Over 30 years since We last walked around Oporto; Thomas, (oldest son) in a buggy.
Loveable urchins tweaking his cheeks and giving him kiss on the cheek,as we descended from the Cathedral.
A tour of Sandeman’s Port House, where we bought some coasters that we used for dinner parties, for years! So posh; so pretentious.http://ayay.co.uk/backgrounds/vintage_labels/liquor/sandeman-port-and-sherry.jpg
Where to begin? Or end? Everywhere you look is a melange of washing lines and historic buildings.
View from Porto’s tallest building, the Irmandade Dos Clerigos.
Sunday 23 rd June
Feast of San Jon – Patron of Porto – their biggest feast day of the year.City in preparation and lots of locals and travellers enjoying a hot day and jovial atmosphere.BBQs of all shapes and sizes on every corner and all along the wharfs of the Douro
Walked up to the Cathedral, where the Caminho proper begins
View across to the Douro.
A lot of views wherever you stop in this fascinating city
The waterfront. River views:-
Take a tram alongside the quays.
Henry the Navigator dominates the scene in front of the old market hall
Tiles ; Portugal’s finest….
“I give you good price”.
Porto has 6 fine bridges.
I enjoyed lunch here.
take the Funicular and the stroll across the Luis 1st Bridge
Porto’s Metro system runs alongside the pedestrian walkways.
Lots more to come.
Special offer on the Cable Car down to Villa Da Gaeia.5€ return, including a port tasting – not in the cable car but in one of the many Port warehouses.
Unspoilt back streets and a shop that I know would appeal to someone I know!
Time for a Vinho Verde and a label that brought back memories of previous holidays and a Caminho, last year
Return journey.
These were the boats that used to bring the Port Wine down the River.
” Espaco Corpus Christi,” where I got my “pilgrim Passport” stamped and an altar dedicated to St James
( these photos are samples of the day in Oporto – will post all the snaps on Facebook )
Will conclude this Blog with photos of a reunion with some Portuguese friends who we met on our Caminho, last year – they made the trip to the hotel to share a drink and memories – OBRIGADO !
Valter designed this T-shirt as a momento of last year’s Caminho, with the names of all of us who met along the way.
He also gave me one of the mallets,you can see, that everyone buys on this Feast Day.I shall give it to my grandson,Tom Henry.
Isabella came,too and we all recollected some of our great memories of last year ‘s walk.
Finally a group shot .
And what did I learn from this year’s walk? Well, there is no designated coastal path from Lisbon to Oporto. There are various reasons, but the principal factor would be the lack of infrastructure,I.e
No Albergues and no way marking .There is not a tradition to even revive. That said,it is still a challenging journey with breathtaking landscapes and a variety of terrain. Looking at the Atlantic.
or,inland.
The food and wine.
But most impressively the hospitality and helpfulness of the Portuguese people.
Remember
Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much….Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I hope you enjoyed the Blog and that it might encourage you take a walk along one of the ways,
if not this one.
ZenPeregrino wrote:In the words of Sufi Muslim poet Rumi:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.”
Buen Camino.
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