Day 6, Porto

Today we woke up relatively early - especially when you take into account the amount of wine we drank last night - and ate the delicious breakfast that comes with our hotel. We walked around the area, doing some shopping on the way. I got a cute pair of pants and a top that were both extremely cheap. Matt had some bica - espresso, which we are having all of the time out here - while I perused the shops. We went down town and explored a couple of the older churches. One in particular was built in the 13th century and was absolutely amazing. The inside of the church was entirely covered in gold leaf, which was a little overwhelming. At one time Napolean used the church as a stable, but theyºve since returned it to its original glory.

After churching, we walked to the Ribiero - riverwalk region. We had some lunch, including chorizo sausage cooked right at our table on a little spit. Then we walked across the river Duoro on one of the town's six bridges to Villa Nova de Gaia, where all of the port places are. While port grapes are grown and crushed a hundred miles away in the Duoro Valley, the wines are all brought here immediately for the aging process to begin. Port wines can sit in warehouses in Villa Nova de Gaia for dozens and dozens of years. The oldest we tasted today was a 70 year old port, which was fantastic.

Matt and I came here intending to buy a bottle or two of young vintage port that we could lay down until our 25th wedding anniversary. It seemed like a sign when one of the 18 port makers in Villa Nova de Gaia was named Porto Vasconcellos. We bought two bottles of the most recent vintage - 2003, the year we met - and tried some of their non vintage ports. We are so excited to drink it someday.

We came back to relax and nurse our sunburns in our Baroque Suite. Apparently the nicest room in our very quirky hotel, it is actually three different rooms: a bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom. The rooms are dominated by heavy wooden furniture. Three wall length mirrors fill up one wall, and when you look closer, you realize they mask a huge armoire. Another giant dark wooden piece disguises a writing desk. Over our bed is something that looks like a gargoyle, but is actually a wooden carving of birds kissing. Aww. We also have a couple of really, really large chandeliers in the room. The tiny tv in the corner is very out of place. When we are able to post pictures, we will post one of the room.

Now we are off to dinner!