Porto – The Highlights

Porto and Gaia at dusk from the top of the Dom Luis I bridge

There is lots to love about Porto. The Port wine, the Francesinhas, the steep cobbled streets – it wasn’t hard to find cool things to do in the three weeks I was there. I actually found that, for the most part, I stayed away from the more obvious things to, which was refreshing. A lot of the more heavily promoted places I avoided, and just went where the wind took me. It was nice. Here are a few of the highlights.

Matosinhos / Foz de Douro

View of Foz de Douro from the jetty

I went to the Atlantic coast of Porto twice while I was there (three times if you count the bus tour, and not counting all the time on the beach at madalena), and each gave me an interesting perspective on the place. The first was on the day I took the above photo (and the panorama shot from the previous post) which was particularly blustery and a bit rainy.

Matosinhos from the Castelo de Queijo (literally: the Cheese Castle)

The Foz is now an upscale, lively part of Porto, and has its roots as a fishing village, as do most of the now-suburbs of the city. Just north of the Foz is Matosinhos, which is a separate city from Porto but there is practically no visible difference between the two. Both Matosinhos and Foz are great to visit, mainly because of the beaches that stretch the length of the two places along the Atlantic.

Me in front of “She Changes”

On my last day in Porto, I took the opportiunity to take the Metro out the Matosinhos and to walk all the way south to the mouth of the Douro – around 5km. As you can see, it was a great day for it.

Tragedia do Mar – Tragedy of the Sea

The beaches are stunning – I really regret not bringing my bathing suit – and the eye candy ain’t so bad either. It was a beautiful day (a bit too beautiful – sunburn # god knows what), and it’s a great walk. Along the way, you see the Cheese Castle – Castelo do Queijo, a medieval castle that sits on a rock that apparently looks like cheese, hence the name.

Castelo de Queijo

There is also the statue of Dom Joao I, and further along, the Sea Life Center.

After this you’re into Foz de Douro, and the shops along the oceanside road – which changes its name a few times along the way – get more expensive the further south you go. I stopped along the way at a cafe and had my last francesinha and beer, and kept going.

Foz de Douro

If you like beaches, shopping, and walking, then this area is for you.

Tours

I did a few touristy tours while in Porto.

The Yellow Bus Tour package was pretty good – they have three different lines, and they’re pretty comprehensive. The great thing is that you can buy your ticket for three days, and you get full access to the Bus and Metro system.

Me in front of the Tram

I also did the Tram tours of the city, which use the historical tram cars to go around the city. Again, it’s a great network and cool way to see the city, and for 8E, you get a 24hour ticket that also gets you into the Tram Museum, which has some nice old examples of streetcars from the past.

Me on the Boat

Finally, I did a boat tour of the Douro with Douro Azul, which was part of the Yellow Bus Tour paackage. Porto is the City of Six Bridges, of which they are really proud (Lisbon only has two…), and seing them from the boat is a great way to do it. Even if you just paid out of pocket, most tours are 45 minutes and 10E, so it’s not excessive. The cool thing about Porto’s Bridges is that they are each very different, and each has its own character. The most famous bridge is one designed by Eiffel himself, and although it is thought that the Dom Luis I bridge is done by Eiffel, it is not.

Ponte Dona Maria – designed by Eiffel (with the Ponte Sao Joao in the background)

I did try to do my usual walking tour of the city, but it seemed impossible to make the booking. I tried 3 times. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

Museums, Galleries and Attractions

Centro Portugues de Fotografia

I didn’t know anything about this place, and stumbled on it by accident, but this Photography Museum was one of the highlights of the whole trip.

The Photography Centre. It’s an old jail!

So yes, it’s in an old jail, which is kinda awesome. On the main floor is where the exhibition space is, and there were some interesting exhibitions on when i visited. The upper floors are dedicated to the museum space, which was very cool – they have cameras of all shapes and sizes, and even though I didn’t understand any of the descriptions (everything is in Portuguese) it was still cool to follow the history of photography.

Camera

The cells are used as exhibit spaces.

