Porto, Portugal — Chris Moore

On June 6, 2022, we set off for a 3.5 week trip back to Europe. The destinations this time were Portugal and Spain. Follow along!

Monday, June 6: Cincinnati to Boston to Amsterdam

Flight schedules being what they are, we had a 6am flight to Boston. I booked a van to pick us up at 4:15am and drop us off at the airport. Way too early!

We had a super long layover (nine hours!) in Boston so we hopped in a Lyft and went Downtown. Katharine and I got engaged here so we dragged the kids to see a little family history.

Children beside a brick building in Boston

Family outside a historic Boston building

Family in front of a colorful Boston mural

Children outside the Massachusetts State House

Children beside a monument and open lawn

We grabbed some lunch in the North End and headed back to the airport. We zipped through security and spent a couple hours in the Air France lounge before the flight to Amsterdam.

Father and daughter seated on an overnight flight — Somewhere over the Atlantic in the middle of the night.

Tuesday, June 7: Amsterdam to Porto

We had another layover in Amsterdam so we killed some time at a closed Burger King. We had some chocolate and waited.

Children resting beside luggage in a café — Ady making the chairs work at 7:30am

The flight from Amsterdam to Porto was only a couple hours but we were all pretty exhausted. We rented a van from a place offsite from the airport, so I hopped in the shuttle first to get things moving with the paperwork. The fam caught the next bus and we loaded the van. Our Airbnb was only about 15 minutes away in a small town called Árvore north of the airport.

We were met by the host, Maria. She was super nice and showed us the whole place. She also left us some Pastel de Nata and port wine. I enjoyed both of them.

We hopped in the super cold pool and made a quick beach trip to try to keep everyone awake until 9pm or so. We barely made it!

Traveling Moore family message written in the sand

Footprints on a broad beach beneath clouds

Wednesday, June 8: Duoro Valley

We hopped in the car and set off to explore the Duoro Valley. This is the region where the grapes for the port wine are grown. It's beautiful. I highly recommend the drive.

River winding between vineyard-covered hills

Road following the river through the valley

White buildings beside a small bridge in the valley

When we got back home, I took a walk along the beach at night. Our place was on the Camino de Santiago hiking trail. Now I want to walk the whole thing!

Boardwalk leading toward coastal lights at night

Beach and distant lights beneath an evening sky

Thursday, June 9: Porto

We drove in to the center of Porto and parked the car on the street. From there, we took a little walking tour and explored a bit of the city center. The kids were most excited to visit the "most beautiful McDonalds in the world". We checked out the Livraria Lello bookstore which was apparently the inspiration for Hogwarts.

Buildings lining a sunny square in Porto

Narrow Porto street lined with stone buildings

Long cobbled street between tall buildings

Ornate bookstore interior with a curved staircase

Bicycle parked beneath a painted face mural

Friday, June 10: Chilling out in Àrvore

No outings planned today. We just relaxed at the house, did some work, and went back to the beach. I got some great pictures of the Portugal sunset from the walking trail.

Pink and orange clouds above the sea at sunset

Saturday, June 11: Guimarães and Braga

Another little road trip to explore some cities in Northern Portugal.

Fountain and landscaped steps at a hillside sanctuary

Children standing between enormous boulders

Large Braga letters in front of a church

That's it for Porto. Next week we'll drive to Seville, Spain and spend a few days in the heat.