An overnight trip away in Portugal--Porto
Good morning and a Happy Wednesday to you!
After our day out around Lisbon we returned to town and had a lovely fish dinner, and decided to explore more of the city--we did that the next day. (I don't want to bore you with too much Lisbon, so maybe I'll show those next time if you're interested). But we agreed with my friend to do an overnight trip, which wound up being loads of fun!
She came and picked us up early Friday morning, and we drove up to Porto. That is a very dramatically lovely city on the Douro river in the north of Portugal.
A glimpse of Porto from the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the Douro
The weather was so warm we could wander around in light sweaters, and we had lunch in the sunshine on the Ribeira side in shirtsleeves!
A view of the Dom Luis 1 bridge
The Ribeira side of the river, in Porto
A square near where we had lunch!
The buildings on the water
We then took the funicular (literally) uptown--here was an intermediate view point
Then we got to the top of the city
and looked down on everything!
We then walked around some more
The Santo Ildefonso church--the facade is amazing
The tile work is really stunning--all throughout Portugal that I have seen
An amazing abandoned old movie house
An ancient bookstore with a great facade
A view of the city
Remarkable church facades
Old streets
heading back uptown (again literally)
views of the city
The pillory on the old main square near the Cathedral and the old city walls
We wanted to access the old city walls, but were not sure how to gain access. My friend went into an official looking building to ask how to get there. We waited outside. A few moments later she popped out, hissing, "Say nothing. Come quietly." We followed her--into Police HQ! An officer led us down a corridor and through an old door out onto the city walls. He gave us 5 minutes to look around.
The view near the station
The view at the end of the access point
We returned and thanked the police officer who pointed the way to the bridge--we'd crossed over on the lower leve, now we crossed back on the upper level
A view down on one of the old neighborhoods, half in ruins
Hanging out laundry
Further over the bridge, another view down
A view back toward where we'd come from--see the old city walls on the right at the top?
Descending down through abandoned houses and old old streets--the view up
It was a remarkable day, and we finished by trying some port on the other side of the river at Sandeman's. Delicious!
Once again I'm sorry to say I'll only be able to post sporadically: we just signed another contract, so it's back to the client site full time next week, and lots of travel coming up yet again.
Have a great day!
After our day out around Lisbon we returned to town and had a lovely fish dinner, and decided to explore more of the city--we did that the next day. (I don't want to bore you with too much Lisbon, so maybe I'll show those next time if you're interested). But we agreed with my friend to do an overnight trip, which wound up being loads of fun!
She came and picked us up early Friday morning, and we drove up to Porto. That is a very dramatically lovely city on the Douro river in the north of Portugal.
A glimpse of Porto from the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the Douro
The weather was so warm we could wander around in light sweaters, and we had lunch in the sunshine on the Ribeira side in shirtsleeves!
A view of the Dom Luis 1 bridge
The Ribeira side of the river, in Porto
A square near where we had lunch!
The buildings on the water
We then took the funicular (literally) uptown--here was an intermediate view point
Then we got to the top of the city
and looked down on everything!
We then walked around some more
The Santo Ildefonso church--the facade is amazing
The tile work is really stunning--all throughout Portugal that I have seen
An amazing abandoned old movie house
An ancient bookstore with a great facade
A view of the city
Remarkable church facades
Old streets
heading back uptown (again literally)
views of the city
The pillory on the old main square near the Cathedral and the old city walls
We wanted to access the old city walls, but were not sure how to gain access. My friend went into an official looking building to ask how to get there. We waited outside. A few moments later she popped out, hissing, "Say nothing. Come quietly." We followed her--into Police HQ! An officer led us down a corridor and through an old door out onto the city walls. He gave us 5 minutes to look around.
The view near the station
The view at the end of the access point
We returned and thanked the police officer who pointed the way to the bridge--we'd crossed over on the lower leve, now we crossed back on the upper level
A view down on one of the old neighborhoods, half in ruins
Hanging out laundry
Further over the bridge, another view down
A view back toward where we'd come from--see the old city walls on the right at the top?
Descending down through abandoned houses and old old streets--the view up
It was a remarkable day, and we finished by trying some port on the other side of the river at Sandeman's. Delicious!
Once again I'm sorry to say I'll only be able to post sporadically: we just signed another contract, so it's back to the client site full time next week, and lots of travel coming up yet again.
Have a great day!