March 26-30

That night Jessica got hit with a nasty stomach bug that would keep her up all night and put her out of service for the next day and part of the one afterwards.  Kris also felt a little under the weather and decided to stay close to the apartment and hope to recover by the end of the day for our scheduled boat tour on the Douro River.

So, the four of us (Kim, Marty, Joanna and myself) went out for the day with Gemma and some kind of a plan, one that would take us where it was going to lead us.  Our first stop was not far from the apartment, the 3D Fun Art Museum.  What a fun place for all ages to visit.  As you enter the museum proper the first couple of rooms feature displays that trick your mind, where objects of the same size when surrounded by different backgrounds can appear to be different sizes. 

You then move on to a couple of rooms with interactive motifs, one where two people enter and stand in the corner, then switch sides and the shorter person appears taller.  The next room has a opening next door that allows an individual to climb into a table with mirrors on the sides so that it appears one has no body below their neck. 

The next room has furniture mounted to a wall and a group of folks lies on the floor in the right position so that after the picture is taken, one just edits it by flipping it on its side, making the participants appear they are standing on top of each other.  The last room blows confetti all over, an attraction Gemma could not get enough of.  We finished up by taking a couple of group photos and finally left, having been thoroughly entertained.

We were all a little hungry and so walked back a block or so to stop in at a storefront café called Doce Mundo, where we ordered an assortment of sandwiches, pastries and coffees for the affordable total of thirteen Euros.  What impressed us was how many local worker types dropped in and consumed large platters of the chicken that was roasting in an oven near the entrance. 

With the rest of the afternoon to kill we called an Uber and rode close to the ocean and got dropped off at Parque da Cidade, Porto’s central park.  Around 1916-1918, Ezequiel de Campos proposed the acquisition of land for the construction of a park in the city and In the 1960s, land was reserved in the Urbanization Plan by architect Robert Auzelle. 

Designed by landscape architect Sidónio Pardal in 1991, it is the largest urban park in the country, occupying a total of 205,000 acres and around 6 miles of paths.  The park is a sophisticatedly designed landscape with lakes and a variety of flora and fauna integrated into the city fabric.  The shape of the terrain, the stone elements and the trees create particularly pleasant interiors where the visitor does not realize that he is in a densely populated area.

We walked almost the length of the park passing plenty of other pedestrians and quite a few cyclists before we eventually hit its outer edge and found ourselves at the ocean.  While the others took off to explore some of the buildings not far away, I took a few moments to rest as it would be a while before I would get myself into good walking shape, a long time coming after my two years of hip and knee replacements. 

Once we regrouped, another Uber brought us back to the apartment where we were glad to see that Kris had recovered enough to join us for the river cruise, but poor Jessica was still under the weather, a real shame as this was the an activity she had arranged for and had been eagerly anticipating. 

And so, six of us commandeered two Uber’s and made our way to the harbor where we soon found ourselves aboard our ship for the evening.  It being a warm day, we quickly climbed up to the wheel deck which brought us the unanticipated bonus of being able to converse with the owner and skipper.  Also, he let Gemma steer the craft for about ten minutes in safe waters, a joyful thing for a five-year-old.

We cruised upriver for about an hour or more, working our way through a bottle of Douro valley white, interacting with the captain who provided us with a narrative about the city, the sights we could see on the banks and shared a bit of his own history.  He is a native of the town and now lives a few miles north, commuting in each day.  A life not much different than what any of us might do. 

We then turned around and sailed back down river while working on a second bottle of wine and seaward, outside the breakwater where it was a bit choppy, but not unpleasant where we waited for the sun to set before turning around and heading back to port.  As it was still early, some of our crew opted to walk back to the apartment while others ended the evening with an Uber.  Except for the fact that Jessica couldn’t join us that day, it turned out to be a rewarding one, getting to spend a lot of quality time with Gemma, the best thing a grandparent can ask for. 

Links

3D Fun Art Museum: https://3dfunartporto.com/

Parque da Cidade: https://ambiente.cm-porto.pt/parques-e-jardins/parque-da-cidade