Day 16 - Porto

Today we decided to do a free walking tour of Porto. Something you might like to do if you have a limited time in a place. Mez looked it up on TripAdvisor and found one with a very passionate local named Eugenia. Her email: portofreewalkingtour@gmail.com. 

Tour went for 4 hours and as I said Eugenia was very passionate about her beloved Porto and she talked and talked but was never boring just very informative.

   Livraria Lello - the Lello Bookstore which is rated amongst the top bookstores in the world. It is a must see if visiting Porto(All you English heads would love it as well as us not so English). You have to queue to get into the store and pay 4€ which, if you buy anything comes off the price of your sale.

   In the middle of the city you still have stalls of people selling garlic, garlic and more garlic.

   Bento station in the middle of everything is a must see with gorgeous tiles depicting the story of Portugal in pictures, very interesting and beautiful. How artistic to be able to create a story with individual hand painted tiles, which are still the originals.

   This is a crazy railway bridge that crosses the river and I am amazed that no one gets seriously hurt as the pedestrians walk right next to the trains and on the tracks.

   You have to have one eye out for the trains at all times. This is how close they are to you. No zoom.

   Views above and below from the rail bridge of the Douro River and the foreshores. 

   I had to put this picture in of the Cathedral because as we walked towards the front of the Cathedral a group of tourists, I am presuming, started singing Ave Maria while standing looking at the altar. This may not be so unusual to anyone else but today was the 12th June, two months to the day mum had passed away and Ave Maria was her favourite song.

   June is a month of celebration in Portugal honouring their patron saints, St. Anthony, St John and St. Peter. Buildings are decorated, streets are strewn with ribbons and banners and everyone is in a very festive mood. Sooo many people around partying all the time. 

    Last stop on our tour was the Ribeira District which is made up of medieval streets and colourful ancient houses. This is the most picturesque spot in the city and UNESCO has declared it a world heritage site.

We stayed just up the street from this area, great spot at Hotel da Bolsa.

Across the river from Ribeira you can see the series of Port Wine Houses at Gaia.

Eugenia gave us a few suggestions for restaurants for lunch and dinner and they were spot on. Jimao on the water in the Praca de Ribeira( riverfront square) and Bacalhau, traditional wine and food.

This was a very informative and enjoyable walking tour.

We could have done with a few more days in Porto to revisit many of the places that we only got a quick glimpse of today.