FC Porto

Hamish and I drop off Belinda at the shopping centre across the road from FC Porto’s stadium. We then try to navigate our way to the museum section of the stadium and eventually find it, after a very circuitous walk. I had read that tours of the stadium depart every hour on the hour, but had forgotten this detail. Fortunately, we checked in at 10:56 and promptly joined a tour.

We are led almost immediately onto the edge of the pitch, basically getting a player’s view of the spectacular stadium. After this we get to spend time in the President’s (club, not country) box, coach’s interview room and visitor’s change rooms, before Hamish gets to sit on the substitutes’ bench. The guide’s commentary is informative and the tour is a very enjoyable way to spend 50 minutes.

Hamish and I then grab a very quick (and cheap!) morning tea in the cafe before entering the Museum, which is also housed in the stadium. “Amazing” is not too strong a word to describe this museum. As you snake around one section after another it is hard to believe something so vast can fit somewhere within the bowels of this stadium, which is just perched in suburban Porto. It just seems to go on and on, like an almost infinite maze. Eventually, we have to abort and leave some sections for another day. We could have spent all afternoon happily reliving the history of Porto FC.

 

Our trip from Porto to Toledo would take approximately 6 hours, so we prepared a few rolls, sandwiches and snacks for the trip; saving us both money and time on the road. We’ve finally got our packing down to a fine art and Rod impresses all of us with finding a park at the front door of the apartment. It’s a miracle!

The trip was really quite smooth and I even did some driving! Boy, it’s stressful having everything in the car reversed and driving on the opposite side of the road. It was an interesting trip, over mountains, through small villages and forests. The landscape in Spain reminds us a little of Australia, complete with red dirt!

Day 1 Toledo

We arrived in Toledo, met our host, parked the car and walked up to our apartment. We have packed light for the three days, with one suitcase between the three of us. Our apartment is on the second floor in one of the main streets (small cobblestoned, single car width) and everything is in walking distance. We unpacked and headed out into the afternoon sun. It’s Saturday afternoon and the streets are loaded with people! I had no idea this was such a popular destination. Toledo was once the capital of Spain and it’s famous for the different religious groups who at one stage or another, were ensconced here.

 

It’s not difficult to find grand buildings: cathedrals, towers and more cathedrals. Yes, that’s not an error. There are many churches that may or may not at one stage over the last 1000 years been run by: Muslims, Jews or Christians. Each little street reveals new buildings, or shops and it’s lovely. We have an early dinner, by Spanish standards, of tapas and paella. We’re hungry and the food is delicious. We retire back to our cool-ish apartment where Rod and I watch the tennis (ATP Cup) – it’s the only thing in Spanish we understand.

  

Day 2 Toledo

Toledo sits up on a hill and was heavily fortified in the day. Our plan is to follow the battlements which still exist in excellent condition and cover approximately half of the city. It’s been down to -2 degrees overnight, so we’re rewarded by our late start with clear blue skies, sunshine and 8 degrees. To cut a long story short, we complete the walk and test poor Rod’s fear of heights with tower lookouts, steep stairs and ramparts.

Lunch is enjoyed in a tiny café which comprises of 4 tables with 4 low stools at each table. Two staff are on duty, one of whom is the cook and table cleaner – the other takes orders, handles the bills and organizes the drinks. They’re busy for the entire time we are there. The menu is interesting: Hamish has chicken schnitzel, chips and a fried egg (I eat his salad). Rod has the same, but with chorizo sausage. I order meatballs which comes served like a casserole with some vegetables. Sometimes the translations can be tricky, but we are all pleased with our lunches and nothing is left over. Hamish’s fit bit tells him he’s completed 12 000 steps. Now apparently this is supposed to be the target for kids in his age range, but he achieved them in 5 hours. He’s not afraid to admit he is tired, as we put him to bed tonight.

 

Day 3 Toledo

 Another late start today; it’s 10am when we wake up – Hamish is still sleeping soundly (we don’t know how Spanish children cope with the late nights!). We’ve had to change our plans today because we forgot some museums don’t open in Europe on Mondays – rookie error. We’ve found a multi-museum ticket which is a little out of the ordinary. The four museums included in this ticket, scattered around Toledo are:

• Catapults and Siege Machines
• Instruments of Torture
• Witchcraft
• Templar Knights

Like I said, they’re not particularly normal museum topics, but are super interesting and have excellent displays of magic potions, dehydrated hands, catapults, hideous torture artefacts, dungeons and the usual Knight stuff. Hamish is not keen on the torture museum so I let him play on my phone so as not to traumatize him. The Templar knight museum has no English translation, but we get the gist.

Midway between museums, we stop for sugary treats of churros and hot chocolate, and caramel stuffed giant churros (Hamish). I’m trying to mitigate the sugar intake and attitude of ‘well, we’re in Spain, when are we going to do this again’ with fresh fruit and vegetables at any given opportunity.

Another plan today was the Cheese Museum (and tastings), but after consulting our mapping apps a number of times, and walking the wrong way (a number of times), we find it. It’s closed. By now it’s about 3pm which is becoming our regular lunch time. We decide to have a bite to eat at a spot we found quite by accident yesterday, which has unrivalled views over the city. It’s a tough day sitting in the late afternoon sun drinking a beer. This fortune is not lost on any of us and we all comment on how lucky we are to be here, in Toledo Spain.