Porto - Home of Port Wine

Porto, Portugal

Silver Whisper docked at the port of Lexoes just above the mouth of the Duro River. Lexoes is about 6 miles downriver from Porto and is the main port serving Porto. I got a late start that morning and missed the approach.  I arrived on the top deck just as the ship was backing in to its spot on the pier and the local line handlers were attaching thick ropes to the bollards (T shaped metal pieces along the pier for tying up ships.)

Michael and I were on the first shuttle bus to Porto.  We took a scenic route along the river that kept me wondering where the city really was. The bus let us off at a park on the top of a hill. We were near a large government building and a photography museum.  The Clergios tower, the tallest landmark in Porto was nearby.  The city center was not visible.  We had acquired tourist maps and followed the shortest route to the center of town.  What the maps did not indicate was that the streets were extremely hilly so even relatively short distances appeared daunting. We went up and down a number of hills exploring the historic center of the city.

Fishmonger Selects a Fish for her Customer

Fruit, Vegetables and Dried Cod

Antique Tram Passes the Clergios Tower

Porto is a photographer’s dream. Michael and I both took several hundred pictures. We had originally planned choice to visit Vila Nova de Gaia across the Duro River from Porto proper.  This district has been the headquarters of the port- wine trade since the late 17^th century when imports of French wine were banned in Britain and the English turned to Porto for an alternative.  Wine merchants transported grapes from vineyards on the upper Duro to port-wine caves at Vila Nova de Gaia where wine was was produced and matured a number of years before export to Britain.  This practice exists today, the only difference being that the grapes are trucked down the river instead of floated down on flat bottomed barges. The wine caves and warehouses now have tasting rooms. 

We would have loved to cross the river and participate in a port tasting.  As it was, we weren’t interested in drinking before lunch and we had to leave the city relatively early.  We did look at the other side of the river from a vantage point near the Porto Cathedral.  It was easy to pick out the names of the famous port distributors painted on the buildings. I have a telephoto shot of Grahams on the far side of the Duro River.

Graham's is Across the River - The Nearby Buildings Block the View of the Duro

A unique aspect of Portuguese culture is the use of blue painted tiles called azulejos on many of the buildings.  The railway station had an especially arresting tile mural depicting Portuguese history. A church near the main plaza had extensive tile on its exterior and we saw smaller tile murals on many public and private buildings.

Railway Station Interior - Murals Date from the 1920's

Street Scene With Tile Fronted Church at Right

 The cathedral looked much like a castle on a hill.  The relatively plain exterior belied a rich interior. We checked out the interior and the surrounding plaza then descended to a view point below the cathedral that had a magnificent vista of the city.

Porto's Cathedral

Cathedral Interior

Stained Glass Window

View From Cathedral toward Clergios Tower

Michael and I really liked Porto.  I think it is worth another visit.  We toasted our day in the city with a glass of port, sitting on our veranda as Silver Whisper departed Lexoes at cocktail hour.

Michael Photographing the Railway Station

City Hall

We All Straggle Back to the Silver Whisper After a Day of Sightseeing  

The Cruise Terminal has a Display of an Old Locomotive

More Adventure than Expected in Lisbon

Lisbon

Michael and I flew from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on Monday, May 5.  The flight was uneventful aside from discovering we were not allowed into the Star Alliance Club despite our United Airlines Premier Silver status and our paid membership in the United Club, a Star Alliance partner.   It appears that the Barcelona airport does not allow just anyone who flies a lot into its lounge; one has to have to have Premier Gold status or higher for entry.  Pooh!

In Lisbon, we stayed two nights at the Pestana Palace Hotel.  The hotel has a real palace as the property’s centerpiece. The palace is gorgeous.  We stayed in a very comfortable standard hotel room decorated with antiques in a modern wing next to the palace.  Michael and I made forays into the city proper from this luxurious base. The breakfasts in the mirrored ballroom were fantastic.

Pestana Palace Sitting Room

Pestana Palace Main Gate

 The hotel front desk staff told us we could buy twenty-four hour transit passes near the railway museum, a short walk downhill from the hotel.  They failed to mention that the transit office people spoke no English nor had any interest in communicating with Michael or me.  After a great amount of gesturing and pointing at the Portuguese signs displaying fares, we emerged from the transport office with two twenty-four hour passes costing six Euros each.  We immediately put them to use taking the light rail to the Praca do Comercio, the Commerce Square at the water’s edge of the Baixa district.  The late afternoon and evening were spent walking about the area.  We ate a Portuguese paella at an outdoor restaurant.  After dinner we climbed to the Chaido area and explored there. We walked about half a mile farther than necessary to find the right bus  back to the Pestana and arrived there just as the daylight was ending.

