Sunny Porto - Tuesday 26 February, 2019

My first full day in Porto would involve art, trams, beer and football.

The view from my first floor room revealed a clear blue sky. Before leaving Hotel Grande Rio I remembered to apply sunscreen lotion and take sunglasses with me.

With no breakfast available at the hotel, it was only a short uphill walk to O Fumeiro for coffee and a croissant with a view towards Praça do Marquês de Pombal.

Casa da Music - view from 203 bus

The 203 bus journey downhill from Marquês to Serralves (Museu) left at 9.50am and passed the Casa da Musica which I would visit on Thursday night to see Still Life Trio.

Twenty stops from Marquês and a short walk later it was good to arrive at the Serralves Contemporary Art Museum inside Serralves Park at 10.25am. The low white museum building which has exhibition spaces on three levels opened in 1999.

I'll be your mirror (2018) - Joana Vasconcelos

This gave me the opportunity to look at the exhibitions, including Tacita Dean and Joana Vasconcelos - I'm your mirror featuring several large installations by the Portugeuse artist, while the museum was not busy.

Casa Serralves + 'Marilyn' high heeled shoes artwork by Joana Vasconcelos

From the shade into the sunshine and a walk around Serralves Park to the art deco style Casa Serralves for the exhibition 'Joan Miró and the Death of Painting'.
Returning to the museum building it was nice to walk through the library reading room and have a coffee in the Auditorium Bar, on the lower level, with views of the park.

Leaving at 13.45 it was sensible to keep to the shady side of the road for a 2km downhill walk to Calçada Ouro where I could sit on bench, and eat a sandwich with a view of ferries crossing the river Douro to Afurada and classic trams (route 1) on the way to and from Passeio Alegre (Foz).

There are plenty of cafes and small restaurants here but an even better spot was just across the Rua do Passeio Alegre where a snack bar kiosk had tables on the banks of the river Douro. A bottle of Super Bock (no glass provided) cost 1.10 euros and it was an authentic experience to drink it from the neck while also absorbing the loud chatter from a neighbouring table of elderly card players.

Later in spring and summer the plane trees on either side of the kiosk would provide adequate shade.

A pleasant walk east along the river bank took me under the arch of Ponte da Arrábida to the tram museum (Museu do Carro Eléctrico) founded in 1992 which includes the machinery hall of Massarelos thermoelectric power plant.

I caught the 18 tram at 16.33 paying 3.50 euros for a single ticket and enjoyed the ride up the hill to Carmo with the driver making frequent use of the horn to warn of our approach.

At Carmo you can change for route 22 to Batalha Guindais.

Cervejaria do Carmo - Craft Beer House

Carmo was the end of the line for me and conveniently only 100 metres from Cervejaria do Carmo - Craft Beer House at Praça Carlos Alberto which opens at 13.00 daily.
There is a shady outside seating area - strangely next to a shoe shop's window display.

Inside there is a blackboard behind the bar with a basic amount of information about the draught beers available. Portuguese and international beers are available on draught.

My 'half pint' of Session IPA (5.6% ABV) brewed locally by Lindinha Lucas was rather bitter for my taste and cost 2.80 euros.

Leaving at 17.10 I passed Praça Carlos Alberto, a square with a World War One monument by Henrique Moreira. On a future visit to the square I would like to visit the Saturday market Porto Belo held here on Saturdays, Cafe Luso and Banco de Materiais - the material bank - a museum of external decorative items like Azulejo wall tiles and vintage shop advertisements.

 A Fábrica da Picaria

Walking on, I arrived at A Fábrica da Picaria, 72 Rua da Picaria at 17.20 and spotted the blackboard sign outside 'Happy Month - Black IPA & Pilsner - 1 euro / 0.20cl'.

The first thing to notice inside is the sacks of malted barley under a shelf for leaflets by the entrance. 

A Fábrica - Black IPA

A Fábrica da Picaria was the first brewpub in Porto. The two beers brewed here change with the seasons and are served direct from the tank either via a font for convenience or from the tank itself. The other draught beers available are from the Super Bock Selecção 1927 range. 

I explained that Quinten Taylor had enjoyed a visit to A Fábrica in January 2018 and his report on Lisbon and Porto bars had been published in the Spring 2018 issue of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine. Marta Gonçalves recognised the photo of Quinten on the right of the cover of Reading CAMRA's Mine's a Pint  and posed holding both magazines. I promised to return to A Fábrica later in the week - see Wednesday and Thursday blog posts for more details.

It was a mainly uphill walk of almost a mile to return to Hotel Grande Rio.  On the way I stopped to purchase a miniature bottle of red wine from a small shop and a large Pastel de nata / custard tart from a small cafe / pastelaria to provide some energy for the rest of the evening.

My 15 euro ticket for the FC Porto v Sporting de Braga semi-final of the Portuguese Cup had been purchased online and printed before the start of this trip. 
It was a mainly level 1.5 mile walk from the hotel to the Estádio do Dragão. I realised too late that, like the locals, I should have taken advantage of the street vendors a short distance away from the stadium for a quick snack of Bifana - hot pork sandwich.

The circular 50,000 capacity stadium, designed by Manuel Salgado, opened in 2003.

My seat was in a good central position, only a few rows back from the front, but I would later realise that the man in the next seat could shout very loudly! There were processions of flag carriers and the pitch sprinklers were turned on before the match started at 20.15.This must have been the first top level football match I have attended for about forty years!

Porto were winning 2-0 with goals from Alex Telles (penalty) and Soares when I left after 90 minutes to catch a direct bus back to Marquês. I had seen Brahimi come on as a late substitute but missed his goal in the 4th minute of extra time although I could tell that it was a goal by Porto from the noise level outside! 

I had to hang onto my seat because the bus driver must have been in a race to finish his shift and seemed to pay no attention to any speed limits on this journey. I was soon back at my hotel with a view of the top of the spire of the church of Our lady of the Conception, Praça do Marquês de Pombal, in the distance.

Today I had walked just over 22,000 steps.