First day was actually travel. We left home around 9AM, got to Rennes Airport at midday, took off at 2:50PM and landed at 3:45PM. The flight was cool and very quick, we were on the ground minutes after I noticed we'd left the sea behing us. Nice final approach through thick cloud layers at low altitude.

Our first glance to Porto was through the metro's windows. Outside the weather was quite hotter than we'd expected and we were soaking wet by the time we made it to the hotel. We still managed to take a quick look to the Praça da Liberdade before following the rua Bonjardim to our hotel. We stayed at a cheap hotel with a view on the Praça do Marquês. We had a snack at Trindade, bought a couple of water bottles and biscuits, and went back to the hotel.

The second day was a Porto day; we'd planned to discover the historic center of the city by ourselves and spent most the morning sweating along the old paved streets. The São Bento train station's azulejos are quite amazing and were our first introduction to one of Porto's most famous aspects.

The contrast between five star hotels and lower-class building just a few blocks away is noticeable. Not a few buildings are abandonned or needing some serious renovation, although the historic part of the city − not to mention the Ribeira − tends to put a lot of work on keeping the streets authentic.

Narrow streets behind the Ribeira and São Nicolau are a tiny but enjoyable maze of small, nicely shaded paved alleys where we sought some fresh air out the blasting sun on the Rio Douro's banks. We'd planned to take launch on the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal but were still quite far by midday, so we turned to a higher place on the Jardim Municipal do Horto das Virtudes to eat sandwiches.

We spent the rest of the day wandering back and forth between Trindade, rua das Carmelitas, São Bento and finally do Marquês. We had no choice but to coil back to the hotel around 5PM to take a shower and change, before paying a little visit the Igreja da Senhora da Conceição that lies 50 yards away from the hotel. That night we had quite some fun watching the second half of a portuguese-subtitled Tropic Thunder.

Day 3 was a discovery of the inner Portugal, even though we spent more time in the train than on we spent visiting Pinhão. The first half of the journey is pretty tasteless since you're just traversing valleys without any remarkable landscape. But after passing Pala, you're now travelling along the Rio Douro, sometimes with a railway barely a few feet from the water with oustanding views on the other side of the river.

Pinhão itself is not much of a venture place. With only two squared-miles and about 650 people there's not much to do if you're not interested in wine tasting. The Douro's banks are actually high hills covered with vines from famous Porto trademarks. The river generates a nice and cool wind, most welcomed to take some time to enjoy the view after launch.

Unexpectedly, the most interesting part of Pinhão is the train station, which show a set of breath-taking azulejos. Not much of a surprise, the main common theme is winemaking, with various scenes of the surroundings and prts of the winemaking process, essentially grape picking. Journey back was a good time to catch some sleep, especially because unlike in the morning we managed to find seats to seat on.

Last day in Porto! Time to take a second look to the city and push a little westward to the sea. Morning comes as usually with the amazing portuguese coffee while writing postcards before visiting some new streets we had left undiscovered two days ago. Third time to the Livraria Lello & Irmão, rua do Infante Dom Henrique, rua das Flores… And after a quick launch near Trindade, metro A to Matosinhos.

Matosinhos is not the better part of Porto unless you're there to work on your tan or catch some waves; it looks a bit like La Baule or Saint-Jean de Mont, which are not places we particularly enjoy. Good thing though, the City Park is really close and is a very nice place with a few ponds, eucalyptus groves and old stone buildings and ruins.

The Pavilhão Da Água seemed to be a fun place to visit, but was closed when came, so we spent a couple of hours walking along the pathways, staring at ducks, swans or frogs as well as the flow of landing low-cost Boeing 737 before heading back to the hotel to take some refreshment.

For that last evening we took a metro to Vila Nova de Gaia to see at least once what Porto looks like from the opposite side of the Rio Douro. When picturing what this trip would look like, we imagined we would see quite a few palm trees, but Jardim do Morro on the south bank of the Douro was actually the first and only time we saw one. The view on the Ribeira from the heights of Vila Nova de Gaia is amazing, particularly at sunset in my opinion. The light is just perfect.

The biggest surprise in Porto was the streets cleanliness, or more precisely the absence of it, as some streets could not be walked without stepping in dog feces every few steps; but strangely enough they're wasn't that much dogs out in the street, no more than cats. The only place we saw a good number of them was again in Vila Nova de Gaia.

After a last meal not far from São Bento train station we set off for our hotel to pack our things, stopping here and there to try to catch some night shots of buildings along the Avenida dos Aliados, without much success. Good bye Porto, we may have to come back in a cooler season to visit some of the numerous things we've missed!