Making our way back to Porto. There’s nothing better than a fierce tail wind when it comes to flying across the pond.  What normally takes seven hours to fly from Newark to Lisbon, only took six hours on our flight last week.  It was another red eye flight so six instead of seven hours is a win in my book. Especially, because crossing the pond usually finds us awake for at least 30+ hours.

Our Porto Expat Life

It’s a bit surreal this other life we live in Porto.  Being able to step off of the train knowing how to navigate our way around the city makes each arrival that much easier.

We have established a small corner of life here.  We have a neighborhood hair salon, where the owner does not speak a word of English but always welcomes us and cuts our hair perfectly for 10€ each.  In 2017 we found Dr. Kevin, an English-speaking dentist who was educated in New York.  He cleans our teeth for 30€ each and in 2017 Abi had crown work done for a fraction of the cost in the US.

We have two favorite coffee spots, neither of which are authentic, but we love them anyway. We’ve been known to sit and watch the world go by for hours, depending upon if anyone else is sitting in “our” comfy chairs. All of these components enhance our Porto expat life.  And, of course we have what we like to call “our” apartment, our home-away-from-home, even though it is not at all ours.

Long Rambles

This past week has been one of rediscovery as we took several long rambles, visited our favorite haunts, ate our way around the city, caught up with friends and made a few new discoveries.  It’s only been five months since we last spent time in Porto, but one of the things we love about this city is that there is always someplace new to experience, or a new perspective of someplace seen before.

A Sweet Cream Discovery

Our lovely friend, Helena who owns “our” apartment, introduced us to Leitaria da Quinta do Paco – the sweetest side of Porto since 1920.  This may or may not prove to be a good idea.  Butter, cream and eclairs… oh my!  How we didn’t discover this little taste of paradise on our own is beyond me, but thank you, Helena!

The Portuguese Camino

We really don’t need a reason to spend time in Porto.  We are madly in love with the city.  But, with this trip comes the added bonus of our second Camino experience.  We’re just about 24 hours from taking our first steps on the Portuguese Camino.  If you’ve been with us for a good long while, you know that in 2015 we walked 350 miles on the Camino Francis.  Now, four years later and almost to the day, we are ready to start walking a portion of the Portuguese Camino.  Our plan is to walk 145 miles from Porto to Santiago in 13 days and 12 nights.

Yesterday, we bought two umbrellas for our daypack.  That should give you an idea of the pending weather forecast.  Yikes!  Our rain jackets/pants are always at the ready, but the threat of thunderstorms requires a bit more coverage.  My hope is that since we bought the umbrellas the storms will fade out of the forecast and we won’t need to use them.  That would be money well-spent.

Tomorrow We Walk

Tomorrow we walk.  I’ve said that before.  I suspect our internet access as we’re walking may be limited and frankly, I may be brain dead at the end of each day so I’m not sure how many tales I can spin while we trek from Porto to Santiago.  With that being said, I will be posting daily updates and photos on our Facebook page, and on Instagram.  I think we’re in for another fantastic adventure, with or without rain and thunder.

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