Today I spent the day getting acclimated to European time. Which means that last night I fell asleep at 7:30PM and woke up at 2:30AM. Not optimal but not terrible either. Fortunately I knew that I was spending the day here so it was fines.
After breakfast I walked like I was going on my Camino so that I could figure out the route to get out of the city. While not really that difficult I always like to know where I am going so tomorrow it will be super easy to just get up, have breakfast and hit the road.
Today after my walk this morning I came back to the room and took a nap. which is hilarious but it happened. I was fast asleep so thank goodness I set my alarm to wake me up in time for my first walking tour.
I love the free walking tour concept. You sign up and pay nothing. At the end of the tour you tip whatever you believe the tour was worth. I always get a ton out of these tours and this one was no exception. Our tour guide was a guy named Fiel. He walked us around the old part of Porto near the Cathedral, into the train station with it’s 20,000 hand painted tiles that tell the history of Spain, along the busiest shopping street and down to the river. All the while telling us the history of the area and giving us suggestions of places to visit and cautioning us on places to watch out for. He was a very good story teller and I really enjoyed his tour.
This afternoon I took a tour of the other side of town. With the same tour company. This is the perfect way to get to know a city. Now I just need a few days to be able to go and enjoy all that I have learned about. Next time. Portowalkers.pt is the walking tour company that I used.
Tomorrow my Camino walk begins. I will walk along the river, out to the Atlantic Ocean and up to Villa do Conde which is about 33km or 20 miles.