Often we plan city breaks, tagging them on to the beginning or end of a bigger adventure. This is not done to make our journeys longer or more exciting, but rather unromantically, to make them cheaper, as it can be a lot more cost effective to take two shorter flights, with an overnight stay, than to fly direct. It also has the added benefit of allowing us a glimpse of new places and we often return for longer visits at a later date.
In contrast, I never plan my writing in advance, but rather my stories and poems reveal themselves to me , usually as I am out walking, inspired by what I see, hear and feel in nature.
On our return from the Azores, we planned a 2 night stop over in Porto, somewhere we have visited and enjoyed before.
Now don't get me wrong, if you are visiting Porto for the first time you should absolutely see the sights: Porto Cathedral, Sao Bento train station, visit Lavraria Lello, Porto's famous and ornate bookstore, view Porto's six bridges from a traditional Rebelo, climb the Tower of Clerigos and cross the Dom Luis I bridge - it's an amazing place and you really need a couple of days to see everything.
But having done all that last time, we decided instead to spend a day walking, heading out of Porto, along the Douro on the Vila Nova da Gaia side, to its mouth at the Atlantic, an out and back walk of around 10km.
We set out past the famous Port Houses and colourful market stalls, following the road until we reached a boardwalk where local fishermen were chatting whilst their rods did the work. The boardwalk runs closely alongside the Douro, where seagulls comorants and guillemots vie for space on the black rocks protruding from the water whilst sandpipers wade at the edges in the shallows.
There are many old and crumbling buildings along this stretch which could surely be renovated and repurposed into riverfront apartments instead of falling into dereliction, hopefully this is in the town planning for the future, it would be a shame to lose them.
We passed another building, this one still used, the public 'lavadoria' where local people can still be seen doing their laundry and hanging it out on the rows of washing lines to dry.
As we approached the village of Sao Pedro da Afurada, we stopped for refreshments in front of the marina, its yachts and sailing boats providing a stark contrast with the humble local dwellings behind us on the hillside.
Leaving the village, we made sight of the huge sandbank that provides a barrier between the Douro and the Atlantic Ocean beyond leaving a tranquil lagoon which is an important place for both migratory and local birds and other wildlife.
Beyond the sandbank, the path turns sharply south becoming a promenade beside the Atlantic and providing a sharp contrast from the Douro with its waves crashing to shore amidst huge boulders.
Stopping for a glass of wine in the warm February sunshine to watch the waves seemed like the right thing to do, before making the return journey in time for port wine tasting at Sandemans. You know what they say, "when in Porto..."
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