Porto
Sunday, June 2nd
We left Santiago and our beautiful hotel around 11am to
begin our three-hour drive to Porto, Portugal where we will spend four nights. We
arrived in Porto, parked the car, grabbed lunch and then checked in to our
AirBnB. Our apartment,
which is absolutely the best one to date, is in the old part of Porto with no
vehicle access. Further, Porto is an extremely hilly city on the banks of the
Douro River, so transporting our luggage from the car to the apartment involved
several blocks of walking uphill and then, while this unit had an elevator, it
could only be accessed after walking up a long flight of stairs. By the time I
have managed to get all the bags from the car, up the street, up the stairs,
into the elevator and, finally, in our apartment, I am exhausted. Gee, this is
fun!
But our location is terrific. We are in Sao Domingo Square.
Directly below our balcony are several restaurants and cafes and we have easy
access to the river front. And the apartment is clean, bright, and well
equipped (except no washing machine and after seven days on the Camino, we are
badly in need of doing laundry).
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| The scene from our balcony in Porto |
After unpacking our stuff, we head outside for a walk down to
the river. Eventually, we take the bridge across to the other side where all of
the wineries that make port (this is Porto after all) have their tasting rooms.
We walk the length of it and eventually end up at Graham’s where we have an
excellent tasting. This place is high up on a hill with excellent views of the
Douro and the city. We note that Graham’s also has a lovely restaurant to which
we will return later in the week.
Dinner that night is at one of the restaurants directly
below our apartment and it is excellent. We are in bed by 11pm. Our first
impressions of Porto are very good.
The next morning, we drive west to where the Douro meets the
Atlantic Ocean and take a long walk along the coastline. The beaches are long
and beautiful. We enjoy lunch at a restaurant on the beach and then head back
to Porto. Late that afternoon, I have a board meeting with Presidio Graduate
School that I join by phone. It’s a long meeting – five hours – after which, we
head down to one of the other restaurants at the foot of our apartment for a
late dinner.
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| Fort of San Francisco Xavier |
The next day, we took in several of the tourist sites in
Porto including Torre dos Clérigos, Igreja de Santo António dos Congregados, Igreja
de Nossa Senhora da Vitória, Igreja dos Terceiros de São Francisco and then
over to the Porto Cathedral, which was closed this day for a funeral. Finally,
we arrived at the Palácio da Bolsa where we had signed up for an afternoon
tour.
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| Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória |
The Bolsa Palace was completed in 1850. It was the stock
exchange building where the business community met. It is a gorgeous building
with unique architectural elements paying tribute to many other countries in
Europe including one designed in the exotic Moorish style. The building is a
reminder of Portugal’s history as a nation of explorers and traders.
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| The Bolsa Palace |
That night we returned to the south side of the Douro where
we had dinner at Graham’s – a multi-course, chef’s selection complete with wine
pairings. It didn’t disappoint and the views of the city at night were
spectacular.
The next day, Wednesday, Jun 5th, began with
breakfast at the Majestic Café. It is a beautiful old building (built in 1921)
and a great place for breakfast when in Porto. From there we headed to the
Porto Cathedral, as it was closed the day before. Along the way, we stopped at Igreja
de Santo Ildefonso, another beautiful church with blue tiles in the façade. The
Porto Cathedral, simply known as Sé Catedral, sits
up on a hill and it is large and beautiful.
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| Igreja de Santo Ildefonso |
After the Cathedral, we walked across the top tier of the
Luis I Bridge. This bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, the same guy who
designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris) was completed in 1886 and, at that time,
was the longest of its type in the world. The top deck is 280 ft above the
Douro River and, today, is only open to foot traffic and the metro. Liz, who
suffers from a fear of heights, wasn’t exactly sure she could handle the walk
(two football fields in length), but she managed beautifully and it is a walk
not to be missed.
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| Luis I Bridge |
After crossing the bridge, we visited Miradouro da Serra do
Pilar (Monastery of Serra do Pilar) a former monastery and UNESCO World
Heritage Site that has been converted to a military barracks. We were able to
climb up into the tower which offered spectacular views of the city.
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| Monastery of Serra do Pilar |
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| Porto and the Douro River from the Monastery of Serra do Pilar |
From here we headed back to our apartment to eat an early
dinner and then make our way to the Estádio do Dragão (Dragon Stadium) the home
field for FC Porto. But it wouldn’t be FC Porto tonight. No, we had tickets to
see the semi-final of the Nations League between Portugal and Switzerland. We
were fortunate that our time in Porto coincided with this important soccer
event and with Portugal still in the tournament, you can imagine that the city
of Porto was very lively, although it was amazing to see the number of
enthusiastic supporters from Switzerland present as well. By the end of the 1st
half, Portugal had taken a 1-0 lead after a goal by Cristiano Ronaldo. During
the 2nd half, Switzerland was able to tie the game with a penalty
kick and then in the final ten minutes of the match, Ronaldo added two more
goals completing his hat-trick. There were 21 professional soccer players on
the pitch and one super-star – Ronaldo. Each of his three goals were
magnificent and left the Swiss goalie motionless, he simply had no chance. What
a thrill to see one of the very best in the world perform on this stage.
