Portugal 1 - a bit of port, sangria and a boat ride

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Another day and another country – we travelled out of Spain over unrelenting yellow landscapes as far as the eye could see. We passed the blue and white EU sign and entered Portugal. Our third country of the trip. We commented that by now in a usual holiday we would be travelling through at least 6 or 7 countries throughout our 5 week tour. Not so this time.

The scenery of Portugal changed dramatically from that of Spain. Instead of the arable farmland as far as the eye could see we were looking at hills, trees, more greenery and huge boulders. Dropped as if by some giant on the side of the road they loomed large. We also saw sight of huge areas of devasted forest where fires had loomed large destroying grass and trees in its wake.

We passed through into the toll motorway straightaway and this is where some foreigners make a mistake and drive on without the Via Verde box for the tolls. There are horror stories of drivers being stopped on route and fined 44 euros for travelling down the road which would have cost about 14 euros in tolls. We drove straight on and our little box beeped merrily proving it was working. As we drove along we passed signs telling us of the toll cost which was quite minimal 2 euros 35 cents every few miles. Each time we went under a gantry the little box bleeped.

We had to sit for a while in a parking area near to a petrol station. It was fairly noticeable that the parking areas did not have the charm or the shade of the French aires. They were rather dirty and more like overnight parking for long distance lorry drivers. The reason for stopping was that our house was on the market and the night before we had received an email to say that an offer had been made on it. We had turned this down and then received an updated one which again had been turned down by us. We were waiting for a call to update us on progress. It eventually came and the offer had been increased. We accepted it pending on the couple buying the house being able to get into the back garden. They were on holiday so it was now a waiting game and we probably would not hear anything more until the weekend. How to ruin a holiday in one easy move. The last thing we needed was to have a buyer in Wales whilst we were in Portugal.

We tried to forget about it but kept getting phone calls – did we need a solicitor – yes but we are on holiday. Eventually after all the tooing and froing we arrived at Camping Orbitur Madelena at a small town of Madelena a few miles from Porto of port fame. The site is part of the Orbitur group of campsites and is set in a woodland setting. A little like camping in Delamere Forest in Cheshire or the New Forest in Hampshire. The site is an ACSI site charging 16 euros a night which had to be paid up front. At the same time as paying you are issued with a pass for the lovely swimming pool, given a bus timetable and directions for the bus stop. We were directed to two areas to park Suzy both very haphazard, sandy and dusty. There was no designated place to park and the whole site seemed a free for all. We tried kathrein the satellite dish and she refused to perform – going up and then not coming down. We gave up in the end and tried the showers which were very dated, old fashioned and rather dirty. This has to be the worse site we have stayed on so far this holiday and probably the worse site since we started on our adventures in the motorhome. We gave it 1 out of 5 for being here.

The weather was hot and steamy and the clocks turned back to Greenwich Mean time. We slept reasonably well despite in spite of being under the flight path to the airport. Washing was done in the self service laundrette. WiFi which was free was found around the shop and bar area. We found most of the campers to be French which was quite a surprise as it is usually the Dutch and Germans who for some reason are not to be seen.

In the morning we walked to the bus stop and awaited the arrival of the 9.16 number 906 bus and paid our 1 euro 80 each single fare. The bus was heaving by the time it arrived in Porto almost one hour later. It went around the housing estates stopping at every stop. Some of the streets no more than alleys. How the driver got the bus round them I have little idea but he did with some ease.

We entered Porto down the hill and the site of the city Portugals second largest unfolded below us. The Romans had built a fort here where their trading route crossed the Duoro river. The Moors were expelled in the 11^th century and Porto thrived feeding and supplying the crusaders en route to the Holy Land. Porto made a fortune from the maritime trade of Portugal and later the spice trade. The wine trade later compensated for the demise of the spice trade.

We got off the bus at the top of the city and walked back down the hill towards the river. The streets were wide, treelined and the buildings grand and slightly French in style. Our first stop was the station of Sao Bento. This is the main railway station for Porto and was built on the site of an older monastery. It was completed in 1916 and the walls are completely covered with azulejos the blue tiles of the area. They depicted modes of transport, rural festivities and scenes of Portuguese life. We fell in with an old man who spoke excellent English, he was watching us looking at our street map and came over to tell us about his city. He was very proud of it and told us that he enjoyed chatting to strangers and telling them the best viewpoints. He directed us out of the station up the hill to the cathedral where he told us we could look back on the city and over the houses to the river.

The cathedral or the Se is imposing and a little forbidding. Even inside was a grey. Not the most interesting church we have seen so far. There was a cloister which was interesting with blue panelled walls but we missed this as the mass started and it felt wrong to be sightseeing. We sat for a while contemplating the service non of which we could understand. The music was simple but filled the cathedral, the clergy read the liturgy and the small congregation prayed. I guessed the Lords Prayer at one stage. At this point we quietly left. Outside we saw the Manueline Pillory which stands on the Terreiro da Se the cathedral terrace.

From here we walked down the medieval alleyways and stairways until we reached the waterfront which was bustling with life. Cafes spilling out into the street. The Duoro flows over 576 miles from its source in neighbouring Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. We took a river boat at 10 euros each to see the six bridges that span the river. The first the splendid Pont de Dom Luis I which was built in 1886 by an assistant of no less than Gustave Eiffel. This linked the city with the port producing district of Vila Nova de Gaia on the southern bank. The metro system of the city uses the top deck and walkers can use the funicular to get up and walk across the bridge before descending by cable car. Further upriver we passed the car transporting bridge the Infante Dom Henrique. We passed the warehouses and the barges which were unfortunately not under sail today and sat on dining room chairs rather than benches for the journey which took 50 minutes. The old trams rattled along the streets.

Lunch was spent on the waterfront – a steak sandwich and a mixed salad washed down with a jug of excellent Sangria. Tomorrow it’s a bit of a Roman day and a crusader day as we visit some Roman remains and a crusader castle.

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Photos

Porto
Tiles in sao bento railway station

Porto
One of the city bridges

Porto
The capital of port wine production

Portugal
After a bit of bully in Spain a bit of a chicken in Portugal

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Portugal is on our short list
We've been wanting to go explore for years. Thanks for sharing. Good luck on selling the house.

[JenGog]

Your blogs
Hi We follow your blogs too and love reading them . Its nice to read about places you have been to and recommend. We love Italy