Calem Cellars

Barrels of Port in the Calem Cellars

The Douro, on the Gaia side, is lined with the cellars of the Port producers from up the river. It has become a major center for tourism, as every producer has some sort of Cellar tour and Port wine tasting, and the prices range from (I’m told) free to 10E. My tour came as part of the package with the bus tour, but I believe it would have only cost 10E. The tour itself is your run-of-the-mill winery tour, without the vinyards – for those, you have to go up the Douro. But it’s not the tour, but the tasting, that you go for. On my tour, I got to taste one White and one Red port, both of which were yummy, but I saw that you could arrange for a more elaborate tasting, with different ports and cheeses to go along with. I think if I’d been with someone, I might have done more of these, if for nothing else than the snakc and the mid-afternoon buzz.

Museu do Carro Electrico

I think streetcars are neat, and in Porto, there’s a whole museum, owned and run by the city’s transportation authority, celebrating these wonderful machines.

inside the Tram Museum

The Museum is inside the old tram workshop, and they have examples of trams fromt he first horse-drawn carriages to the last example of trams made in Porto. The ticket for entry is part of the Tram tours ticket. It’s a short visit, but still kinda fun.

Torre de Clerigos / Igreja Clerigos

At the top of the Rua de Clerigos, which is the southern border of the Praca Liberdade, stands the Igreja de Clerigos, a Baroque church. Behind that, but towering over the city, is the Torre de Clerigos, one of the most iconic buildings in the city.

Igreja de Clerigos

The view from the tower is, of course, fantastic. You get views of the entire surrounding city, and on a clear day, you can easily see out to the ocean.

View of the Ribeira, Se and Gaia from the Tower

What I found far more impressive was the church. I’ve never been exposed to Baroque architecture or decor that much – what “classica architecture” there is in Canada seems to tend to either be neo-Roman or neo-Gothic – so seeing a Baroque church on the outside is somewhat of a rarity.

Seeing the inside was breathtaking.

A panorama of the inside of Igreja de Clerigos

Firstly, it’s round on the inside. Well, more oval, but you get the point. I’ve never seen that in a church, well, ever. Also, the decor of the barque church is far more over-the-top than I’ve ever seen. Crazy-beautiful sculptures, gold-covered everything, a sanctuary to beat the band… it was a lot to take in. And sadly (or happily, I guess) very few people came into the church, all heading up to the tower. there were, as you can see, a few people in the church, but It was nice not having a huge pile of people around you, like everywhere else.

The Sanctuary

Being a very Catholic country, Porto has other major churches.

Santo Antonio

Santo Antonio’s Facade, in traditional Portuguese tilework

Inside Santo Antonio

The Se

The Se, Porto’s main cathedral

Sao Francisco

Sao Francisco

Sao Francisco is the big attraction as far as churches go, and yes, it was beautiful – a former Franciscan church, now deconsecrated. But what I found more interesting was next door, in what is now the museum. When you go downstairs, you see…

The catacombs under the church

There are rooms and rooms of graves under the church. It was cool. And creepy.

Igreja de Carmelitas / Igreja de Carmos

Further down from the Clerigos is Rua de Carmo, and there you will find these twin churches.

Carmelitas on the left, Carmo on the right.

Why there are two practically identical churches side-by-side, I don’t know – I didn’t get the story. What I find interestingis that, you will notice, a very narrow building separates the two churches. There is (or was) a law stating that churches couldn’t share walls, so that bulding in the middle is apparently a house, and it is, apparently, occupied. Cool.

I did, of course, also visit the National Museum Soares dos Reis, which is dedicated to Reis, a famous sculptor, and was quite nice. My favourite thing there was this:

A Duct-tape horse. Awesome.

I also went to Serralves, probably the most famous Museum / Gallery in Porto. The gallery was cool, but I found the grounds far more interesting.

I was here =)

I’m not going to bore you with descriptions of either, though, because there’s nothing I can add to what I’ve already read, and that’s a lot. Sufficed to say, they’re both worth visiting, and I enjoyed them tremendously.

