Portugal - Porto

In celebration of the recent bank holiday (and a birthday or two) last weekend, I, my sisters, our cousins and a friend went to Porto for a few days of sun, food and drink.

Hot, hot sun and virtually cloudless days - just the ticket for anyone who has to put up with London. The food was slightly disappointing, it seemed that a lot of places 'touristed' their menus to appeal to visiting Americans - cue ham and cheese toasted sandwiches, [yuck] potato fries and the like. There are a few good places though - you just have to look (and maybe spend a few extra euros). You can get by pretty cheaply in Porto though, a nice change from London.

There's a few beaches around - good for sunbathing and a real quick dash in and out of the Atlantic... The country is also heavily Catholic and on nearly every external shelf outside a shop or a house there was a place where a statue of the Virgin Mary is meant to go...

And we got the express service on the Monday - I've never had a 15 minute Mass before and I might not again - but it sure was quick!

We also bumped into this old guy nearly ever day busking with his piano accordian along with his psycho/mobster nephew who played the tambourine. Scowling, it was the nephew who went around after they finished their one and only piece to heavy the tourists out of their euros. He couldn't even play the tambourine in time.

Apart from that though, I can highly recommend Porto for a break away from London.








































































































This is one of the old school ships that would be used to transport the barrells of port around. Nowadays they use trucks.






























Concord Dawn flying the flag - yeah!!!















Some delayed exposure in a tunnel - pretty wacky but then again I was slightly bored....