Another lovely day in Porto
Ola
We start the day by catching an Uber to the Villa Nova side of the Ponte Luis 1 bridge (top tier) and walking across the bridge to Porto. Simply magnificent views in all directions.
Across the other side, there is an obligatory morning tea stop in the shadows of the cathedral (with some Pastel de Nata from our camping buddies next door), but not before eagle eye Bob races to the other side of the road to the Press box and unbelievably they have last weekends Financial Times newspaper (and this is Thursday 👏👏).
We check out the outside of the cathedral and marvel at the difference between the stonework that has been cleaned and restored, and the dirty unrestored sections. We also walk around and see some lovely old buildings, a monastery and the obligatory statue!
Next stop is the Lello Bookshop, which is a magnificent fairy tale 1800s construction with cast concrete twisting stairs but all the rest in beautiful timber, oh and a few books as well (it was rumored to be the inspiration for the bookshop in Harry Potter but JK Rowling has denied this and said she never visited it).
We retrace our steps back down towards the water and are confronted by a serious Police presence - multiple cars blocking traffic in all directions, Police spotters moving people out of the way, Riot Squads with Shields, Officers with Big Guns (okay probably Tear Gas funds but still!) - what on earth is going on? Who could be this important? Has there been a threat? Nah, it’s the bleeding Nice (as in French city) Soccer Team Supporters Club in town for the game against Porto tonight. They are marching in their hundreds and the Police obviously have some concerns that they will go a bit wild (they all might have a few sherbets under their belts already), or the local supporters will attack them. They pass us without incident although the leaders do a bit of a pogo stick impression and chant their chant right in front of us.
Okay back to our tour, we head to the tram stop to catch the rickety old Line 1 tram out towards the river mouth. It arrives at the half hour despite the timetable suggesting it’s every 20 mins on the 0, 20, 40. We take the 20 minute trip, out check in the next tram time, yep every 20 mins in the 0, 20, 40 etc. We wander around as the sun is setting (lovely sunset) and go back for the 20 past tram which duly arrives and the driver says I go on the half hour and every 30 minutes (clearly someone can’t tell time or read a clock!!).
Anyhow we wait for the half hour (what else do you do?) and get back to the Quay in time for a sunset drink. We pick a bar with a view and heaters (it’s got a bit chilly), and get told no drinks without food - bugger, so we walk back across bridge to ‘our’ side and find a nice bar with (fairly ineffectual) heaters , and a fabulous view of the bridge and lights. We have a lovely glass of Vinho Verde.
he river on
Oh and we also wander into another old library along the river on our way home:
Then we catch an Uber home, which is a little interesting in that the driver talks to us about how he loves camping, then spends half the trip thumbing through pictures on his phone - while driving down narrow winding streets - and eventually finds and shows us his camping setup, and his dog for some reason. We make it home safely, although that wasn’t a given by any means.
Adios for today.
This featured blog entry was written by Bob and Kerrie from the blog Portugal and Spain - 2025.
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