10 October 2022 - Porto

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 2,143

Good news for all those with short attention spans.  I have less words and more pictures for you today.

We were up early, showered and breakfasted in time to catch the 9:15 bus into the city.  This dropped us just to the south of the famous double decker Louis I Bridge so we walked along the top tier which is a full 60 metres above the river.  It was a bit drizzly which showed the buildings up in more pastel shades.

First stop was the "Se" or Cathedral.

We paid the €3 each entrance fee as much to get out of the damp as anything but it was very much worth it.  The building attached to the main Cathedral was once a monastry.  These were the central cloisters.

We have seen these traditional hand painted blue and white tiles everywhere today.

A set of stairs takes you up to a walkway above the cloisters.

A further steep staircase takes you up one of the towers from which you get fantastic views across the city's rooftops.

This the ceiling decoration in one of the monastry's side chapels

A lot of the clergy's robes are on display.

Together with some seriously over the top crowns, sceptres and other religeous niknaks.

The Cathedral itself is a fairly drab affair with very little decoration... apart from the knave.

The opulence here is just astounding.

The Bishop's Palace is next door to the Se.  It's reckoned to be incredibly decorative inside but it had stopped raining by then so we decided to move along.

We strolled past the impressive looking train station and also the Praca da Liberdade, which, together with the surrounding area, is just a big building site at the moment so we hastened on.  

At the top of the Avenue dos Aliados is the Camara Municipal i.e. the Town Hall.

I commented how it had stopped raining.  I should have kept my mouth shut because within 5 minutes it was starting to batter down properly so we headed into the Mercado do Bolhao.

Admittedly this place is very much tourist orientated these days but we did make a few interesting finds.  Lisa bought a couple of dried samples from the mushroom stall.

Herbs and spices are traditionally a forte of the market.

Olives galour.

Candied Fruit.

Ceramic tableware.

We moved on to the Igreja dos Clerigos and its adjoining tower.

The Livraria Lello bookshop is reckoned to be a must see with its ornate staircases and decor.  JK Rowling supposedly took inspiration from it when writing the Harry Potter series.  There was a massive queue though so we didn't bother.  If this is what it's like on a Monday morning in mid October, imagine what it's like at more popular times!

The Lion Fountain in front of the Igreja do Carmo.

Inflatable Moon in the entrance to the University Buildings.

I was fascinated by these trees in the Jardim da Cordoaria, which appeared to have been chopped off 10 feet above the ground and resprouted.

We made our way down some impossibly steep streets towards the river, where we had lunch in a cafe.

These trams only run for tourists nowadays.  The modern ones are much bigger.

We walked back towards the bridge along the Ribeira waterfront with its myriad of different coloured buildings.

The bridge from below.  We walked back across to the south bank via the lower walkway.

Looking north across the river.

This shop was called "Can".  It sold nothing but tinned fish in an over the top fairground environment.  There were cans dated with every year going back to 1945.  I assume you were supposed to buy one based on the year of your birth rather than it actually containing 77 year old sardines.

Of course no visit to Porto is complete without sampling some Port.  We shunned the larger (and more expensive) operations like Graham's and Sandeman's, opting instead for a small family run operation in a back alley called Augusto's.

They still pick all their grapes by hand and tread them by foot in the traditional way.  They only produce about 60,000 bottles a year which is equivalent to the daily production of some of the big boys.  I learnt a lot and enjoyed the 4 different ports we sampled but I resisted the temptation to buy.

Finally we made our way back to the upper level via cable car, which gave us yet another alternative view of the city.

All in all a cracking good day!

11 October 2022 - Aveiro