Day 0 - Getting to Porto

#Pasteis de Nata: 2, Distance Walked: 9.6km, # Floors Climbed: 22 (equivalent of), Time Taken: 30+ hours

Leaving for this holiday was more stressful than I would have liked.  The Sunday before one of my cats, Jack, decided to develop Feline Idiopathic Cystitis.  This is vet-speak for "he has an inflamed bladder and we don't know why - probably stress."  They prescribed painkillers and anti-anxiety meds.  This worked but I'm worried that having to get used to the cat sitter will make him stressed again.  Mind you she has looked after him several times before so it should be no drama.  I was tempted to take some of his anti-anxiety meds myself  They were actually originally developed for use in humans after all.

My second source of stress was I had a tight, 90 minute, connection in Zurich.  I was counting on Swiss efficiency and the small size of Zurich airport to make it work.  Since Zurich would be my first stop in Europe, I would have to clear passport control there.

However, I didn't have to worry about making my connection in Zurich.  When I got to Singapore I was told my flight to Zurich was delayed by 30 minutes making the connection impossible.  Instead, I was re-routed via Amsterdam.  This time with a giant 95 minute connection time.  This was a very exciting suggestion as Schipol airport is huge!

There are 7 separate sections (piers) - B to H.  My flight from Singapore landed in pier G and my flight to Porto took off from pier C.  While the two gates could have been further apart, I still had to walk the best part of 2km (!) to get from one to the other.  I made it, including passport control, in 50 minutes, getting to the Porto gate just as they started boarding.  I did wonder if they sold edibles at the airport.  I could have used something to calm me down.  But I didn't have time to look.

Porto airport was an interesting place.  There were 4 flights, including mine, that landed at around the same time.  While there were several baggage claim belts, they decided to unload all 4 flights onto the same one.  It was a little crowded.  My bag made a couple of revolutions before I managed to elbow my way to the belt to collect it.

The weather forecast for Porto today hadn't been encouraging, with thunderstorms predicted.  However, when we landed it clearly hadn't rained.  It was a little overcast but the temperature was quite mild.  Unfortunately, I had used up all my good luck making my connection in Amsterdam.  When I was 5 minutes away from my hotel it started to pour with rain.  It alternated been brief, heavy showers and sunny skies the rest of the day.  Tomorrow is going to be the same.  I have a walking tour booked.  I now have my first Portuguese souvenir - a (purple) umbrella.

I arrived too early to check in so I left my bag and then went for a walk.  I walked across the Dom Luis bridge.  The top level is for pedestrians and the metro.  Tram drivers think the Bourke Street mall is a pain.  They don't know how good they have it.  There were hoards of pedestrians, much to busy taking selfies to pay attention to the giant trams/metro cars trying to get by.

I crossed the bridge on the top level, avoiding the trams,  and then ambled along the river front.  I stopped for a coffee and my first pastel de nata of the holiday - a classic one and an orange flavoured one.  Sadly the coffee was burnt and the tarts were sickly sweet.  I should have know better than to stop at this cafe as they sold pastel de nata with all sorts of weird flavours, including savory ones.  Still, I got a caffeine hit and the chance to sit at a river front cafe all for about $7 Australian.

I then wandered around the back streets a little.  I walking down what was a deserted street when I saw this amazing piece of street art.  As soon as I took out my phone to take a picture, hoards of other tourists appeared.   I clearly have used up all my luck.

I'm now in my hotel room desperately trying to stay awake until a reasonable dinner time.  My hotel is right on the river.  I booked a superior room, which turns out to be tucked into the attic on the very top floor.  The views are fabulous but I have to go up a flight of stairs to get from my door to my bedroom.   Porto is very hilly, but I wasn't expecting to have to climb a hill to get to bed!

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I managed to hold out until 7pm, which I'm quite pleased with.  However, I had dinner at a local pizza joint.  Ordering a pizza in Italian is something I can do even when jet-lagged.  I had a pizza with ham, rocket and fior di latte.  It was Decent.  I would have rated it Good but they were much too stingy on the fior di latte.  I was tempted by their tiramisu but I was too full and too tired so I skipped it.

I have a new food rating system for this holiday.  Since I will be travelling in countries where they take their fod seriously I need a more strongly worded scale.  This time it will go (from worst to best)

• Revolting/dreadful
• Bad
• Decent 
• Good
• Absolutely delicious

The pastel di nata this afternoon were Bad.