PORTO WALKING TOUR Monday 12/16/2013

PORTO WALKING TOUR

 

 

Elizabeth skipped the tours today as jet lag exhaustion caught up with her.

AZULEJO TILEhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azulejo 

We started in the train station where there were wonderful large tile pictures in the white with blue. 

These were a great deal of fun for me.  I wanted to see the tile art here in Portuguese from the first I read of the trip

 

 

The tile at the top show vines growing up tree trunks.  In old times the old folks trained the vines to grow up trees in order to preserve the precious soil and space in gardens for vegetables.  
 

 
I remember that the fishing book I read (which I can't find at home now)
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Old-Place-Through-Portugal/dp/0671782266
 noted that every space in Portugal was planted with something.  We are so in love with our lawns here in the States. 
And they are so close to green cement, ecologically barren of anything alive, especially when we cut as short as we feel required to keep them and spray them with chemicals. 
I would hope that in future time we value people who grow food in the space we now insist must be lawn space.
However, I am not much of one to talk, having no garden except my little pots of basil and mint that I carry North and South with the season.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They depicted scenes of history and culture.  I best liked those that showed the common people eating or drinking or living.  I am still not so much for aristocracy, although that is what is considered the most important part of most histories.

 

The most difficult part of the visit to the Porto train station was that I had to use the bathroom and it cost 50 eurocents.  I had no coins.  I had a 10 euro note and no one wanted to make change.  I went up to a fellow selling magazines and such in the center by the train.  He spoke English.

"Well, where can I get change?"  I asked.

"Another place," he answered.

The only smart aleck I met in Portugal. 

 

Finally, I appealed to a fellow from my group, and he had the change.  Nice. 

Later, I learned that the nearby McDonald's offered bathrooms for free.  Another guide had mentioned it on the bus.  I should have thought of it.

 

Now back to tile.

There was wonderful tile on Almas Chapel (Chapel of Souls), a neoclassical temple.  The tiles were painted by Eduardo Leite and used to tell Biblical stories, especially useful to the illiterates and the poor as this then would be a source of the Bible.

IMAGES OF THIS ALMAS CHAPEL

Saint Anthony was born in Lisbon and so we run into him quite often on this journey.

My friend, Mary, born in the Azores, once prayed to him that I would find a  lost checkbook.  And I found it.  He is the saint of hopeless causes. 

STATUES
Statue of Pedro IV  -  He was a good fellow.  He founded Brazil.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Estatua_D_Pedro_IV_b_(Porto).JPG

I love statues, but they always seemed dedicated to celebrities.  Porto was no exception.  There was one bronze of a fellow who looked like a paperboy.  I did not photograph this, but I liked it. 
 

Mixed in the usual kings and such were some writers and poets.  And common people as well.
PAPERBOY STATUE

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/218846863115516286/

HENRY THE NAVIGATOR

There was a good bit of Henry the Navigator here too.  Our guide said that he had only navigated once, to Africa.  We drove by this statue. 

He is credited with inspiring exploration.  Exploration here is very important to the self image of Portugal.  They don't see it at all as invasion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/h/henry.shtml
 

There was an interesting story of sending off Henry with meat for the journey, but keeping back the tripe.  This then was eaten in Porto.  So it became a local dish and is such today.  In one text I found, he had motivated the entire city of Oporto to abstain from meat for a year, so he would have enough for his journey.  They are still called tripe eaters. “tripas à moda do Porto”.
Here are a look at the dishes that evolved.

TRIPE IN PORTO

I did not eat any tripe in Porto, and unlike other dishes I missed, I don't regret it.
Once, my old friend Paco took me to a restaurant in Madrid that was inexpensive and very good.  He had me take some of the tripe stew there.  I found it unappealing, the chewing gum like part of beef.
Now I skip it just because I skip most red meat.

We passed an interesting iron red square that looked like a market, but actually was used to store the fish.   

RIVERFRONT

http://wikitravel.org/en/File:Porto3flat-cc-contr-oliv1002_edit2.jpg

 

We passed the city hall that was built in granite in the 1920's, the Holy Trinity Church which still gives soup to the poor.
And we passed this square with a great lion fountain. It is called popularly Lion's Square.  It is part of the University. 

http://www.afar.com/highlights/praca-de-gomes-teixeira-the-square-with-the-fountain-of-lions

 

I wished we had stopped to get a long look at the fountain.

LION'S SQUARE FOUNTAIN 

 

 

We passed sycamore trees that had “elephantitis” and were swollen in the bottom of the trunk.  They live hundreds of years.  Near there was a bronze sculpture of men in bleacher like seats who were laughing so hard that one had fallen part way  down the stairs.  That was pretty funny. 

BRONZE OF MEN LAUGHING
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We passed a monument dedicated to the Penninsula Wars when Portugal defeated the French.  It was symbolized by this lion pounced on an eagle.
IMAGE OF LION ON EAGLE
This was on top of a huge column.

 

Camilo Castelo Branco wrote a book called “Love to Perdition” based on an affair he had with a married woman.  Both were imprisoned.  There was a statue to him and her in one square.  It was very sexy.  She was basically naked and wrapped around her lover. 

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scarlet-poppy/8495989576/

 

ANOTHER PHOTO OF THIS STATUE 

 

This is Camilo Castelo Branco, the author of Amor de Perdicao, a 19th century novel Camilo Castelo Branco.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amor_de_Perdi%C3%A7%C3%A3o

 

In the midst of all these old and formal statues and works of art, this seems very racy and in general seems very racy for Portugal.

 

I liked it.

 

 

BUILDINGS

Much of this tour was a quick look at buildings and statues without much time to really enjoy the aesthetics if they even existed.  I did not like that part.

