Arriving in Lisbon.

Sorry for the late blogging, peeps.
We caught a train from Porto to Lisbon. Why wouldn't you? Only takes about 3 hours of comfortable first class travel at around 300 kph most of the way.
The trip seemed to go much faster as we got into a conversation with two other Australians sitting in the seats opposite. Barry and Jim were also ex primary school teachers just like Jackie and the common ground became very evident very quickly. They had just finished the Camino a couple of days earlier and were rattling around Portugal to fill in some time before flying back to Melbourne. They had so many interesting stories about the places, people and events they encountered on the Camino is was just great to listen to.
Our accomodation is in the old Baixa/Chiado area of Lisbon. The streets are really lanes and meander and twist their way up and down some very steep slopes. This is one very hilly town. The hotel is situated in a very unattractive street, but don't let that fool you. Opening the front door presents you with a very attractive reception lobby and what is referred to as a living room. And it is a living room too, with a particularly tasteful decor of complimentary colours and furniture, with artworks sort of nonchalantly placed here and there. The indoor pool and ferns is the piece-de resistance in my option and staff just couldn't be nicer. I haven't been here long, but I know I'm going to remember it and them fondly.

Our Portuguese train from Porto to Lisbon.

Another 300 kph flyer. Don't the Europeans know how to make a slow train?

 Now here is a snappy means of locomotion.

Snapped this as someone was picking up someone at Lisbon Apollonia station car park.

 Jackie checking out in indoor pool and landscaping at our accomodation.

Wonderful.

 The view from our window of the street outside.

Bleech on the outside, an absolute oasis in the inside.

River Cruise and Port Wineries in Porto

Sorry for the late blogging, peeps. We simply been having too much fun, come home exhausted and falling instantly asleep.

So anyways, today we wanted to see the other side of the river. Why, I hear you ask? Because Port wine was named after Porto and the best wineries are on the other side of the river. Good enough reason for anybody I reckon.

Before we crossed the Ponte Luis I bridge we took the opportunity to have a cruise on the river and see the Ribeira and the 6 beautiful bridges across the Douro from a different vantage point. A lot of people like to do this as well apparently. There are the ever present queues to get a ticket and then the queues to actually get on the boat. All part and parcel of the game essentially. The cruises of course can vary in duration, vessel and cost. Ours was a 50 minute tour of the 6 bridges in a converted Douro boat and cost a quite reasonable 15 euros. Their was also a verbal guide to the cruise but we couldn't hear it above the engine noise and the crowds onboard. No biggy, we wanted to see the bridges, not learn about them.

And then to the famous Port wineries of Porto, or that was the original intention. My idea of a winery visit is to stick my head in at the cellar door, try a few of their wines, buy some if I like it and move onto the next one. That doesn't happen here. Entry to the wineries is ticketed, includes a guided tour and ends in a tasting of a couple of selected ports of their choosing. You can try other offerings, but you will need to pay for them at regular glass prices. If you're quick, you can learn a lot about Port wines, Tawnys, Ruby's, Roses, late selections, stuff like that. Me? That guff just makes my head hurt and I'd rather do that with the port more directly.

So our winery crawl was limited to just Calems, the most visited winery in the world. Their product is superb and makes the Barossa and Ruthglen ports look very ordinary in comparison. The tasting at the end quickly dissolved into a social event and people were still there chatting happily a full hour after the tour had officially ended. Other tours arrived at intervals too, so we roped them in as well. Great times.

This day was also Jackie's birthday, so as a special treat I took her out to Taylor's winery further up the hill. The place is as posh as you could imagine with its lawns and garden settings and a very fine dining restaurant. Even a couple of random peacocks wandering about the place. We had a lovely dinner with a stunning view over Porto. And it cost a bomb, but what the hey. Birthdays in Porto don't happen every year, now do they. 

A view over the Ponte Luis I bridge, designed by Auguste Eiffel of the tower fame.

A typical Douro boat which would bring casks of wine down from the growers to the maturing and aging wineries of Porto.

  

The river gives a different perspective of the riverside buildings.

Another shot of the riverside buildings. 

They are built into the steps sides of the valley.

There are 6 beautiful bridges across the Douro river in Porto.

Some are slender and modern.

Some are olde worldly of iron and trusses.

Time it right and you can see several at once,

The inside of our river cruise boat. It was quite large and frankly quite crowded.

I took this shot after the cruise and everyone had gone ashore. 

Calum winery in Porto, the most visited winery in the world.

Entry is ticketed and comes with a guided tour and tasting.

Some of the large oak casks use to age the port. Each of these holds 17,000 bottles worth.

Ah. The best part of the tour, the tasting. 

A sample of several ports are presented to tour group members and explained in detail.

It quickly turned into a social occasion. These guys were still there yakking away half an hour after the tour officially ended.

An interesting piece of public art made from crashed car parts.

Ah, Taylor's port winery, not to be confused with the Clare Valley winery of the same name.

This one has Royal patronage as it is by appointment the official port wine supplier to the Queen.

 We had a pre-dinner drink in their garden with this resident show-off.

Some girls out on a hen's night had that much in common with the resident Pea-hen, who decided to join them.

  

Taylor's restaurant where I took Jackie for her birthday.
Lovely posh restaurant with excellent food, terrific staff and a majestic view over Porto.

Didn't I say the view was good?

Exploring Porto

So we took a longish walk around the streets and sights of Porto. From the taxi ride into town from the station I was all ready to hate the place. The streets were rough and the buildings rather shabby. But that must have just been the area we happened to be travelling through. 'Cause Porto is brilliant. So many of the buildings have been decorated in ceramic tiles. And the colours ... just brilliant. 

