11 June - Edinburgh to Porto and back again

Just back from a long weekend in Porto with some Scottish friends (David and Barbara).  Great little city for a short break.  Did lots of walking up and back down cobbled streets.

Overall impression - poorer than Andalusia.  But lots of building works going on.  Were told that a lot of the vacant flats (of which there were a fair few) in the centre were due to covid.  A lot of owners in the older age group died during covid and their families, who inherited their places, cannot currently afford to renovate/ update them.  Hence the places are slowly becoming derelict.  Also there is a shortage of housing due to a lot of foreigners buying up cheap property - looking at you Britain - where a large number have second homes.

Lots of tourists and some places only wanted cash payment for meals etc which we haven't come across for a while.  Nearly had to find an ATM as never thought we'd need a lot of cash.

People were very friendly and spoke more English than in Andalusia.  Also had a good sense of humour - quite nutty.  Probably a bit less intense than the Spanish - at least the ones in Andalusia.  Food was delicious - tried their octopus and some type of Portuguese sausage - bit like a chorizo.  There are pastries everywhere.  Stephen had a good go at sampling much of this at the hotel breakfast.  Lots of Portuguese tarts of course but also other pastries/cakes; similar to what you'd find in France. And many chocolate shops.  Also their coffee was really really good.

Had a dish one night at a local restaurant which was translated as "Bacon from Heaven".  It was in the dessert section of the menu.  It was a Middle Eastern style almond cake.  It was very nice.  The waiter looked like he was sick of explaining to English speaking patrons that there was no bacon in the dessert.  Someone messed up with google translate.  Had lunch another day in a cafe that also had Middle Eastern food - again delicious.

Did a tour and tasting at Sandeman, one of the Port Houses in Gaia, which is actually another town to the south of Porto across the Douro River.  To back track; we first walked through the old city to an area called Ribeira  and from there walked across their most famous bridge - the Dom Luis 1 Bridge (built by a pupil of Mr Eiffel) to Gaia.  The bridge is impressive.  A tram goes across it and you can walk on both the lower and upper deck.  We did both in the end.  Is very scenic along the riverside on both sides of the river.  Some photos of this area are below and of the bridge.

From the Riberia side.

Shot of the Duoro River.  It's quite broad and port barrels used to be floated down it on boats from the Gaia side.

The bridge from the Gaia side.  It's impressive for a little city.  There are 6 bridges that cross the river but this is the bestest one.

Back to the Sandeman tour.  Porto is of course known for its... port so a tour seemed appropriate.  The Sandeman business was started by a.. Scotsman in the late 1700's. We saw lots of barrels and vaults where port wine has been cellaring for some 200 years.  Pleased to hear the business is owned by a Portuguese family and not some overseas based hedge fund.

The tour guide was delightful.  He wore this Zorro like cape and flamenco hat which he told us was not based on the Hollywood Zorro.  Sandeman has a figure of a man wearing this cape and hat as part of their marketing/brand.  The black cape is worn by University students in Portugal ( we did actually see this in the street, so not just a story for the tourists) and the hat is a nod to Sandeman using grapes from Jerez in Spain.

The tour ended of course with a tasting of 3 different ports - a white, ruby and tawny port.  Liked them all.  Felt very relaxed afterwards. Below are some photos we took during the tour and one of me attempting to look like a Bond villain in a big black chair.

 

There are still some of the traditional boats (called Rabelo) bobbing on the river.  They used to transport the port barrels 100km's upriver from where the grapes are grown.  Was a bit hair raising at times.  The port is now moved in large steel containers by road.  More efficient but not quite as romantic.

Lots of cafes and restaurants on both sides of the river.  Also visited this largish place on the riverside which for some reason had an organ and violin concert going on and while listening you could buy cheese, some sort of fish cake and port.  The room had books along its walls and these 2 lace staircases.  It was quite strange.  The organ was from the 19th century and was unusual as the sound came through horns not pipes.  Anyway we stood and listened for a bit.  I assume it was an old port house and is now  selling food to tourists while listening to music. 

After listening to the organ and violin, we caught the Gaia cable car, which does not cross the river but transports you up high to the top part essentially of the Dom Luis 1 Bridge.  Provided more great views of Porto plus it started raining so saved a drenching.

