We had to go through immigration in Madrid, because it was the first Country in the Europe Union we set foot. So our passports were stamped in Spain instead of Portugal. We had a three hour layover in Madrid. When it was time to leave, we were flying on a small regional airline. We had to walk down stairs and get on a bus that drove out to where the plane was parked. Once there we put our carry on luggage on a cart and then climbed up stairs into the plane. This flight was only about an hour and we arrived in Oporto around 4:35 PM on Monday. Again when we landed we had to walk down stair, collect our carry on luggage and get on a bus to take us to the terminal.
We had to wait quite awhile to get our luggage. After collecting it, we went through the door that said “Nothing to declare”. There was an officer standing there and he looked at Jay’s luggage tag which we were coming from Miami and let us on through. Our driver was waiting for us and took us to our hotel.
We are staying at the Hotel Teatro. It used to be a theatre and they use that as the theme of the hotel. The hallways are dark and there are curtains everywhere, but the rooms are very modern.
After checking in and settling in our hotel, Jay and I went to walk around the area. We are in the center of Oporto and in the historic district. We are only a few blocks up from the river, but it is a very steep hill. We walked around some and then found a restaurant to eat at. I ordered fried fish. It had the heads still attached and the tail of the fish was wrapped around and stuck in its mouth. It wasn’t bad. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for an early night because it had been a really long day.