Eiffel Inspired Elevator to Chiado and Barrio Alto (the Upper Town)

Praca (Plaza) da Figueira (Lower Town)

Woman Selling Water in a Square in Barrio Alto

Hanging out in the Park

Chaido Building Exteriors

Praca do Comercio

 Michael and I had the whole next day for serious sightseeing.  We took antique trolley  to the Convent da Graca atop the Alfama. From there we walked to the Castle St George, to the Cathedral and to several viewpoints, called miradouros, overlooking the city and the river.   At one viewpoint, we encountered a group from the Silver Whisper touring Lisbon on the last day of their chartered cruise.  We could see the ship anchored across the river.  There were three huge Cunard “Queen” ships docked just below us.  A Princess ship and a freighter took all the space at the other downtown pier.  With so many large ships in port, there was no room for the Silver Whisper at any of the piers so the passengers came ashore from across the river by local ferry.  Michael and I hoped that Silver Whisper would move closer by the next morning when we were to embark.

"Small" House Across Street from Pestana Palace

Antique Trolley - It Accepts Smart Cards!

Looking from Convento da Graca to Castelo Sao Jorge

Small Shop on Street Within Castle Walls

Interior Se de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral)

Fado Singer Trying to Bring Customers into Bar

Azulejos - Painted Tile Mural

Cunard's Three Queens Beyond the Red Roofs of Lisbon

We took another long ride in a modern trolley to Belem, an historic district on the western side of Lisbon.  There we walked out to the Monument of the Discoverers on the riverside, saw the sixteenth century Belem Tower, and the wedding cake exterior of the St Jerome Monastery. When we were ready to return to the Pestana, neither bus nor trolley appeared for more than half an hour.  We took the first bus that came and it was overcrowded. We changed buses a few times to get back to the hotel and most of them were very crowded too. There seemed to be an exceptional number of tourists on a Tuesday in early May.

St Jerome Monastery

Monument to the Discoverers

Belem Tower from the Water As Silver Whisper Leaves Lisbon

As soon as we reached our hotel room, I discovered my i-Phone was missing.  That morning, I had placed it in a zippered compartment of my handbag and had not opened the bag all day.  When I took it off, the bag was unzipped and empty.  Fortunately, my valuables were in the room safe and I was carrying my transit pass, an ID and a small amount of cash in a deep pocket. The bag had only tissues, sunscreen and the now missing phone.  I had been the victim of a professional pickpocket, probably on one of the crowded buses.

Michael managed to disable and “brick” my phone by calling ATT.  No one had tried to use it before he did so I assume he did it fairly quickly after the phone was taken.  We were both relieved that nothing had been compromised. Only a few pictures were lost.

We went back to the Biaxa area, walked around some more, had a shot of cherry liquor at a small bar, and enjoyed an exceptional dinner of fresh sardines and pork in a proper sit-down restaurant with tablecloths. The following morning we took a long walk around the hotel neighborhood before taking a taxi to the Silver Whisper around 11:00 am.

Michael and I were warmly welcomed aboard and were delighted to see the luggage we had transferred to the silver Whisper in Malaga was waiting for us in our suite.  We spent the afternoon reacquainting ourselves with the ship, greeting the crew and unpacking.  We watched the Silver Whisper’s departure from Lisbon from the veranda behind the Panorama Lounge sipping cocktails and taking pictures.  We were beginning another cruise!

Leaving Lisbon

Valencia, Spain on a Sleepy Sunday

Valencia

We visited Valencia on Sunday, May 4.  Silver Spirit docked at a huge commercial port some distance from downtown Valencia.  The ship provided a shuttle bus to take us to the old city, a number of miles inland originally on what had been the River Turia.  The river, prone to floods, had been diverted south of the city in the late1950’s and Valencia now straddles an 18-mile meandering series of parks spanned by beautiful bridges.  The old city mostly dates from the middle ages although there are some Roman and Moorish ruins near the cathedral. The plazas, museums, churches and public buildings have been extensively restored in recent decades and Valencia has become a relatively prosperous tourist destination..