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| The semi-final match between Portugal and Switzerland at Dragon Stadium |
That was our final night in Porto. The next day, we packed
up the car and headed for Lisbon, another 3-hour drive. We took the long route
to enable us to stay close to the Atlantic coast where we made three stops.
First, in the small seaside community of Gulpilhares, about 30 minutes south of
Porto, where we visited the Chapel of Senhor da Pedra – a small chapel built
directly on the beach and in the water in 1686. The chapel is adorable and the
beach is beautiful having been named one of Europe’s top ten beaches.
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| Chapel of Senhor da Pedra in Gulpihares |
Next, we stopped in Aveiro, a small town known as “the
Venice of Portugal”. It is a very cute town. We walked the streets and along
the canal, stopped for a late breakfast, and then headed to our final side
trip, Nazaré. Nazaré is the site of the largest waves in the world that have
ever been surfed. Here is a video of Garrett
McNamara, the current world record holder, riding a 100 ft wave, although a
Portuguese surfer has since ridden one at 115 ft that is yet to be verified. It
was a relatively calm day when we arrived as we watched a beach soccer
tournament and ate lunch at a seaside café.
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| Aviero - the Venice of Portugal |
Lisbon
From here, we made our way into Lisbon where we are booked
in an AirBnB for another four nights. Once again, our apartment
is located in a pedestrian only part of the city and it is a 3-story walk-up
with no elevator. I am getting a real workout hauling luggage around these
cities and then up multiple flights of stairs. Liz is genuinely worried that I
will have a heart attack. I am secretly wishing I would. Liz would describe
this place as a “dump”. Once again, the pictures and reviews online provide not
a trace of this, but I have to agree with her. Fortunately, it is in a great
part of the city with easy access to most everything, but the building is a
mess and the apartment is not so great.
One good feature – it has a washing machine which allows us
to do our laundry. In Europe, they don’t seem to care much about dryers
preferring, instead, to let everything air dry. And the washers are small, like
super small. It takes the better part of two days for us to complete the
washing and drying cycles for what is now two-weeks of dirty clothes.
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| The main gate to Praça do Comércio |
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| Praça do Comércio |
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| Entrance to Museu Colecao Bercado |
I shared my challenges with modern art with some friends of ours
in San Francisco. In contrast, they are modern art enthusiasts with multiple
pieces in their beautiful home. I allowed that some modern art, like the pieces
they have displayed in their home, are beautiful and that my problem is with
the pieces that are presented as art, but really are just everyday occurrences
of junk.
One of the first pieces we saw in this museum was a stack of
empty boxes of Brillo pads. I took a picture of this and texted it to our
friends in San Francisco with a note saying, “Here’s one of the pieces on
display and, no, we didn’t wander into the janitor’s closet.”
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| Pop quiz - is this an art piece or did I wander into the janitor's closet? |
After the art museum, we headed to the waterfront and the Padrão
dos Descobrimentos or Monument of the Discoveries. Located along the river
where ships departed to explore and trade with India and the Orient, the
monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration)
during the 15th and 16th centuries. The museum further describes how the
Spaniards and Portuguese had gotten together and carved up the unknown world
between their two countries (let that sink in). The document, known as the Treaty
of Tordesillas, signed in 1494 after Columbus’ voyage to the New World, gave
all lands 370° west
of the Prime Meridian to Spain and everything east to Portugal. It was this
treaty that explains why Brazil, which lies east of the 370° line, today speaks
Portuguese while the remainder of South America speaks Spanish.
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| The Monument of the Discoveries in Belem |
As we began walking back to Lisbon, we became disoriented at the sight of this massive and familiar bridge. Could it be that we had been transported back home? It turned out to be the 25 de Abril Bridge which is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge (for obvious reasons) and was built by the same US company that constructed the Bay Bridge that connects San Francisco and Oakland.
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| Name that bridge! |
That night we ate dinner at the Mercado da Ribeira which is
a giant food court except that all the restaurants are really, really good. What
a fantastic place this is.
The next day, we headed to the Lisbon Cathedral (also known
as Sé Catedral), yet another beautiful cathedral. Which brings me to a point.
We have been on the road for nearly six weeks traveling in France, Spain and
Portugal. Every city has not one, not two, but dozens of churches and almost
all of them Catholic. Every one of them is open to the public and the top one
or two in each city charges an admission fee. Occasionally, there is a service
going on when we are visiting and these are always sparsely attended.
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| Lisbon Cathedral |
A Pew report published in 2015 referred to a “faith drain”
in Europe noting that the percentage of Catholics in Europe is currently 24%
compared to 1910 when it was 65%. Up until the Reformation during the 15th
century, there was absolutely no separation between church and state. The
church was the Catholic Church and it controlled most matters of the state as
well. Church matters and life were completely indistinguishable from citizen
life. Separation of church and state accelerated during the 17th
century with the age of Enlightenment which partially fueled the European
movement to the New World and the birth of America. And this separation has
continued to accelerate in Europe as has the number of people who identify
themselves as not belonging to a particular religion such that, today, the
churches are often empty. And this presents a real estate problem which most of
these cities have solved by turning their churches into tourist attractions.
