5-15-11 Santiago to Porto, Portugal

This am, Sunday, the plaza in front of the hotel had a lot of tourists and pilgrims, probably about a thousand.   Our tour director said compared to the summer, this is nothing.  He said it is frequently full of people, almost shoulder to shoulder, which would probably be about 10,000 people.  I saw quite a few pilgrims coming in on bikes, which made me long for my bike, but not for spending weeks or even days on it.

          We departed from Santiago at 1:30 pm, which was fortunate for us since we didn’t wake up until 9:15 am.  We will cross the border into Portugal on our way to Porto for a 2 night stay.  The last 3 nights have been in different hotels, so Porto will be a nice break from the bus. 

          After entering Portugal, most of our drive was along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. 

          Portugal is not as prosperous as Spain has been, and is not as modern, which I recall being the case when we were here many years ago, but I recall that the people were very friendly, and that being a modern country isn’t always what attracts us as travelers.

Porto - fisherman's net outdoor sculpture

          Our hotel in Porto is a Sheraton, because it is the only 5 star hotel in Porto. 

          Dinner was at the hotel.  I had a lobster cream soup for appetizer, kobe beef for entrée, and 3 scoops of different gelatos.  The soup was excellent, with several chunks of lobster and a rich broth with cream and lobster puree, the beef was a real disappointment because it was not tender nor tasty, and the gelato was just ok.