Vila Nova de Gaia

 Thursday 9 March 2023

After breakfast, we traveled to Vila Nova de Gaia, which is located across the Douro River from the city of Porto.  We toured the Calem Winery, founded in 1859 by António Alves Calem.  We learned Port wine is a fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley region of Portugal.

The type of port wine produced can vary depending on the grape varieties used, the specific aging process, and the blending techniques. Some of the most common types of port wine include tawny port, ruby port, vintage port, and late bottled vintage port.

Our guide through the Calem Cellars recommended Sancho Panza for lunch, specifically recommending their Francesinha sandwich. 

The Francesinha is an iconic Portugese Sandwich.  Bread, piled with meats, made into a box with a final slice of bread, topped with cheese.  Broiled to melt the cheese, and then served in a pool of gravy.  

The Mercado Beira-Rio is not as elaborate as the Porto Market.  This is mostly a food court with a couple of fresh food vendors.

We took a water taxi back to the Ribeira do Porto where we walked to Tram Line 1, also known as the "Electrico 1," a historic tram line that runs along the banks of the Douro River.  The tram ends at the Jardim do Passeio Alegre in the Faz do Douro district.

Running low on energy, we returned to the hotel.  We do some quick research to seek a good location to see a much-needed sunset within walking distance.  We also target an Italian restaurant for post-sunset dinner.  Barney messed up the walking directions to the restaurant so we had to make an unexpected change of plans… All we knew was it had a name about cats, and Google Maps had it listed as ‘vegan.’

We were offered seating up front, or ‘in back.’  As it was raining, out back did not seem appealing.  Turns out it is not exclusively vegan AND it is a Cat Cafe, ‘in back’ really meant ‘in the cat rooms.’