The Reason People Visit Porto: A Visit to a Port Wine Cave

Deep in the Burmester Cave

The reason most tourists visit Porto -- and I think this is universally true among the Brits -- is for the port wine.  And no visit to Porto would be complete without a visit to a port wine "cave."

And visiting the port wine caves involves crossing the Douro River on the not-Eiffel bridge:

The caves -- which is not the American word "cave" but the Portuguese word for "cellar" -- are located across the water in the town of Villa Nova de Gaia, which you can call just "Gaia."  It's much nicer than being Oakland to Porto's San Francisco.  Or Newark to Porto's New York.  How about an Arlington to Porto's D.C.?  Or maybe a  Laughlin to Porto's Bullhead City?

Moving on, as I've taken that as far as it will go.  The cave I selected?

Burmester.  The guide from the organized walking tour had it among her recommends.  And it was the first one you come to when you cross the not-Eiffel bridge.  Good enough for me!

This is the waiting area for the English-language tour.  It was only a half-hour wait, which is not bad considering that you have to make reservations for many of the other caves well in advance.  The Brits, being massive port drinkers, have favorites and make their reservations before getting on the aeroplane.

That picture makes me look like I'm in port heaven.  To the light!

From the cave, I had an excellent view of the Ponte Luis I and the Douro River.  There were three kids standing on the rails of the bridge, ready to jump in the water.  Which they do.  For tip money.  In the above photo, if you look closely, about one-fifth of the way across the bridge from the left, you can see a pair of legs.  One of the kids had jumped and I caught him in mid-descent.

This is our tour, with Vincent (on the right) our tour guide:

The tour basically consisted of looking at oak barrels.  For tawny port, the wine is eventually moved from the massive barrels on the right to the smaller barrels on the left.  Ruby port, as well as white port, stays in the massive barrels.

Then, after learning about how port is made, it's time for some port tasting.

The raison d'etre for touring a port cave!  I opted for the 15 euro tour, which got me four glasses of port and two pieces of chocolate:

From front to back:  white port, vintage ruby port, regular ruby port, and a 10 year old tawny port.  The 10 year old tawny tasted like caramel.  I like caramel.

Tomorrow, I jet off to the Island of Madeira for the last two days of this vacation.

Organized Walking Tour of Porto

At the Pelourinho.  The town pillary.

Today was the day to take one of those walking tours that they have in all of the European cities, where it costs nothing but you tip the guide at the end of the tour.  Yesterday was the day for randomly walking around the core of Porto.  So if today was the day for an organized walking tour, yesterday was the disorganized tour.

Ana, the tour guide, is the one in red.

We started at the São Bento train station.

Which we were informed was once a convent, seized by the anti-clerical government in the 1800's.  They seized the convent, but promised not to evict any of the nuns.  It took 70 years for the last nun to die.

The São Bento train station is the one with the blue "azulejo" tiles depicting scenes of Portuguese history.  Across the street was a church decorated with the azulejos:

We were warned not to stand under this tree:

It's like something out of a Tippi Hedren movie.

This is the Teatro Nacional São João.

It was once an opera house.  Then it was a movie theater.  Now it's a live-theater kind of theater.

This was my first sighting of a tourist train type transport in Porto.  Foreshadow:  it would not be the last.

I'm on a walking tour, not a train-riding tour, so let's keep walking.   To the bridge.

This time I'm on the upper deck of the Ponte Luis I, which, apparently. according to the walking tour guide, was NOT designed by Gustave Eiffel.  Even though the street underneath it bears the name "Avenida Gustavo Eiffel."  It was designed by Eiffel's one-time cohort, Theophile Sayrig.  The Portuguese king ordered a design contest to build this bridge.  Eiffel lost.  Sayrig won.  Yet everyone seems to associate this bridge with Eiffel.  Hence the street name.

Let's look down to the right (west):

Let's look down to the left (east):

But this is my favorite view when crossing a high bridge:

Eyes locked straight ahead.

When we returned to solid earth, there was yet another tourist train:

Again, this is an organized walking tour, not a train-riding tour.  So let's WALK to the Cathedral:

Cathedrals in Lusophonic countries are always called "Sé," which is short for something I don't remember.  But they are always called "Sé."  That I remember.

Impressive under-carriage to the anatomically-very-correct horse statue.

This is the side view of Porto's Sé Cathedral:

And this is the main entrance:

And this is the Pelourinho:

It is not the original.  The original was destroyed when the Portuguese government opted to stop public executions.  It was reconstructed by the Portuguese fascist dictatorship as a "historical reminder."  Fortunately, it was not used for its historic purpose.  That was done behind closed doors.

This is a monument to the 4000 people who died when a bridge made of boats was destroyed at the time of a French invasion.

Portugal is now experiencing a major tourist invasion.  The bad news is long lines everywhere.  The good news is improved infrastructure for us tourists.