Final Thoughts

Porto was, for me, a lot like Rouen – I loved the city itself, but at the end of the day, met very few people. I would, however, come back to Porto in a second – I feel like, while I got to know the city a little bit, I didn’t really get to enjoy the outlying area, which seems to be to be just as promising as the city.

Photo Album

As always, click here to see my Picasa Web Album from Porto

Three Days in Lisboa

The view from my Pencao window

When I spoke to people in Porto and told them I was going to Lisbon, the common response was “You’ll like Porto better;” I got the same response in Lisbon when I told them I was staying in Porto.

As with all things, it’s a question of difference. When I get around to posting about Porto next week, you’ll see why I love it there.

This post, however, is about Lisbon, and I can say that I did love the city.

I can also tell you that 3 days is not nearly enough time to enjoy Lisbon.

South side of Praca da Figueira, the Castelo de Sao Jorge in the background, on the night of the “Supermoon”

Lisbon, or the site where modern-day Lisbon stands, has been inhabited for thousands of years. Indeed, Lisbon itself has been here since 1147, making it one of the oldest cities in Europe. Not much of the ancient city remains, as a major earthquake destroyed the city in the 1700s. Lisbon was rebuilt according to the principles of modern city development, and as such, downtown area, or Baixa, is on a grid system. There are still parts of the city, such as Alfama, which retain its medieval charm.

Walking Tour

Since I had very little time to see the city, I decided the best way was to take part in a walking tour. I’ve had great luck with walking tours throughout the Big Trip, and Lisbon’s was no exception. I found out about the walking tour at one of the many Tourismos in the city (staying in Baixa was an advantage – more of that later), and I ended up on The Original Lisbon Walk by Inside Lisbon. It was a bit slow to start, but my tour guide, Martha, was quite lovely and knowledgeable. Turned out that, of the 10 people on our tour, 6 of us were from Toronto, and the Brit and Aussie on the tour had lived in Vancouver. Canada represent!

Statue of Don Pedro IV. The tile work made me dizzy.

The tour started off in Praca Rossio, the main square in Lisbon. It’s a central point in the city, with a statue to Don Pedro IV, who was king of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil, as well as the National Theatre. The tile work in the square (of which there is a lot *everywhere* in Portugal) is made to represent the ocean, which at one point came up all the way to where the square is today.

Teatro Nacional D. Maria II

Interstingly, the square was also the site of the Inquisition in Portugal, although nothing remains of the church.

Next up was the Igreja de Sao Domingos, which is just off the Rossio and Praca de Figueira. It’s one of the many Baroque churches in Lisbon, and is quite beautiful.

Igreja do Sao Domingos – facade

The church, however, has a chequered past: it was here that thousands of Jews were killed in the middle ages. In the square that links the church to Rossio, there have bene erected monuments to these people, as well as a public apology on behalf of the people of Lisbon.

We then walked along to Praça dos Restauradores,a square that celebrates the restoration of Portuguese independence. It is at the foot of Avenida da Liberdade, a wide avenue that is touted as a “mini Champs Elysees.”

The former Eden Cinema

There are three things of note on Restauradores: The Eden Cinema, which is a beautiful Art Deco cinema, which has now been converted to a hotel; the second, just below the square is the Rossio train station, which is in the Manueline style, a style I had never heard of. It’s also quite beautiful, and very different from any architecture I’ve seen before.

Rossio train station

The final edifice of note is the Obelisk in the middle of the square, on which is listed the major battles of the Portuguese Restoration War. It’s also quite stunning.

Monument of the Portuguese Restoration War

From there, we climbed to the Chiados neighbourhood, which is up the mountain from Baixa. There is an Elevator that goes from Baixa to Chiados, but a) it costs money and b) you can just walk from where we were. So walk we did.

The Elevator from Baixa to Chaidos

We walked into Carmo Square, which is the site of the old Carmo Convent, the church of which is now in ruins. The square is also one of the locations of the 1975 Republican revolution, a bloodless coup that turned Portugal from a dictatoriship to a republic. The Elevator is just beside the old church (now an Archaelology museum), and from there you get some beautiful views of the city. The best part is that the platform is free to go on, and it’s only 1E50 if you want to go to the top level.

