We began our morning at the Bolhao market in Porto. Run entirely by women, this is a supposedly bustling food market that was largely empty and boarded up when we arrived. We figured this was because it was a weekday, and because it is August, when many locals go on holidays. We never miss checking out a food market as there is always something interesting to see. A highlight was the cages of live chickens, rabbits and pigeons for sale. Don't see that every day.
On the way back to our hotel, we stumbled upon an amazing, well, diner. Cafe Tupi was really a classic NYC-style diner with a countertop and stools, a lot of hustle and bustle, eggs on the griddle, coffee being poured, sandwiches being pressed...made us feel right at home. We ordered the special of the week, which included juice, coffee and a small breakfast sandwich, and the total price was 2 Euros. Now would be a great time to mention how cheap everything is here -- like half the price of any other European city we have ever been to. It's pretty great--I mean great for us coming from the U.S. Obviously, Portugal is struggling right now, but it is refreshing to go Europe for once and feel like you are getting some value for the dollar.
We said goodbye to Porto and headed a half hour north to the town of Vila do Conde and the Praia de Seca beach. The beach was huge, extending for miles, with cabanas for rent and lots of little beach cafes. Matt took a swim in the very chilly Atlantic, we enjoyed a simple and casual lunch overlooking the ocean (what's better?) and then packed up and headed to the town of Aveiro for a quick overnight stay.
Aveiro is a small town about 45 minutes drive from Porto. There is a pretty, "old" section with quaint winding streets, and two canals which are sort of attractive and sort of gross, as canals can be. There's not much to see here and we covered the whole place in about an hour before settling down for a beer and some dominoes at one of the many bars with outdoor sidewalk seating. I suppose Aveiro would be worth driving through if it's on your way, and definitely not worth spending a night, unless you, like us, wanted to relax a little and break up the drive between Porto and Lisbon.
We did have a fabulous dinner at O Batel, an "upscale" restaurant in the old part of town. I say "upscale" because even though it was definitely a nice restaurant, and I'm sure more expensive than many in the area, we had a top notch, truly excellent meal, including filet mignon and a gigantic whole fish with 3 sides, 2 glasses of wine, a starter and 2 desserts for 51 Euros, including tip. I think that's pretty amazing don't you?