We have a brilliant location at the top of the old city, near commerce square with all the hot spots and tourist attractions located down the winding cobblestone streets lined with tiny gelato, pastry, clothing, and tourists shops. I am jealous of the affordable beautiful clothing, especially shoes that are available for purchase and rather dismayed that all I can buy are postcards to send home. Terry did manage to find a Decathlon store, he got a T-shirt and I bought a 15€ sports bra. I digress…the day began with us wolfing down breakfast and waiting for the coffee machine lineup to melt away. The hotel has a cool vibe that we really love and in fact we ended up the day by coming to the lounge area with Bill and Mandy and drinking cheap beer, wine and eating pizza until after midnight!
Anton herded the group down to the main squares, to cathedrals (where we snuck in and got our first Camino stamp on our passports), to the riverfront where we dispersed to find lunch/francestiglia sandwich which I loved and beer. I am constantly drinking beer as we are always thirsty. Terrys gout has flared so Mandy has been giving us a medicine cabinet full of treatments. Everyone on the tour is very excited for our Camino trip. Many of us have become friends on social media and can stay in touch and exchange photos. We feel like family and love how travel brings people close.
In the afternoon we did the Douro River cruise to see the 6 bridges. Rather a disappointing use of our time and money we thought. Mandy led us on a shopping spree for gelato, dress, shoes…sigh.

Music by Sandy Hawkins – Chauncey’s Dream –

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