Porto Day 15
Up at 4:30. Nasty cough persists. Down to our new breakfast bar at Hotel Dom Henrique early, expecting an empty dining area. We were surprised to find that, although this hotel is twice the size of our hotel in Madrid. It’s breakfast area is half as large and at 7:45 (operates 7:30 to 10:00) it is already crowded. Because of its reduced space, arrows are placed around the serving area but I observed no one paid any attention to them which resulted in much confusion. The cacophony of so many excited people conversing, many at the top of the voices, unnerved us.
Fortunately, we discovered that we could, as Jenny puts it, “Dine al fresco.” Other patrons had not yet discovered the available outdoor seating. We took advantage of it. The morning air was cool, but it was a serene place shutting out the noise and allowing visitors a view of the city and the airplay of the larks and sea birds. We shared our secluded spot with a Danish tourist who also wished to escape the hubbub.
A little concerned about our tour today. Yesterday we saw four street tours, each one larger than the last. One group snaked down the street with 40+ members. Hardly an intimate group. We met our tour guide in the lobby at 9:30 with trepidation.
Shouldn’t have been concerned. Our young guide, Theresa, who met us at our hotel, informed us that it was to be a private tour. It would be just us and her. Theresa was a lovely lady who had dreamed of going into print journalism just when print journalism began falling apart. She got a job as a script writer but then Covid came along. When the Covid epidemic waned, she became a tour guide.
After she explained the general route we would take, we struck out for the Rua Galerias Paris - the most popular street in Porto – crowded day and night. She pointed out buildings along the way, among them the Majestic Café touted as being one of the top 10 most beautiful cafes in the world. The Livraria Lello, known as the Harry Potter Bookstore with the marvelous red art-nouveau staircase, the Clerigos Catholic Church with its 75-meter high bell tower.
We saw the forbidding-looking Edifício-sede da Caixa Geral de Depósitos no Porto, once a bank headquarters, now a premier art gallery with rotating exhibitions. We saw the Igreja do Carmo and its curious melding of a nunnery and a monastery side by side with a slim (3’ wide) caretaker living-quarters separating the them. However, outside of the River Douro, the highlight of the tour was the Bento Train Station. Inside, visitors are surrounded by three running historical themed tile murals, one on top of the other, floor to the ceiling. They consist of 20,000 azulejos tiles and tell of Portugal’s heritage from Roman times through Medieval times and beyond. This incredible project took over 11 years to complete and is considered one of the top tourist sites in all of Europe.
As we traipsed about, we saw numerous buskers: guitarists, an accordion player, a saxophonist, several duets and a trio. We passed a huge and haunting picture named “Persentico” but known as the Big Blue Cat – street art painted in an alley that measures 10 meters wide and 18 meters high. We strolled past street artists and eaily a hundred tourist stalls. Among the latter were several selling cork products of every type, shape and size. If you were not aware (I wasn’t) Portugal exports 33% of the world’s cork, more than any other country.
To get to these tourist stalls located along the Douro River, we had to descend one of the many steep hills (frighteningly steep at times) found in Porto. It was at the top of one of these that we got our first clear view of the river and several of the seven bridges crossing over to the thriving city of Gaia where numerous Port wineries attract visitors for tastings.
Along the river, Theresa said goodbye to us as she had overstayed a half hour longer than she should have and had to get to choir practice. Before leaving she pointed out her favorite restaurant where we had feasted on tuna dishes while sitting beside the riverbank. Afterward we walked back to one of the bridges and made our way across to Gaia.
The lower level of the bridge we were on allowed for pedestrians but only in a claustrophobic manner. The center vehicle portion was being worked on but covered paths on either side of the bridge allowed for foot traffic - one side heading for Gaia - one side heading away from it. It is a huge bridge and these are loooong, tedious, crowded passages. Once on the other side we marched through another long line of tourist booths hawking the same wares that were available on the Porto side. Bought a bird whistle from one and a bottle-opener from another. We continued on a mile and a half – uphill - to the Churchill Winery.
Here we had a lovely Port tasting. The tasting began with a recitation of the company history, an explanation of the wine making process (Yes, foot-stomping the grapes is still a part of it – no lie). We were then given a tour of their facility, the great casks, the storage rooms stuffed with hundreds of barrels, the darkened room containing thousands of bottles representing vintages as old as 25 years and valued upwards of 125 Euros, Finally we arrived at the tasting room. There we sampled a white port, a tawny port and a ruby port. Because we showed interest we were given an extra sample followed by gifted samples by another couple in our group, among them, a premium 10-year old vintage. Oh, my did we leave happy.
Took a cable car back to the bridge and along the way saw a fleet of traditional Rabelo wine cask transporting boats on the river and a magnificent view of Porto beyond. The couple with whom we shared the car had driven down from Belgium in a 100+ car cavalcade. The things you learn talking to strangers.
By now we were seriously dragging. Had to have walked more than ten miles today and we were still a little loopy from our tasting. Made our way across Porto’s hills to a restaurant near our hotel. So tired I don’t even remember the name, nor what the dishes were called only that it involved fish and was as always delicious. To bed now.
Boa Noite.
I am posting a selection of the thousands of pictures we took on Facebook. Look me up there and see what we saw!