Taking the Bus …to Where?, exactly?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We are walking around Portugal’s second largest city, Porto.

After lunch we spy a lovely old tram, which I first mistake as a working tram that takes tourists on a scenic tram route.

It turns out that it’s just  the ticket office for various tours and they dispense information with a smile too.

We opt for a tour on an open topped bus, there’s a bridges tour bus too that goes to Vila Nova de Gaia, that I was rather keen on, but we have just missed the departure for that one.

There’s a bus standing  a few meters away around the corner that does the city tour of Porto so we do a quick change of plan and grab tickets for it before it pulls out too.

We get some of the last seats aboard and settle ourselves into the top deck for views of Porto.

Conveniently there are headsets provided, all you have to do is to choose your preferred language from the ones available and plug in.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We end up taking the long road out along the river that heads out to the beach and slowly Porto and it’s outer suburbs unfold before us. The route we take today is the one on this map that goes from the centre of the city, and follows the red line heading left…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

There is a wide diversity of architecture and quite a lot of history about the city and how it slowly took shape over the centuries.  Let’s take a look…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

This is a net sculpture by the American artist Janet Echelman. It’s offical name is ” She Changes” but the locals have dubbed it  the ” giant anemone”  and it was commissioned to honour and commemorate local fishermen.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

It’s 50 metres in height, cost 1.25 million euros  ( really? , so much??? Wow!!!) was inaugurated in 2005 and is illuminated at night. It certainly is  a very distinctive addition to the  Matosinhos waterfront, at the river estuary a short distance from Porto.

Very close to the “She Changes” piece are two other sculptures… neither of which I managed to get the best photos of sadly…the first is a quirky one of a giant bicycle and rider…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The second is a set of figures that depict fishing village womenfolk and their anguish at waiting for their menfolk lost at sea…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

and there is the beach, a fort and an amazing building  there too…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Then it’s back to the buildings…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Balcony = “platform projecting from the wall” …oh Yeah?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Two things distinguish the Portuguese historic inner city street and give them a beauty that is beyond words: the artistry of the balcony, often in wrought iron and the use of tiles.

Neither Dictionaries meanings or the following Wiki quote do the simple "balcony" any shred of  justice...

Balcony (from Italian: balcone, scaffold; cf. Old High German balcho, beam, balk; probably cognate with Persian term بالكانه bālkāneh or its older variant پالكانه pālkāneh), a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.

Descriptions show nothing about diversity of style,  quirkiness and character.

So let's see if some photographs can do better...

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

A resident people-watching towards the street from on high....

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I, on the street, person-watch covertly back...

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Porto’s Walls of Beauty…

Whilst we were waiting for our lunch (of yesterday’s blog post) to arrive, I find myself drawn out onto the street… well the footpath to be precise. What is it that  is so captivating? Let’s look around….

This?…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Nice, and close, but no… maybe this?

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Wow…drop dead gorgeous! but  no…

This…  the stunning tile work on the walls of the building (almost) next to the cafe….

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

..and another one that we saw a little later,  for good measure… artistry personified -  literally…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(sigh) I could just pull up a chair and drool all day…

A Simple Lunch Portuguese Style in Porto…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

After giving our legs some exercise, our thoughts turn to the welcome idea of cool drinks and lunch.

If  I’m really honest  I also want to sit down as much to rest my Dutch-legs-unused-to-hills as much as for the food.

We round a corner and  find a small Portuguese cafe… it will do nicely.

Lunch is a simple affair,  we arrive just as our first two menu choices run out of stock…

…so it’s salad and omelette all round.

The salad comes topped with some  ham, plus some sort of meat cut into little blocks…

…hmm, not quite sure what to make if those, it’s OK for once at least.

Basic plus tasty, it all fills a gap, we get to use the convinces and have stoked up on more fuel for walking…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

The Atmosphere and Charm of small Streets and Alleyways…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The next part of our Porto tour is on foot, we decide to meander from the river bank towards the train station, which in the mounting heat is quite nice as we can keep to the shadows and out of the sun.

The downside is that Porto is far from flat, so the steep cobbles prove to be no small workout as we are heading uphill most of the time.

The buildings in the historic centre are very typically Portuguese in style, as in you couldn’t possibly mistake them for a French, German, Italian or Greek old inner city houses, but that said they are  also very different to the houses in Portuguese villages.

They rise many stories high, have to  follow the undulations and contours of the steep hills and tiles and balconies give them a beautiful charm.

For some reason no one here seems very determined to get out a paint-pot and there is no evidence at all that D.I.Y. skills extend into weekend hobbies where houses gleam in freshly sanded glory, rather the norm is peeling paint and the run-down “look” is prevalent.

Portugal on the other hand has struggled economically and maybe in the inner city it’s just evidence of this…

Whatever the reason, the little streets teem with all the signs of people packed into apartments, laundry packed onto lines, plants are squished into small spaces on some, shutters and glass window panes, both open and closed are in various states of disrepair, music, cooking smells and noises escape onto the street.