The shuttle bus dropped us at the edge of the “old town” on a street facing the park.  We walked along back streets following our trusty tourist map until we reached the “Plaza de la Virgen” and the first two of the three large churches Michael and I would visit that morning.  In the “Basilica Virgen de los Desamparados” we saw what must have been a memorial service.  A woman in black stood with a priest chanting prayers that seemed to repeat a man’s name.   Many people were  in the pews.  We listened respectfully for a brief while and proceeded to the main Cathedral.  There, a number of priests were conducting a lengthy plainsong, or chant, in an almost empty church.  Because of the service, we didn’t explore the side chapel to view the agate cup purported to be the Holy Grail.  Since there were very few people in the pews, Michael thought that perhaps the priests were practicing.  Later, I looked up the Cathedral’s calendar and found that the daily 9:30 am mass is sung in Latin.  I guess that not many parishioners are interested in attending that particular mass.

Plaza de la Virgin - Basilica and Cathedral on Left

Basilica de Nostra Senora de los Desamparados - Well Attended Memorial Service

 

Cathedral - Few Attend Latin Mass

Main Entrance to Cathedral - Michael Using McDonald's Wi-Fi

 Later, near the central market, we went into the recently restored church of St John that had been a bombed out ruin since the Spanish civil War. The interior was magnificent.  We encountered a large congregation raptly listening toa priest delivering an energetic sermon.  Even though I didn’t understand a word of Catalan, the priest’s earnestness was impressive.  Altogether, Michael and I encountered three very different Spanish Catholic church services. Appropriate for a Sunday, I guess.

St John's Restored Interior

Even though the Modernista (a Catalan version of Art Nouveau) Central Marked was closed, many street vendors had set up booths and tables around its perimeter and on the adjacent streets.  Vendors displayed a mix of used and new clothing, household items and some craftwork.  Across the street, along the side of the historic Silk Exchange building, we saw coin and stamp dealers displaying their wares on folding tables.  The area had an air akin to a swap meet, part social, part fans discussing the various items and impressing each other with their knowledge, and part the business of bargaining for possible treasures.

Coin and Medallion Dealer

 The Silk Exchange (La Lonja) was a treasure of a building. Built in the fifteenth century, the height of Valencia's importance as a trading city, this was Valencia’s original silk and commodities exchange.  The ground floor has a huge hall with twisted Gothic pillars.  This is where merchants made their deals.  A side wing had two floors of meeting spaces where the Tribunal del Mar, the first merchant tribunal in the Mediterranean,met. The second floor, has a magnificent coffered ceiling.  Orange trees laden with fruit filled the courtyard; no doubt they were Valencia Oranges.  The whole is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

Silk Exchange Trading Floor

Coffered Ceiling in Silk Exchange

Valencia Oranges in Courtyard Garden

Michael and I walked from the Silk Exchange through the center of the old town to 1921 Modernista  style Estacion del Norte railway station. The exterior is richly adorned with ceramic reliefs of Valencia Oranges.  Next to the station is the bullring, one of the oldest in Spain. Across the street was another McDonald’s where Michael was able to access free Wi-Fi by standing outside near a front window.

Estacion del Norte With Oranges

One of the Oldest Bullrings in Spain

Checking E-Mail at another McDonald's

We stopped to admire the post office and telegraph building with its wrought iron Tessla sphere on top.  Valencia's central post office is famous for its wedding cake architecture its old-meets-new interior.  As it was Sunday, we admired the exterior only and didn't see the famous interior.

Town Hall Square, Valencia, Spain

Post Office & Telegraph Building - With Tessla Sphere

Michael and I found Valencia’s old town to be easily walkable with many interesting side streets and most of the main attractions near each other.  We didn’t manage to see the rest of the city except for glimpses from the shuttle bus.  I would have liked to see the radical modern architecture of the City of Arts and Sciences, much nearer the port but not accessible on foot.  I think we saw about as much as anyone could in the four hours we spent ashore.   

We spent the afternoon packing our remaining two suitcases, balancing the load so that the carry-on weighed no more than 17 pounds, TAP airline’s weight limit for carry-on luggage.   The following morning we left Silver Spirit in Barcelona and went directly to the airport for our flight to Lisbon.  We were looking forward to a two day shore excursion in Portugal  before joining Silver Whisper for another cruise.

Leaving the Port of Valencia