So, now, back to our trip. From the Cathedral, we walked to
the Castelo de São Jorge or São Jorge Castle. The hill on which São Jorge
Castle stands has played an important part in the history of Lisbon, having
served as the location of fortifications occupied successively by Phoenicians,
Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors, before its conquest by the Portuguese in the
1147 Siege of Lisbon. From its location high on a hill, this castle offers
spectacular views of the city and the Atlantic Ocean. Definitely worth a visit.
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| São Jorge Castle |
On our last full day in Lisbon, Sunday Jun 9th,
we traveled by train to the nearby town of Sintra. Sintra is home to two amazing
structures – the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors) and the Palacio
Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace). The online guidebook advice was to get there
early, take the 434 bus from the train station, go directly to Pena Palace and
then return to the Castle of the Moors. We got there reasonably early and when
the 434 bus first arrived at the Castle of the Moors high up in the hills
overlooking Sintra, we decided to get off.
Our tour of this castle was magnificent. The castle was
constructed during the 8th and 9th centuries, during the period of Muslim Iberia.
It can be seen from miles away and much of the exterior walls and turrets are still
standing making for an excellent experience.
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| Castle of the Moors |
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| Castle of the Moors |
From this castle, we walked the 1.5 km to the Pena Palace,
yet even higher up the hill. Upon our arrival, we learned the wisdom provided
in the online guide book as we waited over an hour in line to enter the palace.
But once in, this palace is exceptional. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage
Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.
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| View of Pena Palace from the Castle of the Moors |
The castle's history started in the Middle Ages when a
chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Pena was built on the top of the hill above
Sintra. According to tradition, construction occurred after an apparition of
the Virgin Mary. In the 1500’s, King Manuel I ordered the construction of a
monastery on this site which was donated to the Order of Saint Jerome. For
centuries Pena was a small, quiet place for meditation, housing a maximum of
eighteen monks.
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| Pena Palace |
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| Pena Palace |
In 1838, King Ferdinand acquired the old monastery, all of
the surrounding lands, the nearby Castle of the Moors and a few other estates
in the area, then set out to transform the remains of the monastery into a
palace that would serve as a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. In
1889, it was purchased by the Portuguese State, and after the Republican
Revolution of 1910, it was classified as a national monument and transformed
into a museum. The last queen of Portugal, Queen Amélia, spent her last night
at the palace before leaving the country in exile.
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| Pena Palace |
Any visit to Lisbon, should include a visit to Sintra and
the Pena Palace, it is that special.
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| Sintra with the Castle of the Moors in the background |
And that wraps up our time in Portugal. Tomorrow we head to
the airport for a flight across the Iberian peninsula to its eastern edge and
the city of Barcelona.
Musings….
Greetings everyone! I must admit some of the places are
starting to meld together a bit;). Not complaining, just saying.
Porto was a charming old town with lots of waterscapes to
wander. We had one of the nicest dinners at Graham’s Port restaurant - lovely
setting on top of the hill (and literally one of the best glasses of red wine
I’ve had). Spent a good deal of time walking the town and hanging out watching
people. The soccer game was definitely a highlight for Malcolm - he loved it.
It was very fun watching Ronaldo score three goals - fans were much calmer than
I expected, although very excited to win. However, we did have lots of fans
after the game serenading outside our apartment until the wee hours of the
morning - I guarantee they didn’t feel very well the next day.
I was quite surprised at how many people in Porto spoke
English, it seemed as if most people did - much more so than other cities we’ve
visited. Not sure why that is…?
Lisbon, let’s say I’m not a huge fan. Glad we went. It
was my second time there and I’m pretty confident I don’t need to go back for
awhile. It didn’t help that our AirBnB was less than expected, and another
walk-up. Plus, the noise factor left us with several sleepless nights. I was
surprised at how grimy and dirty the city felt. Lots of construction also -
which will be never ending given the state of disrepair with so many of the
buildings. Their Mercado Ribeira was fabulous - one of the largest food markets
I’ve ever seen and quite gourmet for a food market. Lots of great items to
choose from and people watching extraordinaire.
Sintra was wonderful to visit, loved our day there.
Highly recommend that excursion.
Our weather continues to be outstanding. Can’t believe
how fortunate we have been these last weeks. And we’re still getting our hill
climbs in! Porto, Lisbon and Sintra all very hilly - Malcolm is a very fast
walker and my feet were just about ready to fall off some days. I keep telling
myself that it’s cancelling out all the bread;).
Very surprised at how many people still smoke here (and
in Spain also). All ages, all over, and cigarette butts flung everywhere (not
true in Spain). Sad to see actually.
Off to the next stop on our adventure - Barcelona. Hope
you’re all well and for those in the Bay Area hope you’re surviving the early
heat wave!
Ronaldo hat trick and Nazare?! That’s bucket list territory. Amazing things you’re seeing.
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