Porto: Pictures and Prose

Thursday July 25, 2024

Images from Porto

We walked across the Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge to the city of Porto and visited some landmarks and shops. There was a beautiful view from the top of the bridge.

Looking down into the river we saw some traditional port barrel transport ships

We passed an old Roman wall and tower that used to mark the edge of the city.

Next we saw a statue of Vimara Peres, and learned an interesting fact about statues of people on horses. Generally, if the horse has all 4 hooves on the ground the person riding died of natural causes; if the horse has one hoof off the ground the person died of injuries sustained in battle, and if the horse has 2 hooves off the ground, the person was killed in battle. Not foolproof, but frequently used - perhaps more than an urban legend.

Porto Cathedral is an example of a Romanesque style church. The church has long thin windows on each external wall, called arrow windows. They are designed so those inside the church can look out and defend the castle from intruders, while making it very hard for those on the outside to shoot in.

The Cathedral is a starting point for the Camino Santiago from Porto. If you are walking the camino you would follow the yellow arrows, the blue arrow takes a pilgrim to Fatima.

We visited the train station next, which had beautiful tile walls that depict the history of the area. One of the most interesting panels shows farming techniques from long ago. In those times grape vines were encouraged to climb up trees and fences, etc. to produce grapes in places that take up much land space. Then the ground beneath the vines could be used to grow vegetables, resulting in a double crop. Pretty smart!!

And then, while we were walking down a street of shops and restaurants we encountered this:

The man behind this contraption was playing music on something like a player piano, and the birds seen here are real and were moving around. A very unique experience!

After the walking tour we went to a port tasting.

Final pictures of Porto

We had a wonderful time on this cruise. Heading to Paris and the Olympics tomorrow when the opening ceremonies are going to be something spectacular. We really recommend you watch it on TV.