"So we're all rooting for America, right, mates?"

That's me in Porto in late November 2022, standing at the bar at Adega Sports Bar and talking to about 50 English guys. USA vs. England was coming up at the World Cup and the whole front of the place was already chirping about it.

They answered as one: "Fuck off."

It was friendly. Only the English can do that.

I'll get back to them. We did other things in Porto too, and not all of them got this stupid.

We went to Livraria Lello, the famous bookshop. Late November in Porto is chilly and slow, which is why we go. You get a seat, you get time, and nobody's rushing you out the door.

Lello didn't get the memo. The line was long, in November. Skip it. Buy a timed ticket online and watch everyone get irritated when you walk right up to the door and get let in.

We loved it, and it's worth it. It's amazing inside, and you can buy little books as a keepsake. I got Selected Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Your ticket price comes off the book, so you're halfway there already.

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Clérigos Tower is close by. Alicia climbed to the top. I'm scared of heights, so I waited for her on the street. I'm told you could see a sweeping sea of orange-tiled rooftops, that it was magical, and that it was well worth the climb.

From the sidewalk, it's a tower.

Mostly we did what we always do, which is nothing, on purpose. We wandered. We got coffee and watched people. We had a glass of wine.

We had an early dinner at Orpheu, a tapas and cocktail place, and we both had tinned fish for the first time: sardines in olive oil with salt, pepper and rosemary. We loved it. Fifteen-plus years in restaurants each, and that's when we find out. We also got their house burrata and some charcuterie.

Tinned fish turns out to be a big deal here. Portugal has been canning sardines since the 1850s, and right after World War II the town next door, Matosinhos, had more than 50 fish factories.

We drank a couple glasses of São Luiz, a white made by Kopke, the local port house. Yes, the port people make white wine. It comes from their Douro estate, Quinta de São Luiz, and it's bright and citrusy, which is what you want with fish packed in oil. It cuts right through.

Back to the bar, and back to my new friends.

I kept joking. They started chanting "Taylor Swift sucks" at me and Alicia, over and over. I gave them a big laugh, because I didn't care.

Then the bartender came out and told all 50 of them to shut up. We were there to have a good time too, she said, so stop bothering us. She thought she was rescuing us. She'd missed the part where I started it. Alicia and I laughed even harder. The Brits knew, and then we were all laughing together.

(Two years later Taylor Swift played eight nights at Wembley, a record for a solo artist. Eight. At Wembley. I'd like that noted.)

We headed to the back, where the American fans were, and watched closely as it ended 0-0. If you don't follow soccer, that's a tie. It's also a big one for us. That made three World Cup meetings with England, and they still hadn't beaten us.

So naturally we walked straight back up front to the same guys, and I started taking the piss.

They looked at me. "You're seriously this happy about a tie?"

"A tie? This is like 1776 all over again!"

I wasn't done. "This would be like a team of English coming over and tying an NFL team. Never happening!"

Everybody had a good laugh, and we walked out.

We were beat. We wandered back to the hotel, two Americans thrilled about a game where nobody scored.

Three nights later we were on the same street at Gulden Draak, sharing a table with five strangers for Portugal vs. Uruguay. Nobody chanted "Taylor Swift sucks" at us. We'd like to think word got around.

What we’re drinking this week:

Tinta Roriz. If the name's new to you, you've probably had it anyway. It's the same grape as Tempranillo, the star of Spain's Rioja. In Portugal's Douro it goes by Tinta Roriz, and it's one of the main grapes in port. It also makes dry reds on its own or in a blend. Where to find it? Try your local wine shop and ask for a Douro red. Cheers!

See you at the table,

Brian & Alicia

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