (I’ve known him since he was born) and surely nice to meet his girlfriend Loes.
The “Freya” lays opposite us in the marina and the son, Coen, celebrates his 2nd birthday, so we go to the birthday party. This time, the “Bojangles” has berthed close to the harbour. In the harbour, we meet and Englishman, who sails his boat, the “Hyacinthe II” alone and stays around here for the time being and we meet a Norwegian who, just like us, is going to sail further south.
Parcels
The new monitor for our on-board pc is delivered and Fred receives some cards for the internet satellite, with thanks to André Schaart. Good friends have sent us digital music, e-books and several tv-series, with thanks to Ad and Anneke and we get postcards from Fred’s family. It is always nice to receive post!
Various things
Skyping with friends. Wrote an addition to the blog and put the English translations on the site. Courtesy of my girlfriend Mila, with the remark that I sometimes secretly alter a line or two! (I wouldn’t know what or why, note of the translator)
The day after our visit to Porto I can hardly walk because of the aching muscles, so a mandatory day of rest for me. Fred just hops over to the supermarket, walking shoes on and a big backpack with him! On the way he is addressed by a bunch of Italians who are trekking by bicycle and ask him if he is taking a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. Well, …Fred is sporty, but not that sportsmanlike!
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| | | 21-08-2016, reactie van Ria en Carel | Krijgen jullie geen problemen met het laadvermogen van de Pegasus met al die lekkere hapjes en drnakjes?
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