Have you ever wondered where Port wine came from? Well, it’s right here in Porto, northern Portugal. Oh, you knew and it’s just me? Well now I feel stupid.

Anyways, it’s hard to believe that come Saturday I’ll home in Melbourne and reality will be sinking back in. But before then there are just a couple of days to fill in Portugal before I fly Lisbon to Dubai to Singapore to home.

Yesterday here in Porto we had rain pretty much all day, most fierce in the morning and a steady drizzle after that. Still, the perfect chance to go to the laundromat and do the last wash and dry of the trip!

With time running out we were up and about in the early afternoon and managed to fill the next six or seven hours fully. Firstly to the Livraria Lello. What on earth is that? It’s a crazy historical bookshop with a cool staircase and a rustic feel. It’s also packed to the hilt with tourists, who have to queue for a ticket which costs five euros and then queue again to get inside! Why? I hear you ask. Well this establishment was frequented by one JK Rowling in the early 90s and its design inspired her for I think shops in that alley…

Anyhoo. We have done more than just get squashed in a book shop. For example today we visited the museum church and tower Clergios and were well and truly squashed going up, down and at the top of the tower. No doubt they let too many in at once. It was dangerous and a joke to be honest.

Other sites? Well a couple more churches with monasteries attached. And museums. And catacombs. Three more actually.

More interesting, at least that’s how I found it, was the Palacio de Bolsa. No, it’s not made out of very flimsy wood, mostly granite in fact. Beautiful large room as you enter, followed by more interesting rooms too.

Back to yesterday though, because I wanted to finish this post on yesterday evening. We crossed the Luis I bridge, an amazing construction of metal with trains on the high level and cars on the bottom. And pedestrians on both.

On the other side of of the the Douros River you find a load of port cellars which offer tours. We ended up at the top of the hill at Taylor’s and took an audio tour followed by a tasting! Yessd i grrr ufigjv goooood stoooof….

Thanks as always for reading and May the Journey Never End!