So yesterday we got ourselves organised to travel to Portugal.
Flying to Porto with Ryanair always involves a lot of standing in queues-
waiting to go through security, which this time was quite smooth as they no longer ask you to put liquids in a clear plastic bag .Niether do they ask you to get all your electricals out of your bag. However, Phil’s rucksack containing laptop, extra hard drive, iPad, and other gadgets, must have confused their machinery as they scanned it about five times before handing it over.
waiting for the gate number to be announced - actually you can donthat sitting down.
waiting at the gate for them to start processing people.
waiting on a staircase or in a tunnel before being able board, watching the passengers getting off your plane on its inward flight going through.
Yesterday there was a new one:
waiting for about 20 minutes at the foot of the steps to the aircraft while they faffed around doing stuff in the plane.
Arrived in Porto, our plane had to wait for another plane to vacate the bay in which we should park and so we sat for a further twenty minutes. All part of the adventure!
We had a speedy driver taking us to Figueira da Foz. Our first aim after dumping our suitcases was to go in search of a crema de mariscos or sopa de pescado. One of our favourite restaurants, Caçarola 2, turned oit to be closed for holidays until the day after we leave. How very inconsiderate! We went looking for Caçarola 1 and couldn’t find it. Last year it was undergoing renovation. A brightly-lit establishment was in its place. Had Caçarola 1 disappeared? So we headed for the next best option, O Picadeiro, aka The Glass Box as it has an external seating area surrounded by glass panels.
There we had a crema do mar, not as good a fish soup as the Caçarola does, but still good. As we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was now turned 10.00 Phil opted for ovos rotos, posh egg and chips with prawns and a version of serrano ham. I had a copious salad, speciality of the house. All for €32.50!, including a glass of wine each.
And then back to hotel to unpack and sleep!
This morning the sun was shining as I ran down the seafront. It was very mild.
Later we went for supplies of this and that at Blue Egg supermarket by the casino. En route we examined the restaurant formerly known as Caçarola 1. It is still Caçarola 1, so our eating options remain open, even if it is now very bright and modern!
Later we’ll go hunting for a cash machine to replenish our supply of euros and we’ll investigate another favourite restaurant, O Cais do Heleno.
This may be a chess tournament visit but it’s turning into a gastronomic visit: eating our way round Figueira!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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