Porto has lots of churches.  We visited the Sao Francisco or Gold Church which is just big and grey and forbidding on the outside but engulfed in gold inside.  You can also check out their catacombs which were built in the mid 1700's.  It was similar to Spanish churches - lots of wooden figures (read somewhere some of the wood was brought back from Brazil when it was a Portuguese colony) and gold everywhere.  Couldn't take photos inside the church.  And it is no longer a church -now just a National Monument.  The Church dates from when the Franciscan monks reached Porto so around 1230's but no doubt been much remodeling since then.  It's essentially Gothic architecture now. The statues in the church were quite graphic with stab wounds, blood, and even some chopped off heads of some Franciscan monks who had attempted to convert the Moors in Morocco.  The religious conversion plan obviously did not go well.

The catacombs were eerie as I guess catacombs are.  Banks of coffins with a skull on top of each column.  Below are some photos of the outside of the once was a Church, a typical religious wooden statue that I took in the museum (there is also a museum) and of the catacombs.  

  

We also went to Porto Cathedral - here is my usual imposing Church photo making it look like the building is rearing up. I do tend sometimes to make these buildings look a bit scary.

We also saw the outside of the Chapel of Souls which is decorated with these stunning blue tiles.

And 2 churches built side by side, separated by a very narrow house - only 1 meter wide.  The churches are the Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas.  We could go inside one for free.  Not sure why.  It's covered in gold (again).  One of them has these lovely blue tiles down one outside wall. They look pale as often the tiles on public buildings are covered in a protective white gauze.

Heard a guide saying that the very narrow house was used as a secret meeting place when the French had invaded (under Napoleon).  There were other stories about the house being built to separate the nuns and monks.  Most likely it was built to just stop there being a tiny gap there.

Saw more lovely blue tiles (it's a thing in Porto) at the Sao Bento train station.

Saw the Clerigos Tower with its accompanying Church.  The tower is 75 meters tall and sits on one of the many high points.  Didn't climb it - 240 steps  - as Porto is full of lookouts and didn't feel like needed to walk that many steps to get another sight of Porto.  Porto (and Gaia) are essentially 2 towns both on steep slopes that run down to the river.  So it's very hilly with plenty of look out spots.

Here is the Tower  (it's a nice baroque era tower - getting a bit blasé here) and some of the many photos we took of Porto from on high.

There were also some very nice shopping strips, chocolates shops and bottle shops with lots of port (and other wine) to buy. I included a photo below of a gigantic wine shop Stephen disappeared into.  Found the wine very reasonably priced.  Food price was variable.  Oh yes there were also these gorgeous sardine shops dotted everywhere.  The little containers were lovely and bright looking.  Pity I don't like the taste of sardines.  I included a couple of colourful photos from a sardine house we visited.

There is also a fair amount of graffiti and buildings that need some work.  The buildings often have lace balconies like in Spain, some with the beautiful blue and white tiles on the buildings' front.  There also seems some French influence in the architecture.  Given the  French invasion at one stage and 'merger' with Spain at another time; should be no surprise.  Some still quite grand buildings (like the Town Hall below) and statues celebrating their past as an Empire.  The statue below is of Prince Henry the Navigator who was largely responsible for Portugal conquering various places in the 15th century.  Also known for introducing the slave trade to Portugal. (As it went in those days).  Didn't realise or had forgotten that Portugal had an Empire for nearly 600 years.  There is to this day, a grouping of countries that were part of this Empire, similar to the Commonwealth countries. 

Also a number of South Americans seem to  live in Porto - a lot of coffee beans from South America, so no surprise that coffee was very good. And Jacaranda trees in many places, which given Brazil was a colony, again no surprise.

Had a peek inside at some famous bookshop called Livraria Lello - built in early 1900's.  It has a stunning interior with a staircase leading to a second floor and it has painted plaster imitating wood. Managed a quick snap at the front door but it has been "Harry Pottered".  Apparently JK Rowling based something on this bookshop.  She must have done a lot of travelling while writing her Harry Potter books, given the number of places that lay claim to a Harry Potter link.  The queue to the bookshop was enormous so decided instead to opt for a quick peek inside when the security guard was absent; no doubt off locating a wand or something.

Our hotel had an amazing view over the city and out to the Atlantic Ocean, from their rooftop bar.  We saw the sun set slowly over the Atlantic on our last night while sipping on some port.