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.