Porto's Cathedral Se And The Ribeira

This and the next few posts recount our 2nd very fine day in Porto, a city now high on our list of favorites. Ambience, scenic and architectural interest, and lots of wine.

The day did not begin well; bus #906, for two days now, was
the wildest ride ever not in an amusement park--warp factor
5 down unbelievably tiny alleys en route from the beach in Gaia
to Trindade in up-town Porto; the bus driver evidently side-swiped
this car and its driver caught up with and forced the bus to stop
and answer; a discussion ensued; so far as we could tell, other
passengers defended the car driver; another bus arrived, we all
piled on, and the rest is history

Humongous fountain in Rebeira

Best shot of Porto's Cathedral Se I could get; tour buses were
massing for attack

Inside it is over-the-top 12th century Romanesque; dark even
with floodlights going

Elevation; there were Gothic renovations in
later centuries, and I think someone tried to
make the arches a little more pointy

Choir, altar, gold, etc.

Scary water feature

Main facade and twisty device

So the main reason for visiting Cathedral Se (apart from the
welfare of your immortal soul) is the views from the terrace

Which is mostly of roof tops

And other churches

And still other churches

Ditto

Ditto again

Etc.; I have deleted several more

At length, we walked on, and down, through
the alleys of Ribeira

Where real people actually live

With their dogs

Best potted rubber plant ever, so far

Everyday scene

And on this alley

We had the daily special, menu da dia, at a seriously
hole-in-the-wall restaurant, seating for 18; the other
parties were French, who seemed quite pleased, so it
must have been good

Not pictured, the cream of veg soup and bread; on the plate is
a small house salad, big orders of frites and riz, and a breaded/
fried pork steak Vicki has mostly consumed; with a beer for
me and American champagne for her...10 euros total!OK, it
was the blandest meal I have ever consumed, but we were
happy; especially after the extravagance of the previous day

We moved on: there were yet more churches and other things to
see

Before getting to the other side and the long-awaited tasting