The next day we finally finished work and started to do our holidays rough and ready by drinking (very portuguese!) liters of café and walking a bit tired through the ancient and beautiful city of Porto. In the tourist office we were couriously asked where we learned to speak Portuguese. "Well, we took courses at home but after all we practised in Lisboa". In that situation we could have thrown a red cloth at a bull to get a similar reaction. "I don't like people from Lisboa". "Ok.... hmmm... erm... why?" "Because they are dislikeable". "Hmm.. yeah... erm... why?" "Pois, ask them why they are dislikeable". Well, we thought it was smart not to ask neither him nor the Alfacinhas. It's a very ancient, curious, emotional issue and actually not our business. We were in the lucky position not to decide... and Porto is actually quite nice... after all. Hehehe.
Really nice was how hospitable we were welcomed by the two Marias: A warm and comfortable bed for the night in a nice and cosy flat in central Porto plus tons of delicious portuguese homecooked dishes - and after all always a café beside! I felt so "home away from home"... Well, if you read this one, thank you some much!
After some "finas" (in the south it's "imperiais", draft beer), we went to bed so tired... after all we walked around the whole day and climbed up this tall tower, which had round about 250 steps but offers you a view on the city that is really worth it. The next day we were finally recovered for tasting two specialities of that region: portwine and francesinha. Well, the first matter is so famous that I think I don't have to explain. I just could say, you should once try the white one, it's suprisingly delicious.
The second one is... remarkable. I've never eaten a thing that is more or even same unhealthy than a francesinha before. To say it short: It nearly every kind of meat that you can imagine with toast (it's on purpose that it is mentioned this way round and not "toast with meat") , covered by cheese, spiced by a hot piri-piri-secret-ingrediences-but-seems-to-be-alcoholic-sauce. The version "especial" adds an egg on top. Or in between. Who cares. To make it more healthy you have to add some vegetables, best are french fries, twice fried. It's futile to expect any other vegetable. It doesn't fit. (Even though rumours said that there was once, somewhere, somehow a restaurant that invented a vegetarian francesinha. Well, but I guess that would be a bit like chicken wings without chicken. Not even wings anymore.) Sounds absolutely perverted, doesn't it? It is, indeed, but it's sooooo delicious. We rolled our way back home afterwards. Walking would be the wrong expression.
We fnished that way too short trip by visiting the Fundação de Serralves and it's museum of contemporary art. The house and garden are so beautiful: Art Deco styled and very shiny... and after all I saw the exchebition of record art there, that was originally by the Bremen Museum and that I always wanted and after all missed to visit there. It's such a small world...