Oporto

Or as most people call it, Porto as in the famous porto that they grow in the region (or port as we call it in SA, but do not ask them for port, they won't understand you!)
As we had only one day, we decided to make use of the hop on hop off bus.  Fortunately one of the stops was on the square in front of the hotel.
While waiting for the bus we could admire the beautiful theatre building being renovated.  You find the extremes in Portugal, from old buildings in a very good condition to complete ruins.  But in general I found Portugal a clean country, well maintained and far less grafiti than in France or in Spain!

Porto is situated on various levels, being quite steep (as it was a Roman city I was wondering whether it was a case of the current city was just built over old ruins over centuries...).  The heart of the old town is small enough to cover by foot, but you'll feel it on the legs!  In the photo below we came driving down a hill in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the front you can see all the various porto houses and on the other side of the Douro the old town of Porto.  The port in Vila Nova de Gaia was established as a result of a dispute over shipping tolls with the bishop of Oporto.  In 1253 the dispute was resolved when both parties agreed to share the levies.  While some small producers do all the production processes in the Douro Valley, Vila Nova de Gaia is the centre of port production (until 1987 it was the only place where port could be produced).  The alleys are lined with port houses where port is blended and aged.

Below:  the old town, the river bank is lined with little restaurants and cafés

Below: the old city wall, just above the houses to the left is a funicular line to assist the people with easier access in town.  It is super, we've used it the evening, didn't cost a fortunate and save us a very steep hill! And on the top we weren't far from the hotel

The bus trip included a boat cruise to see the different bridges along the Douro, the iron bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel (jip, the guy of the Eiffel tower in Paris) and opened in 1886.

Below: some of the ruins you can see along the river. It is such a pity, as I think living there one can have a stunning view. But then, it is so steep and difficult to get there, I cannot imagine buying a month's groceries and getting it there!

I really liked Porto and would love to go back, spending more time.  Do not be bluffed by the beautiful blue sky - we were happy for the sunshine but it was cold enough that we had to wear our coats!

You see the tiles everywhere on buildings

A feature along one of the streets:

More tiles:

Porto has some beautiful buildings

It was quite tricky to catch a photo of the old tram still taking people through the heart of the old town, here it arrives on the square in front of the hotel

Below:  if I think of Portugal in the future, I will think of their decorative pavements.  We saw this in every town and village and it is beautiful, with different patterns

Below: their town hall, built in a style (the tower) that you'll find in Northern France

Above and below:  a beautiful old church, the Igreja do Carno. It is a good example of Portugese baroque architecture, constructed between 1750-1768. 

And once again, some open space

Below: Porto's landmark, the Torre des Clérigos, with the church attached to it (the white building).  It was built in the 18th century and at 75m, the tower is still one of the tallest buildings in Porto.

You see such a mix of architectures and interesting gems as you drive around

Above and below:  these were the richer areas and made me think of Hatfield in the old days before mansions were converted into embassies.  Unfortunately the one below, right on the ocean with only a street in between, needs renovations, like many other beautiful old houses along that road

The big sandy beach is further to the north, but they have really made it beautiful for people to walk or cycle

And all along the river you'll find people catching fish. We ate a lot of fish in Portugal, especially cod and grilled sardines - it was excellent!

Above: the old tram museum, but unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit.
Below: time to visit the port area and drink some port!

We ate a light lunch (ham,cheese, bread and port) in Sandeman's little café. Sandeman is a well-know port and the 10-year old one we had was very good.  And helped against the cold! Portugal is a complete soccer crazy nation and inside the café you could see these shirts from different teams.

According to the bus tour it included a port tasting.  When we got off the bus we've asked the driver which house it is, and he directed us to Croft.  Getting there, following the streets all leading to various port houses (above), we were told all their tastings and tours are free. I wasn't impressed with the bus company and we had to wait for an English tour as the French one has already commenced and the next tour was in Portugese.  Fortunately we could do the tasting before the tour, not that we can recommend Croft. The Sandeman was much better!

All along the river you'll find these old boats with barrels, each one carrying the name of a port house

Likewise the poles all along the river each carry a name of a port house

Above: Another port house where you can do a tasting, but we were in a hurry to get back as it was getting quite cold

Below: I was quite sorry we didn't have time to visit the monastery on the hill.  It now houses a war museum and as you can see, covers quite a huge area.  Next time...

I took this photo from the funicular, while going up

On our walk down to the old town for dinner, we pass the Sao Bento Station to admire the spectacular azulejos.  The building was completed in 1916, hard to think a country could complete such works while countries not far from them were tied up in a horrific war.

Below: and another chicken!

Above: in our region you'll find champagne shops, in Porto you find port shops!

Below: we were a bit early for the restaurant so decided to visit this place to taste some porto.  The owner really knows his port and our visit turned out to be the highlight of our visit to Porto.

And even they have tiles on the wall!

JL chose the tasting of 5 ruby ports and I chose 3 tawny's. (from left to right ruby 1, 3 and 4 are good, the best on the left, all 3 tawnys were good, especially 1 and 2 - if you want to find it in the future). However, it turned out that very good port can cost even more than a big name champagne!  The most expensive was more than 50€! And the one tawny 30€, at least some were around 9€. But I was really surprised at the prices.

Ready to taste... And obviously we both tasted all 8! Needless to say we didn't empty the glasses and asked for more water. 

The street next to the hotel. You'll find these paved streets everywhere in the old towns in Portugal. 

And more tiles:

The view from the Sé, one of Porto's cathedrals. To the right is the station building

Below: the Sé, built as a fortress church in the 12th and 13th-centuries the cathedral has been modified since then

The towers are the only remainders from the 13th century

The cathedral and former bishop's palace (below, typic of buildings you'll see in Portugal) links with each other in front of a open square from where you have a wonderful view over the town.

The pillar on the square is in a typical Portugese style

Unfortunately the morning was very foggy, but if you enlarge the photo below you'll see a staircase, there are quite a few of these in Porto, a necessity in such a steep town!

You can see the small porto boats lined up.

On top of Eiffel's bridge is a tramline, you can see the monastery to the left (I must be honest, there are so many cathedrals and churches in Porto, I do not know where they got all the people from to fill them in the old days!)

We were fortunate, the orange harvest is due now, so everywhere we've seen orange trees full of oranges, like these ones along the city wall

I've started on the square in front of the hotel, so I'll finish there too.  this is another church also with beautiful tile work