Also known as Oporto
TripCase let me know there was a gate change so we all trudged over five waiting areas. At least it wasn’t a terminal change. The Gate displayed showed we were now on a nine p.m. schedule. I didn’t worry about whether or not Ruth would appear in time but luckily with the delay being certain she had a larger window of opportunity.
I met a nice couple, Joe and Roseann, and we talked a little. They are on our tour together with her sister Karen and Karen’s childhood friend, Louise. We might as well line up allies as soon as possible, oh I mean, make friends.
After about an hour I got a welcome text from Ruth that she was in the building in a greatly expanded security line. I let her know of the gate change because when they were announcing it she had not yet returned. I advised her that to move up quickly once she was past the Passport check, there were some checkpoints to the side that were shorter line maybe and that you can always let them know your flight is at whatever time and TSA will move you to the front of the line. They never want to be the ones at fault for you missing your flight. I stood up and was watching for her and soon she appeared, not the least bit flustered or frazzled. Her comment was that I had not let her know how long a walk it was to the gate and where the bottle fill station was! Gotta love that in anyone.
The flight was delayed past the 8:25 boarding time and the 8:40 time they announced. Then finally our flight was called and boarded pretty quickly once the line started moving. We easily found our seats and immediately the people in front of us began to annoy each of us. They totally reclined their seats even before take off but were sitting straight up anyway. Meanwhile our personal space declined by about 25%. There has to be a better system. Ruth informed them to make their seats upright for take off.
When Ruth put my ‘personal bag’ in the overhead she realized there was a center row, four across, that was empty. We knew the flight wasn’t full so she quickly claimed those seats. This is international flight gold! A possibility of lying down to sleep on your night flight! The flight crew seemed to be buttoning up for takeoff when suddenly about 20 people came strolling down the aisle. Ruth’s dreams were dashed, literally. A couple took two of her seats and she returned to sit by me. There would be no dreaming done on this flight!
We speculated that they must have been on a connecting flight that was delayed and since the reservation was a ‘legal one’ our flight was held for them. Interestingly though, we took off at exactly 9:35 which is exactly when our Porto contact had told us it was scheduled to depart when we spoke to him some six hours earlier!
Once we were in the air, although they put their seats all the way back, they sat up straight, and the situation did not improve when dinner was served! Very weird.
After an all right dinner of some kind of heavily sauced chicken that lacked and identifiable flavor we finished watching Headliners. The subject was Jimmy Carter and his impossible rise to the Presidency. It wasn’t on the video system, which really didn’t work well and had movies like Deadpool and the third Star Wars, this documentary was downloaded onto Ruth’s phone. Ruth and I traded seats as there was nothing to see out the window anyway and she could lean up against it and try to sleep. I hate when they turn off all the lights on a plane and I couldn’t use my ‘personal overhead one’ because it shone right into Ruth’s face and she was going to be napping. I tried to read for a while but holding the book and shielding Ruth from the flashlight beam was tricky.
It was interesting to be one of the few people awake on the five and a half hour flight. About quarter to one Atlanta time all the over head lights went on in first class but I had a quick glimpse before the steward closed the curtain and they could be seen above the drape. Then came the announcement asking if there was a doctor among us. Then the overhead lights dimmed but didn’t go out then brightened again and remained on for the rest of the trip.
About twenty minutes after the call for the doctor the lights went on overhead in the middle section of the plane. So all the lights were now full on except for ours. The curtain opened and two flight attendants came down either aisle to the very center of the center row. They talked to someone who seemed to be in the middle of the row because a couple people got up and moved away spent a few moments then different staff including from the cockpit. The tall thin man who had answered the call for the doctor went back and forth a few times. But the lights were left on and dim. When about 3 hours later we landed in the deserted Porto airport. Really --- no one arriving but us and no one leaving! Ruth and I were near the end of the line at Passport Control and then moved to baggage collection. Once our luggage arrived on the carrousel we took through the Green Door (nothing to declare).
Rhominina, with bright red hair, was waiting outside the secure area to greet us and after a short wait for some others whose bags had been left in Newark we set out for a bus tour with several walking breaks for photo ops. The towns cobbled streets dip steeply to the banks of the River of Gold – The Duouro. Laundry hung from the wrought iron balconies of the twisted row of brick homes. At the end we found the good hot food, served quickly beneath white market umbrellas beside bistro heaters. At the river’s edge were musicians playing but not too loudly. Men dressed in fashionable business suits with bright ties honed in on many little café’s street side tables for their leisurely Iberian lunch.
After an hour on our own, a snack of cheesecake and hot tea, Ruth and I were ready to join the others on the steep uphill climb to the center of old Porto. Soon our bus met us and after being awake for way more than 24 hours we were driving toward our Ipanema Parc Hotel. Our large, beautiful, pale green room on the third floor was waiting for us. We know better than to nap after an international flight so we sorted the strange things from our jackets that we had carried that way to have quick accessability on the trip. We donned our swimsuits to head up to the fifteenth floor rooftop. And the rains came! The overcast was no longer threatening but delivering a cold wet punch.
So back in the room we took turns showering and getting ready for a 7:45 meeting and dinner in the hotel restaurant. We were watching the first episode of the Good Place and our next door neighbors were about drowning the sound with volume of their own. In order to avoid falling asleep we went out for a walk to get Euros at the next corner. A young man was asking for money. And seemed persistent. Ruth asked a passerby to tell him to go away. We got a little cash for tomorrow’s tour and started up the street to find the Lidl. Suddenly I took Ruth’s arm and swung her around to retrace our steps. I had seen him behind us. At a store front We turned to look in a corner window and could see that he too turned around. Two men and a lady were nearby so we stepped over to them and struck up a conversation. Ruth said this guy was following us and asked what to do.
The residents answer was to always be careful but that there really isn’t a problem in Porto. But that on this street, two blocks from our very expensive, fancy, business and tour hotel, was a lot of drug traffic! Great!
After a few minutes with these nice people we headed back to the hotel instead of looking for the store. We bumped into our guide and told her what happened and to warn the others at the meeting.
In our warm room we fixed ourselves up a little, very little. In the lobby we met the others in our way too large group of 42 and went in to the meeting. When everyone was there, Nini gave us some directions about tomorrow morning and then we enjoyed an expansive buffet of cod with almonds, pork schnitzel, a variety of starches, salads, soup, and a nice array of desserts.
We finished off this first day or our Treasures of Portugal adventure by going up to the rooftop where with the sun set the pool did not look at all inviting!
LOCAL INTERNET IS NOT PERMITTING ME TO UPLOAD PHOTOS SO MAYBE TOMORROW
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