Day 9: October 9

I didn’t have time to read about this place in advance, and as we walked, we kept wondering — where did these “cells” come from? Whose handiwork is this — nature’s or people’s? Volchiy didn’t believe my theory about people — he said it was too strange a place for a settlement and that no one would build a dwelling like this.

There is very little information about this place on the internet. But as it turned out, people really had nothing to do with it. Once, it was all one rock with such
cave-like cavities inside it. And then, for some reason, the rock split into two halves, revealing these “cells” to us. I’m glad we decided to stop by here.

Next on our itinerary was the seaside town of Costa Nova. It turned out to have a very beautiful coastline, with snow-white sand and small sandy dunes. Seeing how rough the ocean was, we realized that we wouldn’t be swimming here. So we took everything we needed for a picnic (burritos, as always :) and went for a walk along the ocean.

After lunch we go for a walk to the ocean. Up close, the waves are even bigger and more frightening.
I really like it here. It smells like the ocean. Such openness. The sun. Warmth. I don’t want to leave. But there’s still the road to Porto ahead and returning our car.. We have to go.

We arrived in Porto quite late in the evening. The city suddenly feels bad. After the vastness of the ocean, it seems there’s nothing to breathe here. Chaos of cars and people. We circled for a long time around the block where our accommodation is located. The roads are arranged very strangely, and we just couldn’t get close enough to park, check in, and leave our things.

Eventually we found parking 500 meters from the house.
We’re staying in very beautiful, stylish apartments. In an old house that has been completely renovated. There’s a magnificent wooden staircase here. But we were so tired after those half an hour of driving around the city that we still don’t have the energy to enjoy our place.

We quickly check in and go to return the car. On the way we stop at a gas station. We already really want to get rid of the car as soon as possible — driving around the city is murderous.

We arrive at the car drop-off point, everything is fine. They take us by shuttle bus to the airport. There, at the very last second, we jump onto the metro that takes us to the city center. Phew. We can breathe спокойно. Relax and start enjoying being in the city. (by the way, we were lucky they didn’t check our tickets; later we realized we had bought the pass incorrectly :)

We walk through evening Porto, already dark. Seagulls circle and cry in the sky. They’re everywhere here. There are a lot of abandoned houses in the city center — that’s the first thing that catches the eye. We wander around the center. In the light of the street lamps, you can’t really make out much.

We come out onto a little street with cafés. I had prepared a couple of places where they make Porto’s traditional dish — francesinha. In one restaurant they told us all the tables were taken and we’d have to wait at least 40 minutes, so we chose another place.

Francesinha is a kind of hot sandwich. Between two slices of toasted bread there is a meat filling made of beef steak, sausage, and ham. All of this is covered with cheese and put in the oven. Then the sandwich is generously drenched in sauce. They say the sauce is what makes all the difference. I was a little worried that Volchiy wouldn’t be able to eat something like that, with the soggy bread and all. So on that first evening we ordered one sandwich for the two of us.
It turned out to be very tasty indeed. Volchiy liked it so much that the next day he suggested buying two sandwiches :)