Porto City Walk

We decided to do one of the Porto city walks recommended in Rick Steves' Portugal book, so we headed over to our nearest Metro stop, Casa de Musica, about 1/2 mile from our apartment. We're out on the edge of town in the Boavista area, so we changed trains once at Trindade, and reached our destination at Sao Bento train station. The Upper Porto walk started not far from there.
We walked down Avenida dos Aliados, past Liberty Square, where the statue of King Pedro IV, a hero in the 1832 Civil War, resides. We saw the Imperial McDonald's, one of the fanciest McDonald's in Europe. We saw buildings with a variety of tile colors, and an outdoor arts and crafts market in a little square. We stopped at Padaria Ribeiro for a pastry and coffee. We walked past the University of Porto, and watched for students in black robes, known as "bats".

Colorful tiles on the apartment buildings surrounding a market square

Statue of King Pedro IV

It's hard to see, but there's a guy on the top floor lowering a bucket full of tiles or
concrete to the guy on the truck bed. No elevator in this old building, I guess.

We toured the Carmo Church and monastery, which was once inhabited by friars, and to the left of it the Carmelite church and convent, with a house in between them, known as the world's narrowest house. One curiosity was a nook where you could see the back of a kneeling statue of Jesus, and could touch his foot. I tried to get a good photo, but it's hard to see.

There's a short door in between the two churches,
which is the entry to the world's narrowest house.

The foot of Jesus, seen from the back, in the narrow house

The statue of Jesus carrying the cross, from the front, in the Carmo church

Statue of the body of Jesus lying down in a lighted casket, below His mother.
We saw these in several churches.

A wax leg on the altar

There is a secret passage behind this tiled wall. I guess the hinge might be a giveaway.

A display of ornate vestments in glass cases, and in the middle,
enclosed conveyances to transport high ranking priests, which would be carried by servants.

The Porto trolley

We went to the Lello bookstore, said to have inspired J.K. Rowling's description of Hogwarts. We had to buy tickets for 5 euros at a shop nearby, where we could store our backpacks, and where they had a replica of the Platform 9-3/4 sign, and a shopping cart with appropriate Harry Potter ephemera set up. I posed for a picture there.

Off to Hogwarts 

Then, we stood in line to get into the store. The wait wasn't long, and the store was a marvel, so we were glad we'd done it. And, if you purchase anything, your 5 euro entry fee is credited toward the purchase. I think there are so many lookie-loos taking photos, who d0n't buy anything, that the entry fee brings some money into the wonderful store. Afterward, we got gelato at the shop next door. No need to be hungry during our wanderings.

Notice all of the busts of the authors denoting the section where their works are displayed

A nook devoted to Harry Potter books

Luckily, gelato shops are always nearby

Next we visited the Clerigos church, where a wedding was going on. I guess people in downtown Porto, in historic churches, must be accustomed to having tourists wander through their private events.

Clerigos Tower

Our last stop was the Misericordia Church and Museum, since the 16th century a charitable organization in Porto. We toured both, and enjoyed the artistic display of coffeepots, turned into various little sculptures.
































We ended up eating dinner at McDonald's, an embarrassing, but convenient stop on our way back to the Metro. Though the location was quite elegant, the food was no better or worse than at home.





That evening Nancy, Gail and I went to a classical concert at the Casa de Musica. It was a Schubert Mass, which included a chorale. The concert hall isn't very big, so every seat had a good view. We had great seats, and enjoyed the music.

We enjoyed the concert, but the guy in the picture is saying,
 Dang, I thought you said it was Guys and Dolls.

Pinhao to Porto

One more great breakfast at our hotel, and we were picked up by a cab to deliver us to the train station. Fransisco had arranged the pick-up with one of the cabbies at the train station when we bought the tickets yesterday.

One last view of the Douro River from the hills

When we arrived at the station, I thought I'd better verify that the tickets were good for today. Sure enough, the agent yesterday had issued the tickets for the next train leaving yesterday. Luckily, it was the same agent today, so he kindly adjusted our tickets for the appropriate train. I should have noticed this yesterday, but he seemed to understand what I was asking for, so I didn't think about it. The crisis was averted anyway, and we would soon be on our way.

While we waited, some of us picked up sandwiches at nearby shops to eat on the train. I had an espresso while my sandwich was being made, and talked to another customer about the lottery ticket he had just bought. The tickets cost 5 euros each he said, but the prize was millions of euros. He thought I should get one too!

The station building was decorated with beautiful tiles, all around. Nearby, there were huge round-topped storage buildings, I imagine for wine.

Huge round-topped wine storage cisterns

The train station in Pinhao

The train ride took a few hours, and then we caught the metro to the stop nearest our apartment. From there we walked the rest of the way.

Nancy, Pam and Gail headed off to the grocery store, Pingo Doce, a grocery chain in Portugal, with an empty wheeled suitcase (or 2?) to bring substantial food back, since we were now in residence here for 7 more days.

Dinner was frozen pizza and salad.

