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Tuesday, April
3’rd
Exit Lisbon for
now, but I will return later. Checking out from my nice hotel, and a Metro to
Oriente. From here I take the portugues fast-train – calle Alfa Pendular – to
Porto. It takes three
hours – easy and convenient.
In Porto I have
booked another old and cozy hotel.
Residencial dos Aliados is the name. I check in at room 409, a nice room
with a view toward Avenida dos Aliados.
The rest of the
day is spent on a little sightseeing in Porto Downtown. It’s a nice place.
Dinner is at a local café, with a burger, coca-cola and coffee for less than 5
Euro. It’s cheap here as well. |
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Wednesday,
April 4’th
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It’s a long
walk today. To the area on the other side of the river Doura. This part of town
is called Vila Nova de Gaia. This is where all the portwine-houses are located.
The walk over
there passes the famous Porto-bridge Ponte de Dom Luis I. Just on the other side
is the church Mosteiro de Serra de Pilar. There’s a nice view from here across
the bridge to Porto. I walk inside the church as well. That’s a bad idea. A
funeral will be taking place shortly – there’s an open coffin inside. I retreat
quickly and discreet. |
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Then it’s
downhill to Cais de Gaia, where the portwine-houses are located shoulder to
shoulder. They all run tours of the premises. Most of them are free. I visit one
of them – Croft Port –
never heard of it before, but I am not an expert in these matters. You see the
old cask where the wine is stocked, you get the story how the make portwine
(putting brandy into the wine – and in this way stopping the normal procedures)
– and you hear why just this house produces some extraordinary good portwine.
Finally you reach the part that it’s all about – the tasting. If you visit all
the portwine-houses you could get quite dizzy. You don’t see any production. It
all takes place at the farms out in the Douro-valley.
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I just visit
this one, and walk around the area instead. It’s a great area – especially when
you get a little out of the beaten track – and when you get uphill there are
great views across the river to Porto.
The trip back
takes me across the Dom Luis-bridge again. This time on the lower level of the
two that make out the bridge. Then you arrive in the old Ribeira-neighbourhood,
which I walk through on my way back to the hotel. It’s been a 7-hour walk, so
I’m pretty tired when I reach the hotel. So nothing much else is going on today. |
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Thursday, April
5’th
First day of
the eastern-days, but you hardly notice. Everything is normal, all shops, café’s
and restaurants are open.
Time for a trip
into the countryside today. That’s one of the good thing about my Lonely-Planet
guides. There’s always good suggestions off the beaten track.
Amarante is
such a place. The trip is not an easy one. First I take the lightrail to the
railway-station at Campanhas. Then a small regional-train for Livrecaõ. That
takes about an hour. Here there’s an even smaller train – or more a bus on
tracks – going uphill to the fine city of Amarante |
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I’ve
got 4 hours and 32 minutes to spend here, because trainschedules must be
hit for the return-trip. I spend the time walking around this fine
village. Rio Tamega runs through it, so there’s a fine little bridge and
a nice walk along the river. There’s also a church – Igreja de São
Goncalo. Then sights are done. But it’s a nice place to walk around, and
sit down for a coffee or two at the café’s. Relaxing after all these
major cities I have been to so far. The trip back starts at 5.32 and
ends at 9 back in Porto. |
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Friday, April
6’th
Today’s trip is
for
Braga. It takes an hour with a local train and costs 2 Euro.
Braga is a very
old town and the spiritual capitol of Portugal. Here in eastern there are plenty
of services and religious procession. The latter is late at night when the last
train has left, so I will miss them.
Of course
there’s a famous church – Sé – which they began to build in 1070 and finished
about 100 years later. It consists of lots of different styles, and it’s not to
pretty if you ask me.
After visiting
the church I stroll around town. It’s a fine old city. I loose my direction and
suddenly end up at a ringroad with some aparment blocks around. My map is not
worth anything – I’m outside the area that it covers. Finally I see a sign
saying “city-center” and is back on track again.
At 3 there’s a
train back to Porto. I take that one.
