Lily, Caden, & Gia Lovers: Porto

We began our day with a run! So fun to be out with Lily and Sophia. We decided to try and run to the ocean. We didn't know exactly how far it was, or if there would be beaches to enjoy when we go there, but we headed out with the plan to take the trolley back whenever needed.

When we did make it, no beautiful beach - at leas on our side of the Duoro River, but there was a pier lined with many unsuccessful fishermen. We celebrated our feat!

We were of course famished by this point so headed to one of the little cafes we passed - Olai. What a find! It was a brunch place with the very best acai I have ever had. Greek yogurt on the bottom, granola on top, then the frozen acai mixture, fruit, and a drizzle of honey. Definitely trying to recreate this when I get home! Lily had a mushroom benedict and a fresh squeezed mango, basil, passionfruit juice.

We were lucky that the trolley stop was right outside of Olai. There were two men having a passionate discussion in Portuguese and I asked if they spoke English, to which they replied emphatically with gestures that they did not. But then proceeded to look at my phone, and point to the schedule the trolley numbers while speaking in their native tongue. What I thought they said, and thankfully was able to confirm - as I am no longer waiting at the trolley stop :) is that the trolley would be coming. We saw it pass by behind the stop, and the gestured that it would turn around and come back, which it did!

Once aboard the trolley, that looks quite similar to the ones of San Francisco, I was amazed to see how much driving of the trolley actually happens by the driver. She had to make wide, sweeping arm motions to help guide the trolley around bends and to maneuver between tracks. And as an aside, the trolley was 6 Euro pp, which was a bit steeper than I thought it would be, but definitely worth it.

The trolley was full, mostly with what appeared to be locals, so I alternated standing, sitting on Lily's lap until it fell asleep, and then Lily standing until a couple got off and we each had a seat.

We had to pick between trolley #1 and #18, and ended up on 18, which actually took us up a big hill to an area we had not yet explored. We weren't sure where we end up next, so we hopped off at the top of the hill while the walk home was only 14 minutes, based on Google maps.

As we wandered home we visited a cute shop and took in the beautiful architecture. The history of the tiles, which in Portugal are called "azulejos", a language contraction after the Arabic word al-zulacih which translates to polished stone, was introduced by Muslims in the 7th century. The occupation of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors helped to shape shape the culture of Portugal and Spain, including making and adorning buildings with the azulejos. For more on the history, visit here.

As we approached home, we bumped into Caden, who had ventured out to get a crepe. So I let the girls head back on their own for first showers and joined Caden for his breakfast.

Corey had made a lunch reservation at one of the restaurants our driver Miguel had recommended to try the famous Portuguese dish Francesinah, which translates to "Little Frenchie" at Brasao Aliados. So off we went...

As most meals do, we started with olives and either bread or potato chips.

Now onto the Francesinah...this dish includes ham or beef and melted cheese in thick bread, smothered in hot tomato and beer sauce, and topped with a fried egg. Of course this is served with french fries, and as Miguel suggested, best eaten alongside his preferred Portuguese beer - Superbock. We diligently followed these instructions :) But we ordered a salad to help us feel less guilty.

The highlight of the meal ended up being a frozen lemon dessert wrapped in a merengue

We are continually on the search for this deliciousness now...

During our meal, we had the kids present their research to us on the places we needed to visit. Each of them picked a topic that would have been covered in a formal walking tour, to avoid having to go on a walking tour :) Here's what we were presented.

Then off we went to visit each one...

Sophia's pick was the famous tiled churches of Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas, built in the 1768 and 1668 respectively, separated by Porto's narrowest house, the 1.5-meter Casa Escondido..

Then on to Caden's tower...Torre dos Clerigos, with 225 steps to reach the top, containing 49 bells. Sadly there was a 30-minute wait so we checked it out from the outside and took a quick pass through the attached church.

Quick break to buy my favorite Portuguese delicacy, the delicious Pastel de Nata, translated to custard tart. These tarts originated in the Lisbon district of Belem when monks and nuns would use egg whites to starch their clothes, leaving them plenty of leftover egg yolks to bake with. They are heaven. Custard was a special dessert my mom would make when I was a child. Serving in a buttery, flaky crust that tastes like my mom's apple pie crust is superb. We bought 6 of them, before our first taste, to snack on at the sunset later that evening. See my beautiful model below for 6 in a package from Manteigaira.

Next up was Lily's project - the train station with over 20,000 tiles.

We wandered by Gia's project as well, Livrerio Lello, the "most beautiful bookstore in the world", with connections to J.K. Rowlings as she lived in Porto when she was writing part of the Harry Potter series. We balked at needing to buy a ticket and wait in line, so this photo is from the Internet :)