A walk down to the Plaza de Liberdade and a look around will quickly dispell any thoughts of shabby. The buildings are so im[osing and ornamented with statues and gargoyles enough for anyone.

Just near by is the Ingeja dos Clerigos with its mighty tower, which sort of towers over Porto if you get my drift. For a small fee you can climb the 240 steps of the spiral staircase as see it for yourself. Plenty of people seemed to think that was a good idea because there was a very long queue of people lining up to do just that. I wimped out on that one, but there are lots of other places you can see a lot of Porto from anyway.

Who would have thought that a book shop could be such an amazing attraction. Well the Livraria Lello is just such a book shop. So much so that it is ticketed entry, though the 5 euro of the ticket cost can be deducted from any books you buy. And the queue of eager people wanting to maybe buy a book was down the street there too. To put it into its proper perspective the Livaria Lello is an extraordinary place of extraordinary architectural significance. It features a central staircase which splits and curves and then rejoins at a sway backed bridge joining left and right sides of the upper floor. The store also has a strong connection with J. K. Rawlings of Harry Potter fame and a whole section is devoted to those books and their promotional merchandise.

Nearby are the twin churches of Carmo and the Carmelites. That is not a pop group by the way. They are medieval churches literally built side by side and resplendent in their ceramic hand painted tiled decoration. Frankly, I'm getting a little churched out. Carmo looked terrific but the Carmelites tiling could do with a bit of Jiff.

Lunch at the Mercado Borges, a public arts and crafts market and then we took a tour of the Palacio Bolsa. Initially I thought this was yet another previous palace of some king or other, but no. It was and still is the home of the Commercial Association of Porto. And boy isn't it grand, just the place to impress a prospective trading client that this is a lucrative place to do business.

The entry hall is vast with impressive mozaiced flooring and the ceiling carries the coats of arms of all the nations of the world that have commercial dealings with Porto. There are numerous chambers throughout the building for conferences (still in use) and board of trustee type meetings. While these all feature widely differing significant architectural stylings they all have one thing in common. They all are designed to impress anyone who enters. Styles vary from Venetian to Vatican, from Parisian to frightfully British. The Moorish room has to be seen to be believed as it rivals even the Alhambra.

Sorry guys, another church, but please stay with me. The Ingreja do San Francisco is exceptional. The outside looks like literally dozens of other similarly styled churches, but the inside just explodes in an extravaganza of golden baroque excess. Ticketed entry and no pictures allowed of the inside. Yeah, right, like that was gonna happen. Everyone was snapping away like crazy and it's not had to see why. The place is a gold leaf covered breath taker. While not particularly religious myself I do still like to show respect for others in their places of holy significance. But when a Chinese tour group was shown through the place while I was sitting there quietly, all that goes out the window.

Let's take a walk down to the famous Cais de Ribeira, the river front of Porto. Tourist central with bars and restaurants and bars and hawkers and street market vendors and bars. And crowds, lots and lots of people, sitting, drinking, eating and paying tourist prices for the privilege. There is a great view of the Ponte Luis I bridge with its high and low decks servicing both the high plateau section of Porto and the lower riverside section all in the one structure. Nice work Mr Eiffel.

As mentioned it is a real steep climb from the riverside to the plateau areas of Porto so we took the funicular back up. It stops at a tram stop at the top, so we took a tram home. It felt a bit like home to ride in a tram again.

One of a pair of statues in Placa do Joao I.

I think he was like a famous horse thief or something.

Buildings on the Placa de Liberdade. Gorgeous.

Statue of Pedro the umpteenth in Placa de Liberdade.

The front entrance (but closed) to the Ingreja  dos Clerigos.

It has the highest tower in Porto.

And here is that tower. 

For 3 euros you can climb all 240 spiral steps and have a wonderful view of Porto.

Did we climb it? Nah.

The queue outside waiting to enter the Livraria Lello.

The twin churches of the Ingreja do Carmo and the Ingreja dos Carmelitas.

Carmo and the Carmelites, sounds like a band.

Notice any decorative tiling?

 Some detail of the tiling on Carmo.

Inside the Livraria Lello.

Wonderful old world decor and a featured wooden central staircase.

 The shelves in the upper classical section tend to have a bust of the author instead of just their name.

 The central staircase between the ground and upper floors.

Oops, back to the Ingreja do Carmo for some more tile details.

The other church's tiles looked a bit tatty and could really do with a bit of Jiff.

Parque de Cordonaria, just near the twin churches.

Can you spot Jackie in Porto?

Inside the Palacio de Bolsa.
The entrance hall features the coats of arms of all nations that trade with Portugal.

Intricate mozaiced work on the vast floor of the entrance hall.

One of the discussion chambers in the Palacio.

This chamber had a distinctly Moorish appearance.

Yes, very Moorish indeed.

Statue of the Infante Henrique in the plaza in front of the Mercado Ferreira Borges.

And then the Tardis landed.

Entrance to the Ingreja de San Francisco.
Fairly staid on the outside.

A baroque explosion on the inside.
Apparently there was over 400 kilos of gold leaf used in the interior.

The river bank or Cais de Ribeira is a very popular spot.
Cafes and bars stand shoulder to shoulder along the entire length.Very touristy, very touristy prices.
These young ladies were modelling for a fashion shoot, so I shoot their picture too. Nice.

Bars and tourists on the Cais de Ribeira. Lots of both.

Colourful buildings line the river bank above the Ribeira.

The Ponte Luis I bridge, designed by Eiffel or maybe one of his disciples.
The upper level carries trains, the lower level carries cars.

Hey, Porto has trams too. Who knew?
This is a shot of the inside of a Porto tram.

And here is the tram.

It's not going to impress anyone from Melbourne but tourists flock to have their photos taken with them.