Tour of Portugal Day 1: Flying to Portugal and my holiday in Porto

This trip started like any other the early alarm clock , triple checking you got your passport and heading out into the world while everyone around you is tucked up in bed. A bus and train ride later and I was at Stansted airport. I only hand baggage and had checked in online so made my way to security clearance knowing once this was done I would be rewarded with a pint. Any traveller knows this is the worst bit of travelling and the quicker you can do this the better.

Stix Travel Tip

I always wear a cap going through airport security as I can usually take all the stuff out of my pockets like change and phone and put it in my cap. That way I can go through the scanner easily. I also recommend wearing boots or shoes that you can slip off easily in case they have to check your shoes. If you don't do this your the dickhead in front of me who only remembers to do this as soon as they get to the scanner bit of security. A word of warning I am going to moan alot about amateur travellers on these posts , you have been warned

After security I went to claim my reward of an early morning pint. There are only a few occassions where society accepts early morning drinking and I never pass up this oppurtunity to revel in this weird mish mash of drinking and airport ethics.

Pic of first pint , complete with extra fuzziness to emphasis early morning drinking

After drinking my pint I headed to the gate to board my flight. When I got to the gate I was awarded with the travelling phenomoenom that always makes me both sigh and chuckle. The spectacle of which I speak is the assholes queing for their flight at the gate.

Stix Travel Tip

Don't queue like an asshole , watch and laugh at the assholes (this is what seperates you from the simpletons). Another tip is if you are even slightly intereseted in current affairs, politics or economics grab a copy of the Economist.It is chock full of articles of various sizes that fulfil your travel time passing needs. From a quick read while waiting to board or immerse yourself in an article to pass time on the flight

After reading and watching this charade I joined the back of the queue and effortlessly found my alloted seat. After a two hour flight sitting next to a couple kissing and making that horrible sucking, kissing noise next to me I landed in Portugal and was greeted with this lovely ad.

An apocolyptic sign of what would happen this weekend , a lot of drinking and more succinctly a lot of drinking of my fav Portuguese beer “Super Bock” .
I should mention at this juncture that although the main reason for coming to Portugal was to play some shows. However I did leave a day earlier to have a holiday of sorts before doing any gigs.

I had an hour or so to kill before checking into my hotel so I took up some local advice (our singer is Portuguese and from Porto) and went to a place called "Taxca" for lunch. Being that I have been to Portugal a few times I already knew what I wanted . I wanted the classics and I wanted it now. So i ordered a Bifana ( a loosely chopped marinated pork steak that is put in a bread roll) , Caldo Verde ( traditional Portuguese soup made with potatoes and cabbage and garnished with some Chouriço) and a Super Bock.

After my lunch I proceeded to check in to my hotel.The hotel itself was very basic but cheap , there was no wifi or continental breakfast but i didn't care. I was only going to be their for one night so I could forgo my tech for one night and regress to a time when I didn't always have to look at my smart phone (that's a lie I used some roaming data cause I couldn't help myself).The reviews when booking hotels always make me chuckle as people dont seem to have a basic grasp of price and get what you pay for due to this they moan their balls off. This hotel lived up to the reviews as a good place that was centrally located where you could rest your head,watch a bit of telly and have a shower. Other reviews bemoaned the decor and all sorts of other meaningless crap. The price and amenities are clearly listed shut the fuck up !!! For all its basic and outdated decor it still had an awesome balcony to gaze up on the city.

Stix Travel Tip

When booking hotels and more succinctly if it is for a few days and you are going to use your laptop or smart phone. Take note of the wording the hotel uses. Look for the phrase “free wifi available in room” . Free wifi could mean it is only free in the lobby of the hotel and you have to pay for wifi in your room. Wifi available means you probably have to pay for it. If it is a city I am not to familiar with I also look for reviews that rave about the breakfast on offer. It is good to get some good grub in you before you start exploring a new city and a hotel thats supplies this can be just the ticket. Look out for phrases such as "ok breakfast" or "usual continential" this usually means some stale pastries, dodgy half ripe fruit bowl and some sad look ceral dispensers.

In Europe things kind of shut down between lunch and dinner so I decided to join them and have a nap.After my nap I went out again to go get some dinner. I deceided to order a dish that looked like it had come from Brazil , it consisted of some black beans, fries, rice and a some pork steak. It was a decent enough filler but not much to write home about. This was washed down with a glass of port, as I was in the city of Porto which is famous for its Port.

I then walked around the city for a bit and took some photos of some awesome sights and spots skateboarders had used (this is identified by the wax that is on the object, its silent salute to my international skateboard brothers).

This meduim of using tiles in their murals is a very Portuguese thing, you will see a few more of these types of murals

Following my eveng strol I had to go pick up a bass at a local rock n roll bar . I went to the bar called “Cave 45” and met with the owner to pick up the bass. He used to put on gigs in Porto a for a few years and put on a gig for two of the bands I had been in namely Blood Safari and Black Time. While we were having our first beer a German dude walked in looking for rock n roll so we told him to take a seat next to us. We spoke about the food we had consumed in Portugal (he was a chef),music and generally how it was cool to travel and meet new people. While I was at the bar I noticed an old poster advertising an old gig I played in Porto. This made me feel both old and awesome. Old cause it was from 10 years ago and awesome cause it was there.

Afterwards I went back to the hotel watched some rubbish telly and fell asleep.

Read the preface to my Portugal trip here ,
Preface
In this post I explain who I have been there a few times and the reasons why I have been there.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I meet up with the rest of the band and we play our first gig together in Coimbra.

Thanks for reading