Blogs from Porto, Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 14

We began the day by taking the reasonably new commuter train from near where we are staying, Gaia, into the centre of the city at a very cheap return ticket of 2.40 euros. The Sao Bento railway station has the walls of the concourse decorated with pictures of triumphant historical battles made from blue and white tiles. The effect was stunning. From the station everything seemed to be going uphill. And if there is an uphill there must be a downhill somewhere so the day was going to be one of physical exercise in temperatures in the high 20’s. The first stop was the nearby information centre to get all the maps and details of the city that we needed. The large city market was our first visit. On the ground floor were traditional fruit. vegetable ... read more

No dia 17 deste mês de Abril realizou-se, tal como estava programado uma visita ao Convento de Tibães e à Quinta do Convento da Franqueira. Partimos do Porto em autocarro rumo a Mire de Tibães, no Concelho de Braga. Este mosteiro fundado no sec XI, também chamado S. Martinho de Tibães, engloba a Igreja e o Cruzeiro de Tibães. A partir do sec XII foi ocupado pela congregação Beneditina. No sec. XVI, tornou-se a casa mãe da ordem para Portugal e Brasil. Os edifícios principais actualmente existentes foram construídos nos secs. XVII e XVIII. Um dos arquitectos que nele trabalhou foi André Soares. Com a extinção das ordens religiosas masculinas ocorrida em 1834, é vendido em hasta pública, com excepção da Igreja, Sacristia e Claustro do Cemitério. Ficou em mãos de privados até 1986. Foi classificado ... read more

Oporto Ah, Porto, where the utterly confusing conglomeration of narrow, cobblestone roads network together, somehow, to make up this stunning city connected to (yet somehow removed from) the rest of the world. I discovered it is substantially cheaper to take several small bus/train trips from Santiago de Compostela to Oporto, meeting the same bus in Vigo, Spain that had left from Santiago de Compostela for the last leg of the journey. First impression seemed much like Basque country, but on closer examining discovered the sun is a bit hotter, the gulls are excruciatingly louder/larger/stupider, and the language is relatively different, though much of it is understandable. Also worked on toning my musculature by lugging my rucksack and always walking uphill, it seemed. LOVE the buildings in Portugal covered in Azulejos, hand-painted tiles ... read more

Monday 28th February 2011 Time to move on to Figuera da Foz, a convenient stopping point about half-way to our next planned destination, Porto. The site itself was very well placed, next to a pine woodland and with its own private access to the beach. After the usual settling-in chores and a bout of schoolwork, the call of the sand dunes proved too strong. Ben and Jack tired themselves out running to the tops and back down again in a Star Wars Tattooine- inspired game of chase and dare. The day ended with some internetting in the TV/ recreation room on site. Tuesday 1st March 2011 Another long drive up to Porto. Once again, the proximity of the site to the beach allowed the boys to let off some steam after the journey – this time ... read more

My feeling toward the people of Europe is one of appreciation and affection. Everyone is kind and helpful. Were it not for the kind intervention of some unknown Samaritan in Brussels, we would have never FOUND our plane let alone catch it. Landing in Porto, the good feelings continued as we were accepted into the warm current of life in this vibrant and truly entertaining city. Again, strangers came forth to offer assistance (Maria hobbling about with her cane may have been some help in this regard...), unbidden but certainly appreciated. This is a real blue collar town. Folks here yell and gesture, they argue and kiss and generally strut around like a bunch of hormone-crazed teenagers. Workmen seem to be everywhere, knocking stuff flat and putting things up and patching things together.Buildings are ornate, but ... read more