The weather had unexpectedly changed to be a lot nicer than anticipated so I headed out into the sunny skies for a final day of exploration. I walked down the hill to the now familiar Rua de Flores and decided to check out the other restaurant owned by the Hungry Biker, appropriately named the Floresta Cafe.

I took a seat outside, enjoying the nearby performance of men’s troupe robustly singing and strumming their guitars. I already knew what I wanted to eat after perusing their menu online – brioche French toast with fresh seasonal fruit in a pistachio sauce. It was even better than expected and something I was already jealous I could probably never have again. The bread was light and fluffy; the various fruits nice and juicy; and all covered in this wondrous pistachio sauce which had just the right amount of sweetness.

For a change of pace, I had read about a popular microbrewery that wasn’t too far from where I was, so up the hill I went until I arrived at MUSA. I had read it had a nice view of the river from its elevated perch and that was indeed the case.

After sampling a few of their more creative beers, including one I really liked but at 9% was not advisable for the day ahead, I settled on their apparently award winning Twist and Stout. It was a very flavorful stout with nice coffee and chocolate notes. It was just what I needed and only 6%. An older American couple came in while I was chatting with the manager who was from Brazil originally and the woman ordered the 9% stout in a pint. I was pretty sure she didn’t see what the ABV was, and I silently wished her good luck.

I made my way down the steep narrow roads until it finally flattened out on the river bank, which was teeming with people enjoying the nice weather.

This time I crossed the bridge to go back to Gaia and explore more of it while it was light out. One thing that was already different, besides now throngs of people walking about, were the gondolas crossing the sky above me.

I made my way over to my main destination, the House of Sandeman, which had always been a favorite of my dad. Its very distinctive character logo of a mysterious man in a cape and hat was created in the late 1940s to reflect the combination of their spirit lines of sherry (Spanish sombrero) and their ports (the Portuguese cape.)

I chatted a bit with the manager who was from Toronto but had moved to Porto because of his girlfriend. James told me the company, after being dumped by Seagram’s, had recently been acquired by a Portuguese consortium, proud to be once again owned by locals. I decided I had enough port so after buying some gifts, I said my goodbyes and continued my wandering.

I was pretty tired from all of my walking so I was relieved when I found this complex which featured a small screening room where one could select from various short programs about the Douro region. Using it initially just as a way to sit down for a bit, I actually found myself really enjoying the various shorts, especially one that featured silent footage of the process of getting the port barrels up and down the then treacherous river. It was truly backbreaking work involving the unique low line boats and teams of oxen to push against the current when coming back from Porto.

After that, I decided to head up to the 360 Lounge which truly lived up to its name. It was entirely outdoors with a great soundtrack so I pulled up to a coach overlooking everything and ordered a not so great red wine. It was fairly windy trout so the warming of the wine helped with my chills.

The setting sun made my shivers all worth it, with the sky turning golden as it set. Shortly thereafter, they said the lounge was now closed. That was fine as my tolerance for the cold had come to an end. I took an Uber and headed back across the river for my final dinner in Porto.

Walking home from Mito the other night, I had noticed a very striking looking spot called By the Wine and had made note of it as a possible last dinner choice. I had actually gotten there a bit early and was one of the first guests there. They had a pretty extensive list of wines by the glass and ended up selecting another one from the same Alentejo region I had last night. This was a reserva that reminded me a lot of a Malbec.

I decided to do my usual 2 starters instead of a main and first selected their octopus carpaccio. I hadn’t had something like this since Colombia and their version was quite delicious. The briny octopus had been thinly sliced with salt and lemon with nicely diced tomatoes in the middle with some red onion.

The other starter was a no brainer for me – veal croquettes. I first thought the sauce was aioli but was actually a mix of mayonnaise and mustard. It was perfect to cut through the rich croquettes with some needed tang.

None of the desserts were appealing enough so I paid up and walked back into the cold, making my way home for the final time. Tomorrow would be the last leg of my trip with a train back to Lisbon. My time in Portugal was quickly coming to an end.