Like these free (but tip) walking tours,

Supper blogging in Porto

Cafe and Restaurante 31 Porto

Tonight's supper blogging isn't really fitting into any other thread, so it gets its own.

Tonight's appetizer course was purchased on name alone:

That is the "vulcão de salmão."  Translation:  Volcano of Salmon.  Now you understand why I had to order it.  And it was quite good, too.  Very peppery.

And for the main course, Bacalhau com Broa.  Codfish with Cornbread:

Quite a different take from the one at the Casa da Tia Helena in Alfama, Lisbon.  This was the very upscale gourmet version.  More codfish than cornbread, that's for sure.

I actually preferred the cornbread stuffing version in Alfama.

Now: A Furry Playing the Bass

A Furry playing the bass, And yet some people are indifferent.

One of the great things about travel is the chance to experience things you don't get to experience at home.  Case in point:  In Porto, I got to see a Furry playing the bass.  And playing pretty well, thank you very much.

Oh, and here's a cow painted up like the Portuguese flag:

And here's me.  Wearing a Cristiano Ronaldo mask:

Travel broadens the mind.

Walking in Porto

Along the Douro River in Porto's waterside Ribeiro neighborhood

It's a little bit cooler in Porto than it's been.  But the weather in Portugal is a lot like California:  cold in the shade, scorching hot in the sun.  So which direction for a "wander aimlessly around Porto" walking tour"?  Down the steep hill?  Or up the steep hill?  I chose "up."

And I run smack into the Stone Bust of Guilherme Gomes Fernandes.  I would say "he must be important he has a stone bust in a city square," but I looked him up on wikipedia.  First, he only has a Portuguese language page.  Bad sign for his fame status.  He was the commander of a volunteer fire brigade that unsuccessfully fought a fire that burned down a theater in 1888.  Kind of cheapens the coin of stone bust erecting, don't you think?

And right behind Senhor Gomes Fernandes?

A Steak 'N Shake.  Mediocre hamburger "steaks" and mediocre milkshakes, all under one roof.  Not a restaurant I thought would've leapt the Atlantic.  I thought I was seeing these all over Porto.  Turns out, from google maps, I just keep going past the same one.  At Praca Guilherme Gomes Fernandes.

Time for more pictures and less commentary:

Fonte dos Leões.  Translation:  Fountain of the Lions.  Clue:  It's a fountain.  With lions.

Igreja do Carmo.  Note the azulejo tiles on the east side of the building (your right).  Front view of same (with azulejos now hidden):

Next up:  the most disappointing site in all of Porto:

Livraria Lello.  Lello's Bookstore.  It is the beautiful old bookstore, with its famous interior stairwell. Seems J.K. Rowling -- the Harry Potter author -- lived in Porto for a long time and the interior of the bookstore has been copied for the interior of Harry Potter's Hogwarts.  Or something:

So now there is a long line of Harry Potter devotees waiting to get in.  And they charge admission!  To a bookstore!  Scratch this from my visit list.

But not the Torre dos Clérigos.  Or the tram in front of the Tower:

Another view, this time without sun blindness:

And if you can't choose between shooting a picture of the Torre dos Clérigos or the tram, do both:

From there, walking to the next destination, I spy the Douro River:

Next block down I spy an even wider swath of river:

And even wider swath yet from the stairs going into the Igreja Monumento de São Francisco:

Or if you prefer a rout boat in the river rather than sailboats, I have this picture:

Alas, I have only exterior shots of this incredibly beautiful church:

The interior is all gold.  Wood painted the color gold, but the effect is incredible.

And I hate to do this, referencing a site without posting a picture, the church contains an extraordinary piece of art known as the Tree of Jesse.  The link provided is the best picture I've found on the internet.  It is so much better to see for one's self.

Good-bye to Igreja Monumento de São Francisco:

We've seen hints of the Douro.  Time to walk along the waterside in Porto's Ribeiro:

You never know who you will see on Porto's Ribeiro:

On the other side of the water is the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, which is where all the port wine houses are.  (That's for tomorrow, hopefully.)  The bridge in the background, above and below, is Porto's renowned Ponte Luis I, the Luis I Bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel.

You may know him for his tower.

Tourism boat on the Douro:

Might be the same boat.  Might be a different one:

But this is the same Ponte Luis I from the same Gustave Eiffel:

Is the iron work looking familiar?  More sad news from Porto:  the funicular was closed with no notice as to when it would re-open:

So here's a look at the Ponte Luis I from another angle:

Next stop, the São Bento train station:

Why?  Are we going somewhere?  No.  We are here to see the São Bento's famous interior, with scenes of Portugal's past depicted in giant azulejo designs:

The train station was a short walk back to the Grande Hotel de Paris.

Statue of a newsboy:

Statue of Dom Pedro IV on horseback.  From his statuary catalog, you would think the man never dismounted.

Naked girl fountain:

Babies holding up the world statue:

The Garret statue in front of Porto City Hall.

Had enough?

Time to head back to the Grande Hotel de Paris for some nap time.