Leaving Lisbon( the Portuguese call it Lisboa) and driving the 3.5 hour drive to Porto left us with a chance to stop by lovely Coimbra, a small university town on the Mondego river.
We arrived into the historic city center of Porto, the city which Port wine is named after. We met our Airbnb host and stored the trusty Peugeot in a parking garage with a car elevator, a first.
The view from our penthouse is quite lovely.
Our host informed us we are so lucky, we are here for the St. John’s Festival. It is Europes largest street party😳 It’s basically a 3 day party that hits high gear at 12:00 midnight on Sunday. Right in our wheelhouse😎
First a couple pictures of the city. Porto wine boats used as advertising for near by Port bars.
The city has some festival traditions. BBQ pig.
The traditional meal of sardines and bbq peppers.
Bonfires in the streets for the foolhardy to jump over
And of course, plastic play hammers to hit strangers on the head for good luck. They make an obnoxious noise and have whistles. Perfect.
It’s a huge, fun, beer drinking, Port swilling party, Portugal’s Marci Gras on Port. The fireworks at midnight were awesome. They also light special balloon luminaries to fill the sky. lucky us, we got to watch the fireworks from our balcony! It’s quiet a show😎
Today a drive up into the Douro River valley and Pinhao where the Port grapes are grown and the Port is distilled. Lovey area, lots of river cruises.
Tomorrow, a 5 hour drive to Cudillero, Spain. It’s a small town on the northern coast of Spain. We are planning something different, a couple days of rest. We’ve been traveling hard and need a little break. Especially after St. Johns😎
Adios amigos 😎
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traftonseuropemexicoadventures 