The streets at our feet are cobbled, often steep… but for this detail fanatic, few urban hikes up a hill can compare in sheer atmosphere and beauty.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Phew.. time for a cold drink and a spot of lunch…

Up and Down the River… Douro that is…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

…Continuing from yesterday’s post, family Kiwidutch are still touring on the Douro River in Porto.

There is a fairly stiff breeze on the river so I find myself sitting on my hat instead of wearing it after the wind whips it off my head twice and it almost makes it over the side of the boat into the water.

The others have better luck with their caps so it’s only me sporting some mild patchy sunburn later on. (darn, sunscreen is back in the car and clearly one application wasn’t enough, …next time I will bring it)

There are refreshments available on board the boat, so we can sip cold drinks whilst we enjoy the view.

We head up-river first, passing beneath the majestic Ponte Luis I bridge, it not only houses a road bridge on the lower deck, but also a rail link on the very top so we see trams passing over it at regular intervals.

I’ve already made a note that next trip here I’d like very much to take a tram ride over the river since the view from way up there must be amazing.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The building on the sides of the river are mostly far from modern, many appear to need a coat of paint at the very least and extensive repair work would benefit most, but they ooze character and charm.

We get to see what it must have been like for the many traditional boats that used to ply the river bringing Port from the Douro Valley and surrounding areas to the many different company warehouses on the Vila Nova de Guia side of the river. The river is still used to transport Port today, but no longer in the quantities of old.

We meander leisurely under bridges that we passed on our roadside trip in, and then it’s time to turn around and head back towards where we boarded.

The tour is however not finished yet so we pass by our embarkation point and keep going , heading out towards the river mouth. Again more views of both banks tell us a lot about the history and evolution of the city of Porto.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

As we get closer to the sea, the waves get choppier, so some of the photos are are bit lop-sided as the boat rolls more.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The Port warehouses…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Eventually our little cruise must come to an end and we make our way back to our starting point.

There’s a large group of people waiting to board as we step back onto the dock, and later in the day when we pass this way again, the crowds are even bigger, with the queue for a boat ride snaking up the quay.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

The biggest tip from us would therefore be, that the boat trip gives nice views from the river, but get up early and get on the first boat so that you can have it almost all to yourself.

You won’t have to spend ages wasting time standing in line waiting for the next boat and you will really be able to enjoy the views and not spend the time trying keep other people’s heads out of your camera’s viewfinder.

Missed the Restaurant but Manage to Catch the Boat…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

We have ventured into the heart of Porto. It’s still relatively early so we park the car in a car park that was recommended to us by Bing from the campsite: it’s right on the river, close to the center, costs are reasonable and it’s easy to find.

Great Tip as we find this to be true on all counts so we start the day out very much on the right foot.

We wander from the car park along small waterfront streets and find ourselves looking at an advertisement for a boat tour… Yes, we think, that sounds like a good start to seeing Porto.

Himself and I spy the little arched entrance into what we remembered was a restaurant that we ate at 15 years ago on our honeymoon.

Sadly it’s currently cleaned out and in the process of being completely renovated so it wasn’t possible to lunch there today. It’s a pity as a trip down memory lane would have been fun.

It was in that restaurant that I learned to adore fresh green olives, having previously only tasted ones in jars and never being particularly impressed with the taste.

It’s also where I had my very first piece of Portuguese bread and first green wine, both still firm favourites today.

We also remember sitting close to the doorway, on the right hand side, in the deep shadow, looking out though the arch, at the boats going up and down, just as they are today.

There were vine leaves draped over the entrance way back then too, but sadly they seem all that remain of the place we remember.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I did take photos way back then, film ones of course, now bundled up in packets with negatives in a box somewhere. I’ll have to do some digging and see what I can turn up.

Our reminiscences are interrupted as we only have to wait for a five minutes before our boat departs, there are only six of us on board in total, the Kiwidutch family of four and two other tourists.

Since the other two get on first and take seats at the back, we get prime seats up front in the boat and almost unobstructed views in all directions for looking around and taking photographs.

The tour takes almost an hour so we make ourselves comfortable for this, the “Six Bridges” tour.

The bridges here are amazingly high, and of course famous in their own right, and the most well known one is “Luis I bridge”  (Ponte Luis I) and the similar one called “Ponte Dona Maria“ just down the river  from another  ironwork bridge that was designed by a certain Monsieur Gustave Eiffel, who of course went on to build another ironwork structure that gained even more enduring fame for it’s imposing form than this one did.

Without ado we set off… and the view from the river unfolds before us…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

….Ponte Luis I

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Monsieur Gustave Eiffel’s beautiful ironwork bridge…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Phew the journey is such a photographic paradise, I hardly know where to point the camera next…

Porto, City of Two Names, Two Halves and Two Faces…

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Today we are off to Porto.  (that’s Portugal’s second largest city and you might  have gown up  inadvertently calling it “Oporto” as many foreigners do).

Apparently the mispronunciation came about because “o” is a definite article in Portuguese and thus “o Porto” literally means ” the port“.

