Friday 13 September
Porto - looking around
We had a free day with nothing planned, so we had a latish start after breakfast. I was keen to see Rua Passos Manuel,
the shopping street with all the interesting shops, so we walked through the back streets to get a feel for what life is like for people who live there.
Mostly apartment living or narrow houses rising about 4 storeys and very narrow streets. Jumbled up shops at street level.
Flash dress shops, dairy type shops selling all sorts, tiny shops selling papers (a bit dubious about what else they sell!) men hanging around having deep arm waving debates, shops selling kitchenware, dusty closed shops with dusty window displays, wine shops selling a good range of spirits and wines, ports, etc., and bakery shops with gorgeous tempting displays of cakes and pastries, especially the little custard tarts (can't remember what they are called!).
Closer to the city centre we came across the church of St Ildefonso, which dates back to 1793. It is set nicely up steps and has been decorated in beautiful white and blue tiles which depict scenes from the bible. I read that there were 11,000 tiles and are dated
33/11/1932 with the signature of Jorge Colaco.
Many of the churches in Porto are decorated this way, and inside the church,
again it was peaceful, cool and rich in beautiful pictures and gilt covered statues.
Down onto the street again and our trusty map/app pointed the way to the shopping area and we passed a large open door which said 'market', so we entered the door,
and on the inside was a vast area of stalls on the ground floor and more around the mezzanine floor we entered on.
How exciting! Lots of vegetable stalls down one side and clothing and 'manchester' on the other. We went down the steps to the ground floor and were amazed at the number of stalls,
fresh fish, meat/butchers,
fruit, spices/dried beans,
And no pattern to it, I wondered how you would know which stall holder had the best stuff. But I guess if you shopped regularly you would have your favourites.
So we dragged ourselves away and headed off to check out Rua Passos Manuel. This is quite an upmarket area, the shops look prosperous, some of the big name internationals are there, I looked in Zara's as they have lovely clothes at reasonable prices, a check coat beautifully made caught my eye, so I tried on the biggest one they had, of course it was too small, what was I thinking! I should know by now that European women are much smaller than me!
So back in the street again, buskers, stalls of leather goods, jewellery, cafes,
and drugs....... I saw two guys greeting each other and one slipped a tinny into the other guys pocket with knowing looks.... Not only that but on our walk David was approached by some guy offering him a suspicious packet - which he refused of course! We ended up at the interesting little shop we had seen from the bus and it was like an Aladin's Cave,
full of pottery, glass wear, tiles in all shapes and sizes, we spent some time deciding what to buy and ended up with something sensible that didn't weigh too much so that we could take it home in our suitcases!
We headed up hill to the Cathedral, a bit of a challenge finding our way through these little streets, it looks easy from the top of a bus. Asked our way to make sure and fortunately most Portugese speak a little English and it wasn't far away.
Wikipedia: "The Porto Cathedral (Portuguese: Sé do Porto), located in the historical centre of the city of Porto, Portugal, is one of the city's oldest monuments and one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal.
The current Cathedral of Porto underwent construction around 1110 under the patronage of Bishop Hugo and was completed in the 13th century, but there is evidence that the city has been a bishopric seat since the Suevi domination in the 5th-6th centuries.
Around 1333 the Gothic funerary chapel of João Gordo was added. João was a Knight Hospitaller who worked for King Dinis I. His tomb is decorated with his recumbent figure and reliefs of the Apostles. Also from the Gothic period is the elegant cloister, built between the 14th and the 15th centuries during the reign of King John I, who married English Princess Philippa of Lancaster in Porto Cathedral in 1387."
As we stood admiring the view a group of music students from the University were approaching all the tourists for donations to go towards their trip to Spain. These were no ordinary Uni students, they had a uniform more suited to cold weather, all black suits with a big black cape, which they all wore with aplomb, they looked really good.
So we gave them whatever change we had in exchange for them taking a photo of us! The cathedral was quite impressive, huge inside with great columns and gilded alter, as you would expect.
From there we walked over the St Luis bridge to Gaia Quay
and took the gondola down to the riverside - two free tastings of Port were included in the fare, so we headed up to another cellar, this time it was 'Ferodos', just a little walk up the alleyway parallel with the street. After a nice little tempter we decided to find a restaurant overlooking the river,
which we did and had a nice lunch, I had a beef sandwich and David had a a shrimp omelette,
just something small - until they brought the starters of course and they were too tempting to refuse, this time they included nice dips and spreads!
After lunch we wandered further up the quay to the end where they had a small ship building yard,
they were in the process of building a couple of the flat tourist boats that sail up and down each day. Just a couple of men sanding and sawing - protective clothing is unheard of in Portugal, even the street workers with their heavy machinery don't wear anything other that shirts and trousers, maybe a helmet or two!
So back up in the gondola, across the bridge and uphill to our hotel, we may not quite have taken the shortest route, but we found it!
A few hours rest, a nice glass of Port, a bit of a wash and brush up and out for our last night in Porto. It was a lovely warm evening and we were both feeling good, so we headed down to the square. We didn't see any restaurants we fancied, inspite of checking out 'Trip Adviser' on the iPhone, but saw a very flash looking place half way down the square called Guarany,
it already had quite a few people sitting inside, so we stopped and looked at the menu - well it was our last night, so we were shown to our seats by the majordomo dressed in a tuxedo! Not sure if David's shorts and shirt cut it, but I guess I must have looked ok! The waiter came to our table in white 'dress uniform' and spoke perfect English. He explained the menu to us, we went for the chefs recommendation of steak, frites and ratatouille. We asked for a Sangria to start with and then we would see what wine we would like after that. He was quick with the usual starters, and brought two huge (really huge) glasses of sangria,
the best, full of frozen berries, a cinnamon stick and a cherry. I had never seen anything like it, so of course it lasted the whole meal. The steak was tender and delicious, and we were certainly full after our meal. Deserts? No, I never have deserts, but I could look at the menu. Well, ok something very light, a pancake, they called it "Grand Marnier flambé crepe", I asked for some whipped cream to go with it - I thought it may be nicer with a little cream! The waiter raised his eyebrows, but said "certainly madam". So here they come pushing a trolley with two plates with a 'crepe' on each, not put on just anyhow but with the round edge turned down slightly to show the name of the restaurant on the plate. Two small jugs with brandy in and a flame thrower!! And so the show began.
It was fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it, jug of brandy lit with the flame and poured over the crepe. It was very alcoholic, especially after a 'pint' of sangria, and the whipped cream was a great choice, our waiter even came over to ask if madam would like more cream!!
He did ask us to stay and enjoy the music, the restaurant was now quite full and the Cuban quartet had just started warming up. However, enough is enough!
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