View of Sao Jorge from the Elevator

Rossio from the Elevator

the Ruins of the Carmo Church, from the elevator

Carmo Square

After coffee and pastries, we headed back into Rossio to catch the tram up to Sao Jorge and into Alfama.

Statue of Sao Vicente

Sao Vicente is (one of?) the Patron Saint of Lisbon, and the symbol of Lisbon is the boat from his legend. It stands in a square just outside the walls of Sao Jorge, where the main entrance is, which would have been nice for me to clue into when I went looking to get in there later on that day… but I digress.

Me overlooking Alfama

From here we walked down into Alfama, and it was quite the maze of streets and sqaures. As one of the girls on the tour pointed out, our guide could easily have abnadoned us and we’d ahve been screwed. Luckily, she did not.

Alfama. Can you pick out the streets? Me either.

It was a fantastic walk down to the main streets through the streets, there was so much to see, and I didn’t take a lot of pics. Oh well. I have the images in my mind.

From there we visited the Se, which is the main Cathedral in Lisboa.

One of the towers of the Se

The Se is an impressive building, and has Romanesque, Baroque and Gothic elements. The Facade is Romanesque, and you get a fantastic view of it as you come up the street from Baixa.

Main Portico to the Se

The interior is beautiful simplicity, which I am really starting to appreciate in Romanesque architecture.

Interior of the Se

The really cool thing about the Se do Lisboa is that the cloisters are open to the public, and in the courtyard of the cloisters is an archaeological dig. For 2E, you can go into the cloisters and take a walk around.

Archaeological dig in the Cloisters of the Se

There, you can see walls, sidewalks and stairs from the Roman period. Some of the wall paint remains.

Cloisters

The cloisters are built in a Gothic style, and as with most cloisters, you can feel the peace and quiet that monks and nuns would wish for in their devotions and metitations. These cloisters are, I found, a bit darker than some I have visited, likely because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of exposure to the outdoors.

Monument and Church of Saint Anthony, Lisbon’s *other* patron Saint (and hometown boy)

Just below the Se is the Church of Saint Anthony, the *other* patron Saint of Lisbon. Saint Anthony is usually associated with Padua, where he is buried, but he was born and raised in Lisbon, apparently on the site where his church now stands. Every year, apparently, the municipality springs for several couples to be married in the Cathedral on Saint Anthony’s day. Also, apparently, in Lisbon St. Anthony is depicted as a boy or young man, whereas in Padua, he is depicted as an old man.

Praca do Comercio – Main Gates to the city

We finished our tour in Praca do Comercio, which is also known as Terreiro do Paco, or Palace Square. This enormous public square, which is bordered on three sides by the old Palaces, and on the other by the River Tagus, used to be the ceremonial entry to the city from the river, and visitors were received into the city through the large ceremonial arch that dominates the square. In the centre of the square is a statue of King Jose I, as this was once a royal square. Most of the buildings that surround the square are now government offices, but as you can see from the photo above, there is work afoot to make the square more accessible and user friendly. New tram lines and roads, as well as shops and restaurants in the arcades of the buildings are under construction.

Statue of King Jose I in front of the gates to the city

Castelo do Sao Jorge

Ramparts and Tower

I love castles. That should be obvious by now. And this one has, so far, been the best one. Castelo Sao Jorge, or Saint George Castle, sits atop one of the hills in Lisbon. Yes, Saint George is the Patron Saint of England, but Joao I named it after him in honour of his wife, and English princess. The castle itself is moorish in origins and dates back to the early middle ages.

Me, the Castle and the Atlantic

I’m not sure why I look so… perplexed.

View out of a portico

This is, I think, the most in-tact castle I’ve visited, with much of the ramparts and keeps still in tact. It was awesome to be able to walk the perimeter of the old ramparts and get up into the turrets and whatnot. And the views of the city from the castle are breathtaking. I was looking into the west at sunset so it was hard to tell, but i think you can see the ocean from there.

