On The Douro Again

Our last walk in Porto, Saturday afternoon, was along the riverfront of Ribeira, enjoying the views of the city above and of the other city across the river, Vila Nova de Gaia. And, of course, the river itself.

Looking across the Douro to Gaia

Tour boats

 

Ribeira and quay

The Dom Luis I bridge; designed by one of Eiffel's associates
(he did the RR bridge upstream), it was, in 1885, the longest
iron span to date, 385m; the Metro rides on top; cars, trucks,
and buses on the bottom; pedestrians on both

Us, there

More Ribeira

Music and dancing on the quay

Replica Douro river boats...from the vineyards upstream to the
warehouses in Gaia, where the wines are blended and aged

Welcome to Porto

V. N. de Gaia, that way

Franciscan Church And Two Markets

We pressed on, working our way down toward the river. First was the Order of St. Francisco church, famous for its gold-leaf job and other items, then the stock market (more wealth), and then another (now defunct) mercado. Porto's sights are not very great. We did not tarry. Its little things add up to much more, however...shoppes that feature authentic and interesting crafts, everyday sights and sounds and smells, the urban environment, verticalized, buskers all around, the river, the wine trade...(also it was a beautiful weekend and everyone was out)...

Church of the Order of St. Francis; 14th
century; much adorned after acquiring gold
from elsewhere

Whole lot of gold leaf

Vaulting

Another stepped altar

The very famous polychrome carved Jesse
Tree

The Tree arising from an anatomically correct
region of Jesse; and Mary riding on top...

Crucifiction of Franciscan monks in Japan

Deheading of Franciscan monks in Morroco

Across the way, in the chapel above the
"catacombs" and the ossuary, a Madonna of
Sorrows, or possibly a scene from Carrie

Another stepped altar

Burial vaults of assorted bishops, et al.

Bones of less important persons

Yet another church, I know, but this is really
a shot of a seriously lost RV in deepest Porto

A beautiful old market building, now just a restaurant and
exposition center; sic transit, Gloria

The old stock market building...another sight

We'd already seen our quota of wealth for the day

Hank the Nav, pointing the way

Speed limit in an alley

Pretty bridge to somewhere

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