 

  

CLERIGOS CHURCH
This one we visited.

Nicolau Nasoni
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolau_Nasoni
designed this interesting baroque tower.  Later he became a member of the Clerigos clergy and was buried in the church somewhere in an unmarked section.  It was his request.  He wanted to be just another clergyman


This is his oldest documented building and probably the most famous and the tower is an emblematic monument.  It is 75m in height and has 240 spiral steps leading to a spot on the top.  We did not go there for a view of Porto.
From the outside it is eight sided, but inside it has an elliptic baroque and rococo floor plan.
The church was dedicated to Our Lady of Ascention.
Inside the cathedral visit was interesting, but did not capture my full delight. 
Elizabeth was not well enough for this visit, so that may have dampened my enthusiasm. 

 I did like the carved wooden choir area.  I always like those. 

 

Our very attractive red headed  guide was very good,  and she seemed to know every building and statue in the city.  But I would better enjoy some more stories that reflected the lives of the people in everyday terms rather than the politics and history from the top down.

The altar was crowded with marble and gold worked oppulence.  Often the attention here in Portugal is on Mary rather than Christ and it is like that here.  Everything is “Our Lady of.” Here the lady was perched above some beautiful marble. 

I like all of this in general, but I think the architects try for too much in limited space. In contrast I am unhappy with the modern designed places that try for too little.  The gothic seems to work for me, balanced but still intricate. 
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I was not a fan of the most modern building we saw in our travels.   

CASA DE MUSICA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Casa_da_musica.JPG
http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Portugal/Porto/Casa%20da%20Musica

This was designed and built by the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and finished in 2005.  I am not too thrilled with this.  It just seems out of place in a city of baroque design.  There was some protest in Porto at first, but once they saw how it drew tourists, they came over to favor it.  I just don't much like modern design.

PORT WINE KOPKE

Around the corner from the church, I went in a little shop and bought some white port wine for Elizabeth.

This really tasted good in the evening and Elizabeth was pleased I remembered to buy some.   I do like the white port, and I know it is better for me as it has less sugar.  In most white wines there is a sour taste, but this is so sweet, that is eliminated.   I wonder how close it is to Uncle Charlie's wine, sauterne, that my mother always resented buying just for him at Thanksgiving when the Mogan David was plenty for the rest.
 
Here is another fine sense of the place with plenty of really wonderful photographs
 
http://www.aliadventures.com/2012/11/a-walk-through-porto/

http://www.aliadventures.com/2012/11/a-walk-through-porto/

 One shop had lots of hanging bacalau.  There is more now because everyone celebrates Christmas with this traditional food cooked in so many ways that they claim you can eat a different version every day of the year.

Here is an interesting site that sums up many of the churches in Porto. 
http://www.the-yeatman-hotel.com/en/porto/churches/



In Porto also is a famous bookstore named Lello e Irmao.  We could not take photos, but here is a sense of it
We could not take photos, but here is a sense
IMAGES OF THIS BOOKSTORE   Lello e Irmao

The staircase was made more famous because it influenced the writing of Harry Potter books as did the cape at Coimbra.  The author taught in Porto.  It looks like it moves. 

I liked the stained glass with the label, "Deus in Laores"
You can see it here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Lello-e-Irmao-the-Worlds-Third-Best-Bookstore

 

 We drove next toward the mouth of the Douro.  Imagine me missing this following sculpture. 
It was announced. 
I looked. 
I missed it. 
Well, a good reason perhaps to go back.

 

FISHING NET SCULPTURE

 

I did not miss the live fishermen and their nets at an area where they staged their trips.  I could not photograph them, but I have a clear image of them looking up at the bus as we passed them, with their real nets scattered about.

 

The waves here near the mouth of the Douro were amazing, crashing against rocks.  The mouth of the river itself was less impressive.  I liked the breakwater, but the water inside was very calm. 

I then had the best bathroom break, one totally unlike the Train Station, it did not cost 50 euro cents but was free. 

BATHROOM DETAIL AT THE MOUTH OF THE DOURO

 

 

 

This little public bathroom house was renovated recently.  It has an old ceramic look.  Inside was the largest white urinial I have ever seen.  A Scottish fellow said it had a twin in Scotland until they tore down that bathroom.

The outside was covered with interesting tile design.  Near the bathroom was a miniature golf. 

My word of the day was "ciclovia"  which translates to bike path. 

CALEM

We went to Calem wine making place and took a tour.   

We saw the casks where the wine is made.  The white wine requires the least time.  The Ruby is next.  The Tawny is aged the longest, and so is the most expensive.  It is done in small oak barrels and takes on more of the oak taste.  The Ruby is more fruity.  The white is less sweet and dry. 

They use the barrels for about 50 years and then they have to break them down and rebuilt new ones from the wood in the cellar because the large barrels won't fit in the door.  A new barrel takes some white wine for a year and then some red before it is used for port.  Scotland buys the old barrels and uses them for another 10 years to soak their  whiskey.  29 different grape varieties go in the tawny and a brandy like grappo that is 77% alcohol.  Only 3 grapes are used for the white.  One grape used here is that tempranillo that I like in Spanish red wine. 

Floods can make the barrels float.  They secure them. 

When they finish one batch of wine, the barrels must be cleaned.  A guy goes inside and does the work.  The air is very full of wine.  Once a fellow dropped in there and not one found him for a few days.  He died.  So most of the time the fellow who goes in the barrel sings, and someone listens or he takes a candle and someone watches to see if the candle goes out.

 

 These stick like pieces on the sides of the barrels are used in measurements.

The port was good but not as good as what we had in Porto or the Kopke I bought there.  Kopke was right next to the this tasting experience.

http://wineworthimporters.com/porto-kopke/