As with many linguistic foul-ups and misunderstandings, the English took what they heard as fact and slowly but surely it evolved into common usage, even if it is not correct.

The city is situated at the mouth of the  Douro  River and is made up of two halves… Vila Nova de Gaia on one side of the river and Porto on the other but there are a multitude of parishes that make up the city and of course all of it is most famous for one thing: the fortified wine that is Port.

We leave our camping early in the morning so that we can make the best of the day, as we intend to spend the entire day in Porto. It take us about an hour and a half on the motorway and soon we are on the outskirts of the city.

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

What always stuns me is the amazing transformation that takes place between old and new here…

If you have been here then you will know what I mean, if you haven’t, read on and I will walk you though it…

First we exit the motorway and slowly make our way towards the city centre…  like many modern cities the outskirts are fairly predictable… nothing special here.

Then we come to the River Douro… the first of many bridges arc above us, we wind around the contours of the river.

Then the little wonder happens… we go though a tunnel…

..and emerging on the other side is like entering a whole different world, we have, with a few minutes trades the modern and the new for a step back in time as we emerge right into the old city centre and into very typically Portuguese styled old buildings…

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

…it’s a transformation that takes my breath away every time.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

As It was Then, and as It is Now…

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Earlier in this blog, on the way back from another day trip in Spain we literally got onto the ferry like the last sardine being squished into the can.

http://kiwidutch.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/new-150/

There was no space to exit the car, and certainly no view, so I was determined to come back again and try and get a glimpse of that the crossing was really like.

In days of old, crossing from one country to another within the European Union involved lengthy waits at border crossings, booths housed a multitude of officials and passports needed to be at the ready.

Mind you, in those days we also had a multitude of difference currencies in our wallets, and I remember my very first experience of Spain, so very very different to todays.

My first experience of Spain was when Himself and I were on our honeymoon in 1995. (I know, 15 years married already! yeah!!! ) We were staying in northern Portugal, in the Douro Valley and then went to Villa Real, and Braga… We were touring in the National Park and took the opportunity to pop over the border into Spain.

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Unfortunately  we went during siesta time and almost everything was closed up. It was hot and we wanted to buy a drink, so eventually found one place that was open, but since we hopped over the border on a whim, we had no Spanish cash on us and our offering of Portuguese money was met with polite refusal. We left thirsty and were back in Portugal within 30 minutes.

My second time in Spain was when we were staying in the Algarve in the south of Portugal. We popped over the border for a Spanish lunch and to find a playground for the kids… we were in Spain for about 4 hours all up…

..the third time we were in southern France (cheap flights of Euro40 return A’dam to Pau  were too good to pass up) and took both the Pyrenees pass roads and the tunnels under the mountains into Spain for day trips. The restaurant on the Spanish side of the border at the top of the Pyrenees  gave us one of the worst eating experiences of our entire lives .. what was meant to be a nice tapas meal turned out to be an overly greasy, tasteless, low quality  rubbish, served with indifference at rip-off prices.

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Fourth time was the Pyrenees  tunnel trip to Spain had us hunting high and low for anywhere to eat that wasn’t actually a hazy smoke filled bar, and believe me it got frustrating. We ended up at a snack bar where the offerings were marginally better than the restaurant at the top of the mountain (not exactly a compliment) and vowed to eat meals back in France from then on.

These days many things are easier, the Euro Zone common currency means no currency changing hassles, or bureau de change rip-off exchange rates and  the open borders mean no queues.

So this holiday, our regular day trips into Spain have been a vast improvement on my previous Spanish experiences. I’m slowly getting a better impression of the country and Himself and I are no longer able to make jokes about how short the visits have been. It’s true to say that I have now been really enjoying Spain rather than just surviving it.

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

We might even  manage to sleep a night next trip.. who knows?

We head back to Portugal and as you can see from the video’s of the ferry coming in, and our drive off at the other end, crossing borders these days within the EU couldn’t be easier.

We love it.

Camposancos is Literally our next Port of Call…

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

We have been in Spain, on Monte de Santa Trega, looking at the Celtic prehistoric settlement (Castro).

The clouds are thickening and we head down the mountain to Camposancos  to  take the ferry back to Portugal.

Last time we took the ferry we got lucky by getting the last ticket for the next crossing that was going, and since the ferry was almost at the dock there was little time to take photos.

It’s less the Ferry building etc that I wanted to photograph this time, but rather all the delightful buildings that are around it.

First there is a statue at the base of Monte de Sante Trega that marks the turn off to the main road.

Then in  Camposancos very close to the ferry there are some wonderful buildings…

The character and tiles caught my eye the first trip….

There is a little building on the corner that oozes beauty in a rough and very uncomplicated way.. is it a little chapel ?

I’m not so sure because of the absence of windows, but who knows?

.. and further on, Look at this window,  it should be mandatory that all security grills should be this beautiful (in my not so humble opinion LOL).

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Check out the large building in the background…

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

Yes.. this one….

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 

 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)