A Port Day
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Porto,
Portugal
Thursday, August 10, 2006
We all agreed in the beginning that we really didn't like port. But being in Porto and offered a free tour and tasting, how could we not partake? So like the troopers we were, Allison, Alexis, and I set out for Taylors one early morning to do our Porto duty. And after an hour of wandering up and down the same hill, lost, we finally arrived. By that time we were so thristy that we would have drunk anything. The first port poured for us was a white port that we were told could be made into a long drink called Chip Chip if we just added soda water and lemon. Giggling and all a bit wary, we each took our sip. Alexis was the first to speak. "Oh my God! That's F---king good!" And witht that, we kicked off our Port Day. It was fabulous! The tour was short and we got to take pictures in front of these absolutely gigantor kegs...and we learned a lot too. Then we got to taste vintage ruby port. And we discovered that we all actually like port! Amazing! We immediately raced down to the waterfront where Alexis had seen another sign for free tastings. This place gave us eight glasses... and crackers! This day just kept getting better and better. It was there that we had the greatest idea of them all. Why not extend our Port day into a Port night too?! Let's make Chip Chip!!! It was brilliant and we looked at each other with slightly glazed eyes, so proud that we had come up with such a marvelous plan. The only problem being that the port we had already drunk was putting us to sleep. So that afternoon, having tasted our way through a combined sixteen tester glasses of port, we then sipped coffee at a cafe on the waterfront and watched boats and people go by. Thus revived, we collected our ingrediants, subsituting soda water for 7up, and headed back to the hostel to claim some hammocks. But the hammocks were all taken, so we had to settle for a tree stump. It was a little hard and a little sharp at times, but after we finished a bottle we weren't feeling it too bad. Alexis was sent out for another bottle and the night continued with lots of laughing, relationship horror stories, and picture taking. Drinking port in Porto...