In the evening
it’s football-time. FC Porto
is playing home at Estadio do Dragão against
Vitoria Setubal. A crowd of
40.000 is here. FC Porto has been among the top-clubs in Europe for the last 5-7
years. That’s quite impressive from a city that’s not nearly as big as its
competitors.
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It’s a
good game from the hometeam. They are 4-0 ahead at halftime. Goels by
Adriano (2) Postiga and Jorginho. Best player has been leftwinger
Quaresma. Setubal is not a very good team, so Porto relaxes in the 2’nd
half, and wins the game with 5-1.
Then
it’s back to the hotel with the very effective light-rail. I’m back at
the hotel within 15 minutes after the match has finished – that’s quite
impressive. |
Saturday, April
7’th
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It’s Porto-day
today. There are not a lot of star-attractions in Porto, but anyway it’s a very
nice and comfortable city to visit. There are plenty of nice neighbourhoods,
small alleys and good views.
I start the day
with an attraction. The Torre & Ireja dos Clerigos. It’s a fine old church with
a 76 meter high tower, they claim to be the highest in Portugal. I walk up for
the fine views from the top.
From there I
head for the cozy neighbourhood of Vittorio. That’s an area with nice old house,
small streets and no tourists. It’s not mentioned in any guide-books. Normal
Saturday-lifes take place here, with shopping in the local shops. All the people
here shout to each other when speaking. They do that for some reason – they
don’t talk in a normal voice – they shout to each other instead – like being
afraid not to be heard. |
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After lunch
it’s time for a break at the hotel before the second walk of the day.
This one goes
to Porto’s cathedral Sé. It’s huge, but as it’s been the case with most of the
churches in this country, it’s not as glittery as many other churches in
southern-europe. For 2 Euro’s I alse get access to the cloisters of the church,
with a nice little museum and some fine tile-paintings.
From here I
heard for another area where the local’s are ruling. That’s Ribeira. There are a
few more tourists here compared to Vittoria, probably because this area is
mentioned in the guide-books.
Then on to the
central railway station Sao Bento and on to shopping-Porto, with more buildings
dressed in tiles and a good old fashioned pedestrian-street. If you want to shop
this is the place in Porto. I don’t want to shop, so I buy myself 2 sodas before
heading back to the hotel. |
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Sunday, April
8’th
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This is
Easter-Sunday, and the only day that most shops and restaurants are closed.
But trains are
running, so I head for the 11.15 to
Coimbra, about an hour
south on the fast Pendular-train. I take a 5 hour walk around Coimbra – or
should I say up and down Coimbra instead – since Coimbra is a very hilly city.
The highlight in Coimbra is the old
University dating back from 1537. It’s on the very top of the city, with
fine buildings and good views. Actually you have to pay to get into the oldest
part, but the guy taking care of the admission think that a small tribute to the
chemistry-students foundation for social events is a much better way to show
your appreciation.
At 6 I return
to Porto, where the only place to “eat” around is at McD. Not good – but
sometimes you have to hit the bottom.
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Monday, April
9’th
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This is the
last day in Porto, and it’s one of the days where I get to walk almost a hundred
miles.
I start the day
by walking down to Douro, where I find the only tramline I Porto. It goes west
–towards the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a very old tram, and it is having problems
running. Happily we pass the tram-historic museum on the way, so the driver can
get inside to pick of a few spareparts to make the machine running a little
further. Out at the coast there’s life as usual. Nice and cozy – but nothing
much to see.
Actually I
thought that there was a boat crossing River Douro to the other side to tiny
suburb of Afurada. But I can not find it, so I take the tram back to the center.
Then I walk across the bridge to the other side, and take a 4 km walk along the
fine wood-made promenade along Douro to Afurada. |
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Afurada is like
a different world. A small fishing-village so close to Porto. There iss small
fishing-boats in the harbour, and fishermen and women all over. And some nice
houses dressed in tiles with different colours – every house seems to have it’s
own unique colour and design.
I walk around
this village, while the locals look around. They are not used to tourist around
here, so they are probably wondering what he is doing here.
Then it’s
another 4 km back to the Dom Luis-bridge. I cross it again – and head up through
Rebeira and I’m back at the hotel at 5.
Back to
Lisbon |
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