In Porto...

No cycling this weekend, too cold. I'd been away, in Porto, and returned home fairly late on Friday night so I didn't go on Saturday. Sunday was freezing cold and Andy wasn't going, he had to go out somewhere and while I faffed around pretending I had real intentions of going out, I didn't. Instead I drove the car and its occupants (me, my wife and daughter) to the Bluewater shopping centre, or mall, and after lunch in John Lewis, I found a Starbucks and finished off my book, Triggers, by Glen Matlock. I went to Waterstones and bought two books, one on cycling around the coast of the UK, the other a Japanese novel. I'm reading a lot at the moment and there are other books on the list in my head.

A tram in Porto

On Thursday and Friday I was in Porto in Northern Portugal attending my company's annual conference. Each year we travel en masse to somewhere in Europe. One year we went as far as Marrakech. It's always good and we all get to hear about the company, how it's performing and so forth, all crucial stuff, and it's an opportunity to mix with fellow members of staff on a more social basis than during the rest of the year when we're all working and doing our own thing.

We took off from Gatwick airport around 1100hrs last Thursday morning. We flew TAP, the Portugese national airline. Both flights were good and roughly two hours in duration. There was a shortish coach ride to the hotel, the Avenue, where I was staying in room 108. It was a pleasant room with a decent shower and a comfortable bed. I was on the first floor, which was good as it meant I could avoid the lift and take the stairs.

Statue in Porto

The hotel breakfast on the Friday morning was excellent and dinner the night before in the restaurant (Badio Gold) was great too and the atmosphere was, to say the least, lively. There was plenty of food on offer too, served on platters. I left around 2230hrs and walked back to the hotel with a colleague. Porto is a nice place but it is also a little edgy in places. No problems were encountered.

We had to leave for the airport at 1530hrs and I'm glad I gave up drinking nearly seven years ago.It meant that I slept well and was up with the lark and down for breakfast early. We hit the streets early too, around 0900hrs, probably earlier, and headed down to the Douro, the river that runs through Porto. There were steep descents and ascents and we were on the move most of the time, covering 6.57 miles in what turned out to be a huge circle around the city. We stopped off a couple of times at a cafe for tea and cake and then at a restaurant for lunch and then we made our way back to the hotel via another hotel across the street from our own. We took the lift to the 19th floor and from the gym took what amounted to aerial photographs of the city that surrounded us.

The Douro river, Porto

Once back at the airport I joined colleagues for a cup of tea and a chat and then we all flew home, arriving back in the UK around 2030hrs. I took the train to East Croydon and jumped a cab home and then spent the weekend chilling out. I wish I'd taken a ride on the bike, but it was so cold I couldn't face it. Hopefully next week things will have warmed up.

Aerial view of Porto

Room 108, the Avenue Hotel, Porto