Ramparts

Part of the castle grounds are being dug up for archaeological purposes, as it’s known that the hill has been inhabited for millenia. The museum on the grounds has artifacts that date back to roman times. The ruins are of two times, some Roman, and some Islamic.

Ancient Islamic and Roman ruins

I always get a bit… emotional? when I visit ruins, especially when they are fairly in tact. It’s very humbling to know that, thousands of years ago, people were going about their daily lives on the place that you are now standing, and there’s something more poignant about the fact that all that remains are a few stones, a wall, a walkway, a well. Makes you wonder what we’re leaving behind us now.

Outside the Castle Keep

There were peacocks roaming the grounds. It was weird. I wonder if they’re natural to the area.

Peacock. Everywhere, peacocks!

Yellow Bus

I found out about the Yellow Bus tours in Porto, which I took because it was cheaper, and you got free public transport on the city lines for the duration of the ticket as well as the tourist bus. I also liked that, apparently, you got 25% off Yellow Bus tours in other cities, like Lisbon.

This, however, was not the case. Apparently that only works if you buy a single bus tour, not a package. Curses.The two-tour combo pack, for 48 hours, was 19E.

At any rate, the tours were good overviews of the city, and I got introduced to two cool areas: Parque das Nacoes and Belem.

Parque das Nacoes

One of the buildings on the Parque

Lisbon hosted Expo 98, and this neighbourhood is what came out of it. Ultra-modern buildings, a grand avenue, fountains, exhibition and commercial space and an aquarium and mall are just some of the things that came out of the expo. It was a very beautiful modern area.

One of the many sculptures

One of the legacy projects is the beautiful Gare do Oriente, the eastern main station in Lisbon. I recall going through it on my way into Lisbon, and thinking how beautiful the roof is.

Gare do Oriente

On the bus tour, I also got to see:

Bullfighting Ring

Parliament

Belem

West of the city centre on the River Tagus is Belem, now a suburb, but it used to be a village in its own right, and one of the first points of defense for Lisbon. There is a monastery, cultural centre, and a quaint little downtown area. I have ot admit, I was in a complete rush visiting here (as it was late afternoon and I had to catch a train) but here are the highlights:

Pasteis de Belem

This is the Pasteis de Belem store, where they make Pasteis de nata, which are custard tarts:

Pastels de Belem

and they are all kinds of awesome. This store is apparently *the* place to get these pastries, and they are so famous from this store that they are called pasteis de Belem, and just pasteis de nata everywhere else. I dig.

Monument to the Discoveries

On the edge of the river is this enormous statue which honours the explorers and supporters who helped expand Portugal’s empire in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Belem Tower

The Belem Tower, another UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a Manuline tower that sits just off the shore of the Tagus, and was built to be the first line of defence of Lisbon.

Monastery / Fountain

The Jeronimos Monastery, also in the Manuelite style, dates back the the 1500s. It is a World Heritage site along with the Tower of Belem.

Accommodation

I lucked out huge with this one. Using Hostelworld (which is, by the way, an awesome site), I found the Pencao Prace da Figueira, which is right in Praca da Figueira in Baixa. It was cheap (only 30E a night), clean, and central, and although the beds were really hard, it was an awesome place to stay.

Getting around

If you stay anywhere in the city centre, you can walk pretty much anywhere you might want to go. You might be walking uphill, but it’s doable. There is a very good Metro, which I took from the train station to the Pencao, but I didn’t really use it much after that. There are also trams, one of which I took to Belem, and some of which are heritage trams that act as tourist trams. All in all, though, it was very inexpensive (a daypass on the Metro was 5E) and very convenient.

Special Thanks

Although I spent my days running around like a madman, I was very fortunate to meet Jorge, who introduced me to his friends Nuno and Tiago, and who made sure that my evenings were envetful and fun. Thanks guys, even if you all stay up way too late. 😉

Photo Gallery

Click here to see my Picasa web photo album.