41.09N 8.39W

Porto, Thursday, 6^th September, 2018

A journey of 65nm was described in a magazine as a ‘Cherbourg’, which I find most appropriate. The difference today is that we motored all the way from Figuiera da Foz against an 8 knt headwind, a bit uncomfortable at first but mostly fine.

Marina here in Porto is a bit out of town but only a taxi ride away. However no journey is ‘short’ here because it’s so steep on both sides of the river and there are only 2 bridges so it takes miles just to get across. We’d taken the grandchildren to Watford to see the studio where Harry Potter films were made, and it was surprisingly good. Here however JK Rowling apparently wrote the first book in the Majestic cafe (I thought it was Edinburgh) and the local library was the inspiration for one the staircases, both of which are extremely proud. I at least was ‘Potter’ed out, so even a short queue was too much. Many, many tourists and all steep hills, how people can get around in wheelchairs without dying of exhaustion is beyond me (perhaps they all do). This is however the second city of Portugal and is worth the visit though.

K

Lovely place. Expensive marina, but they were happy to give us a big discount for having been on the ARC years ago and/or OCC/WCC membership. Uber works here, so easy to get and they don’t charge an arm and a leg for opening the boot like Portuguese taxis. Tram and ‘ferry boat’ were fun and the whole place has a nice gentle feel for wandering around. Best to start at the top of a hill!

This whole railway station was previously a palace and had beautiful tiles but no train journey for Keith this time.

C