Today we leave Portugal which is a little sad as we have thoroughly enjoyed our time at our stops of Lisbon and Porto, oh and our trip up the Douro Valley. It was only a taster of a trip to both Spain and Portugal which we knew it would be, but we can always come back and do some more in-depth travelling of the two countries.
We had until 2.00pm before we needed to head to the airport and thus utilized the time by catching the number 1 tram along the Douro River out towards the Atlantic ocean.
It took about half an hour to get to the area of Foz which is well known for great eatery places that the locals frequent.
It was then back on the tram the way we came as we were heading to the tram museum. The trams that still operate are around the vintage of the 1940/50’s.
You are now about to be bombarded with photos of the tram museum so maybe you might want to skip through this next section🤪🤪
One thinks that when Fraser comes back from the afterlife that he will be a tram driver!!
We have a question for our readers – does anyone know what the grate on the front of the tram is used for and no googling!!
The last mule-drawn car was retired in 1904, and electrification was complete with the elimination of urban steam engines in 1914.
When we saw this electrical contraption, we thought of those old movies of Frankenstein with an electrical hood on his head.
In 1949, the system reached its maximum length of 81 kilometres with 150 kilometres track length. The 1960s and the 1970s were marked by a continuous dismantling of tram tracks and a preference for cheaper bus transport – how wrong they got it.
We made our way back to the clock tower and then walked back down towards our hotel having our last Portuguese tart.
We would certainly give Portugal a huge thumbs up for a visit with the proviso that you avoid the very hot months of June, July, August and probably into September.
It was then off to the airport. We had already been offered a €75 voucher each to take a later flight as they had over booked our flight, but we are flying with a budget Spanish airline and the chances of using that voucher are nil.
We managed to secure a seat in what was a plane full of sardines. We had a great view flying across to Barcelona which made us realize how hilly Portugal was as opposed to the flatness of Spain that we saw from the window.
First impressions on our arrival – Barcelona is a huge, busy city and much faster paced than Porto. We got settled into our OK hotel (we were spoilt in Porto) and went very local for a lovely light dinner. Tomorrow is a big Gaudi day as doing the Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell and cruise by the house and apartment block he designed. We should be Guadi’d out by then.
Steps 12,093.
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