Return to Portugal

A city of cathedrals

Porto from the river.

An amazing wine shop/bar.

It's time for Portugal again. Our dog has improved. My godfather's health is improving. And now I'm ready to return to O Porto, albeit only in memory and in pictures.

For those of you who lost the thread of that journey, on our fall trip to Galicia my husband and I went with friends Terri and David to the old city of Porto, for three days and two nights. Porto is like an aging beauty queen: Despite the make-up and glittery clothing of main streets and the wharf side cafes and shops, you can see the "wrinkles" on back streets. But Porto has an air of grandeur, of lost days of glory still sparkling on tiled walls and statues, on the gleaming waters of the Rio Douro where boats bob on rippling water and reflections of colorful buildings on the far bank shimmer below on the wet surface. Just writing about it brings it all back. You can see why:

A city of statues.

The wharf-side

A back street.

The far bank.

You can scroll back to read the earlier post about our first day there and where we stayed. And also the fabulous restaurant where we ate: O Forno (which means "the oven"). Also, in the earlier post you can see the lovely tile work of our hotel and the wonderful garden grounds.

The second morning, when we headed out to sightsee, we noticed a school across the street, and several young girls were crowded at the window, waving at us. Then the teacher must have told them to sit down, because a moment after the picture below, they all vanished.

On our way to the wharf, we passed the wine shop you see above, at the beginning of this post, and again below. The owner is from Brazil. The shop was absolutely tiny, with a small bar that would seat four at most, and the shelves were lined with every kind of bottle of wine you could imagine. We stopped by on the way back and enjoyed a glass of port. I am not really a port drinker, but it was good to try. After all, Portugal is the inventor of port.

Rajan photographing the wineshop.

School of curious girls.

On our way up the river.

Once we got to the wharf, we could not resist the call of the river. So we boarded a boat for an hour-long river cruise.













And what wonderful sights we did see! Below are just a few samples.

Leaving the wharf.

I love the woods behind buildings.

A hidden castle in those woods.

So much color!

Awesome bridge for sure.

 For every one of these, we have oodles more. It was a splendid sight up and down the river.

A truly grand view.

Two rather interesting boats, we thought.
   







With the wind rippling against our faces and the smell of freshness surrounding us, once we returned to land, we were hungry. So we ate at a charming little restaurant with great atmosphere at the wharf—its name eludes me, alas.

The restaurant.

Our server.

The atmosphere.

 And then we walked around the city some more, before going home. Later, of course, we ventured out to eat a late supper. And then the next morning we left so that we would have time to stop in the city of Tui on the Spanish side of the Rio Minho (Portuguese) or Rio Miño (Spanish). Tui, in Spain, is an old castle town with a huge cathedral, and is across the river from Valença, an old fortress town in Portugal. But that will have to be for another day.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed this little (and limited) trip to Portugal.