Picturesque Porto

A few weeks ago, while searching for a European destination for herself, our daughter, Jess, asked if we were going to Porto while in Portugal. When we told her we were, she commented, "It's stunning!" You are so very right, Jess. This city is vibrant and gorgeous. In parts, it reminds me of Paris, while in others, it is like Lisbon. Mainly, of course, it has its own unique character.

After a light breakfast at our guest house, we started our exploration of Porto. I had heard it was THE PLACE to shop in Portugal, so I was keen to see what was available on the main shopping street, Santa Caterina. It is a pedestrian mall for several blocks and I loved it! Bob was not as enthralled, although, as always, he enables my shopping addiction. After poking around several stores, I finally bought one thing - a simple summer dress for a mere 15 Euros, just to say I had purchased something here.

Igreja de Sto Ildefonso

Santa Caterina shopping

At the top of Santa Caterina, we were at the north end of our tourist map, so we made our way slowly south - and down - into the city, stopping at several sites along the way. Highlights included Igreja de Sto Ildefonso, a stunning church adorned on the outside with blue ceramic tiles; the Avanida dos Aliados, an expansive boulevard like the Champs Elysees in Paris; and the Estacio de Sao Bento, the train station which was built on the site of an earlier monastery. Its lobby is beautiful, decorated in tiled images.

Sao Bento Station

On the Avedida dos Aliados

Se

Descending a little lower into the city, we visited the Fernandine Wall, built in the 14th century, and the Se (Cathedral) with its rose window and tiled cloister. From the terrace beside it, we could see some spectacular views of the Douro River and Vila Nova de Gaia on the other side.

View from the Se terrace.

At the street market.

It was time to descend to the lowest part of the city by the river, the Ribeira quarter, which reminded me of Alfama in Lisbon with its old buildings and clothes hanging out windows. There was a street market today, so I indulged in more shopping before we crossed the bridge to the other side. I suppose we were no longer in Porto then, as the town on the south bank is called Vila Nova de Gaia. It is the home of several Port Lodges. We visited one, Calem, but we did not get a tour since there were no spaces left. We did sneak a taste of Port however.

Barcos Rabelos (boats for transporting port wine)  and Porto as seen from the south bank of the Douro

At this point, I declared that I was too tired to walk any further, so we took the funicular back to the top of the city, and went to our guest house for a brief rest before setting out at about 6:00 to see a few more sights. I really wanted to see the Livraria Lello, a bookstore I had heard was one of the most beautiful in the world. Everyone else in Porto had heard about it too, since there was quite a crowd streaming through its doors. It is as stunning as advertised but I wonder how many books actually get sold. It seems the great majority of visitors just go in and out again.

On the upper level of the bookstore

I still had an urge to shop. Porto is THE PLACE to shop for SHOES, I had learned by looking around this morning. The Portuguese manufacturers are in the North, apparently, so it seemed just plain wrong to leave Porto without a new pair of shoes. There were a couple of stores on Santa Catarina that had caught my eye in the morning, so we hurried back to one of them. There the saleswomen would not let me leave until I bought something. They could not speak English and I could not speak Portuguese, but we communicated very well in "shoe language". Their approach was not really high pressure but rather an effort to convince me that the right shoes were there for me somewhere. And they were!

There was a mall nearby, so we thought we would explore it. It had been a long day so we settled for a quick meal of pasta at the food court before returning to 6Only for the night.