Touring the Douro - Day 3

After a great breakfast at the hotel, Francisco met us there, and we walked a block to the Origem Museum of Olive Oil. We had an informative tour of the olive oil and wine-producing facility, full of old machinery and equipment used in both products. Nothing is actually made there anymore because of the environmental impact to their small community. We got to taste both the olive oil and a few different wines (at 10:30 in the morning), and also to enjoy the amazing view from the terrace. It was even better than our little hotel down just one block. It was warm and sunny again today, but only got up into the high 70s, instead of the 80s, like yesterday.

View of the Douro River and valley from the Origem Museum of Olive Oil

Grinding wheel used in wine production, I think!

Woven mats used in the pressing of olives to get the oil

An old grape harvesting basket hangs on the wall

Signs in different languages. The English one says:
Gluten free, dairy free, fat free, I love this wine diet!

From there we started our hike, back past the hotel, and out of the village. On the way out we saw a woman with a basket of vegetables on her head, chatting with another woman at her gate. We were impressed by the balancing act we saw, but she'd probably been doing it all her life!






We stopped at a cork tree, and Francisco explained the production of cork in Portugal, one of the world's top producers. You won't find any plastic corks used here! The bark from the cork trees is cut off when it's thick enough, and corks are cut out with a cylindrical cutter. The bark grows back, taking about 10 years, and then can be harvested again.







We hiked through the vineyards for quite a while, either on gravel or dirt roads, or between the vines. We saw crews harvesting the grapes, and it turned out that today was their last day of harvesting after 28 days of constant work. They all seemed to be cheerful in spite of that, and in spite of the warm sunshine they were working in.










We stopped at Quinta do Bomfim for our picnic lunch, and this time helped Francisco set the table. The same caterer as yesterday had prepared the lunch, but today we had 3 bottles of white wine to go with it. Once again, we all enjoyed it.









Then, we headed into the tasting room and had more wine.

We had a bit more walking to do to get to our last winery, Quinta da Roeda, and tasted more great wine there.




This area is peppered with wineries, and I'm sure we're visiting the best of them with this tour. Yes, it's hard to judge one great wine against another!




Francisco drove us to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow's departure, and then delivered us back to the hotel. We had enjoyed the two days with him, and the day with Sandro and Antonio too.

One of the big wineries in the area, Quinta das Carvalhas, across the river near the town of Pinhao

Our great guide, Francisco, with 4 of the 5 in our group

Then, back at the hotel for one last dangling of our feet in the icy pool. Our walk was only 5k, but our feet were tired! We've met so many different people here each night, and all are having a great time, once they find this place! It seems the mapping programs aren't always directing them to the right place, so some arrive pretty frazzled. One British woman chastised her husband for describing the roads around here as, "these bloody country lanes!" I assured her that we weren't offended since "bloody" isn't a swear word in America!
Dinner was soup, salad and roast beef with roasted potatoes, and we brought some of our leftover wine to drink with it, instead of buying it from the hotel. Dessert was another good cake. The main course and dessert are always served around the table by a staff member, and though they sometimes bring out another platter of the main course, the cake always seems to feed everyone equally. I think there have been either 14 or 16 at dinner each night.
Tonight the hotel manager gave us a tour of some of the private family rooms of this 17th century manor house-turned-hotel. My favorite part is the small chapel adjoining the office or study. We were told the statue is 400 years old.

Little chapel in a closet in the study at our hotel

Touring the Douro - Day 2

We were picked up this morning at our hotel by a taxi, taking us to meet our guide for 2 days, Francisco. The skies were blue, and the temperature reached the low 80s by afternoon. We walked through vineyards above the Douro River, visited Sandeman winery, and had a great picnic lunch out among the vines.

Our guide, Francisco, along with Janet, Nancy and Pam

On the Sandeman winery tour

Francisco had set up a picnic, provided by a caterer, in a little shady area at the edge of the vineyard. We had a rose, white wine and port with our lunch. We had a few salads, along with a meat tart, bread and cheese. For dessert, a walnut tart and grapes. It was all delicious. And, the table was set with three different wine glasses, and a water glass, at each place. For a picnic!

Lunch out along the vines at Sandeman winery

I took the wrong stone stairway up to the little building with the bathrooms, and found myself 15 feet above the ground, facing a row of grapevines. Rather than turn around, and go back down the stairs (with no railings on either side) I inched my way along a ledge, holding on to the wires supporting the vines, until I reached a place I could get through. My judgement may have been impaired by the wine tasting earlier at Sandeman, and the 2 glasses of wine I'd already had with lunch. Whatever the reason, this was the closest I came to death on the trip.

After lunch Francisco drove us down to Pinhao to catch a sightseeing boat for a trip up the river and back. From the boat, he pointed out his vineyard, Casa da Quinta das Tecedeiras, and told us about the history of the area, and of his family. We all felt that we'd seen the best of the river this way, and were glad we weren't on a week-long cruise, going by lots of less scenic areas.

Lots of these little day tour boats go up and down the Douro

Back at our little hotel, we tried, for the second time, to swim in the pool. Nancy got all the way in, but the rest of us ended up just dangling our feet in the icy water.

The view from the pool at our hotel

Dinner at the big dining room table was fun again, with lots of interesting conversation. Our meal was a different creamed vegetable soup, salad, and a turkey or chicken filled pastry. Another great cake for dessert - maybe tiramisu this time.