Port in Porto

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"The wine producing Douro region is the third oldest protected wine region in the world after the Tokaj-Hegyalja region in Hungary, established in 1730, and Chianti, in 1716. Grapes grown for port are generally characterized by their small, dense fruit which produce concentrated and long-lasting flavours, suitable for long aging.

In 1678, a Liverpool wine merchant sent two new representatives to Viana do Castelo, north of Oporto, to learn the wine trade. While on a vacation in the Douro, the two gentlemen visited the Abbot of Lamego, who treated them to a "very agreeable, sweetish and extremely smooth" wine," which had been fortified with a distilled spirit. The two Englishmen were so pleased with the product that they purchased the Abbot's entire lot and shipped it home. The continued English involvement in the port trade can be seen in the names of many port Shippers and brands: Broadbent, Cockburn, Croft, Dow, Gould Campbell, Graham, Osborne, Offley, Sandeman, Taylor, and Warre being amongst the best known." Wikipedia

On Sunday, we took the Metro across the beautiful bridge designed by a student of Eiffel. From the other side of the Duoro River, we could see most of Porto. We strolled across the bridge and back withe Sunday throngs, and then climbed up to round church for an even better view. We then walked down the steep streets to the riverfront, where families and walking groups were enjoying the sun. We missed taking a tour of a port making company (all with English names..) because they closed for two hours in the afternoon, but stumbled upon a photo exhibit of old pictures of Porto, put on by the Taylor Company. The admission to the warehouses where the show was hung included a tasting of a new rose port.. Rose port is a very recent variation on the market, first released in 2008 by Poças and by Croft, part of the Taylor Fladgate Partnership. It is technically a ruby port, but fermented in a similar manner to a rosé wine, with a limited exposure to the grape skins, thus creating the rose colour.

We walked back on the lower part of the bridge, and headed home....

On Monday, we planned to do the rest of the sights, since the rest of the week is now booked up with a trip to the former capital and university town of Coimbra, a river cruise, and a trip to the beach...and then our departure early Friday morning...

We started with the Tower of the Clarigos, part of the church of the Clarigos Construction of the church began in 1732 and was finished around 1750, while the monumental divided stairway in front of the church was completed in the 1750s The monumental tower of the church, located at the back of the building, was only built between 1754 and 1763. The baroque decoration here also shows influence from the Roman Baroque, while the whole design was inspired by Tuscan campaniles. The tower is 75.6 metres high, dominating the city. There are 240 steps to be climbed to reach the top of its six floors. This great structure has become the symbol of the city.

The stairway to the top of the tower is narrow and there are people coming up and going down...it made for an interesting climb!

Our next stop was the Lillo bookstore. We had been past it the other day, but didn't pay to go inside. The entrance fee goes towards a book purchase..a great idea, since they had so many tourists just coming in to look, and not buying...

We then moved on to the Palacio of the Bolsa, the former stock market building. The stock market moved to Lisboa in the 1990s and the building is now rented out for events, and open for tours most days. Building work began in 1842 following the plans of a Porto architect, who designed a Neoclassical palace of Palladian influence, inspired by previous structures built in the city. Most of the palace was finished by 1850, but the decoration of the interior was only completed in 1910 and involved several different artists. The carving of the granite staircase took nearly 20 years to complete!

The highlight of the Palace is, however, the Arab Room, built between 1862 and 1880. The room is decorated in the exotic Moorish Revival style, fashionable in the 19th century, and is used as reception hall for personalities and heads of state visiting Porto. The walls have Arabic inscriptions praising Allah, intended as a slap in the face to both the clergy and the past royalty, showing that the people with control of the money could do what they pleased...!

"The reason for building a venue of this kind was, at least as far as Porto was concerned at the time, to boast of its economic power and to draw the European businessmen to make investments in the city."

Our final visit of the day was to the Crystal Palace gardens, which turned out to be a longer walk than we expected...Along the way we walked through many different neighborhoods, and saw part of the original outer walls of the city. There was a book fair in the Palace (which is quite ugly, and replace the original a few decades ago).

We had a long, but interesting walk home...and had dinner across the street again...

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Photos

Photo exhibit in an old warehouse
This window hadn't been closed in years, and it was clear that water poured down into the warehouse when it rained...

Ponte de Dom Luis I
Designed by a student of Eiffel

Sexy posing in the church!
Three young women were photographing each other...