Day 147: Porto, Portugal

Friday, 2 June 2017
At Sea — Atlantic Ocean … En Route to La Coruña, Spain

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:00p (WEST) … UTC 7:00p (2 June)
Temp: 61.9F (16.6C)
Position: 41.41.98N / 9.04.02W

Just to travel is boring, but to travel with a purpose is educational and exciting.
~ Sargent Shriver ~

We rocked a bit last night as the ship made its way north to today’s port of call in Porto, Portugal …. situated along the Rio Douro estuary … and the second largest city in the country.  Let’s get the name thing cleared up first.  The Oceania itinerary lists this port call as Oporto … this is the English version that has come about as a result of a misunderstanding.  You see, in Portuguese, the city’s name is accompanied by a definite article — “o” Porto meaning “the” Port.  I’m going to use the name preferred by the Portuguese … it is their country after all.

We were still having breakfast when Insignia made the turn into Porto do Leixões … located just north of the mouth of the Douro River.  Dallying over breakfast, we missed the 9:15a courtesy shuttle to Porto.  We didn’t want to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus, so we took GM Victor’s suggestion to use public transportation instead.  Hopping on the interport shuttle to the gate, we walked the short distance into Leixões and took the metro — the A Line — from the Brito Capelo Station … 30 minutes into the city … getting off at the Bolhão Station in downtown Porto.

The walls of the metro station are covered with decorative tiles depicting daily life.

Mui was in need of a pick-me-up — plus he wanted to ask for directions — so we stopped at a small kiosk in the metro station where he got a coffee and we split a pastel de nata … one of the famous Portuguese egg tart pastries.  Oh my … filled with custard, the pastry was simply divine!  We should have joined the very long queue at the world-famous Pasteis de Belém shop in Lisbon after all.  Oh well … we’ll make up for the missed opportunity another time.

Once we had our bearings, we walked through the busy streets of the city towards our first stop of the day — the São Bento Railway Station … built on the site of a former Benedictine convent after it fell into disrepair.  Our purpose in going to the station was not to catch a train somewhere, but to see the beautiful azulejo tile panels that decorate the vestibule of the building.  Dating back to the 19th century, and completed in 1903, inside the station are some 20,000 tiles stitched together to depict scenes from Portuguese history.  One doesn't really need to know what the scenes mean to appreciate the beauty of the panels, which took 11 years to install.  They were simply jaw-droppingly amazing.

From the station, we made a detour to visit Igreja de Santo Antonio dos Congregados [Church of St Anthony’s Congregation], a church built at the end of the 17th century on the site of a chapel dedicated to the saint.  Normally, we visit churches to see the stained glass windows inside … and there were indeed some beautiful ones here.  But what attracted us to this church in the first place were the azulejo tiles added to the Baroque-influenced façade in the 20th century.  (I understand there are other Porto churches with more elaborately-tiled exteriors, but we didn’t get to them today.)

Azulejo tiles on the outside … stained glass window on the inside.

As we resumed our walk uphill to City Hall, we noticed that there was no one walking on the terraces or the observation platform of the tower.  The only reason we were going there was to climb the tower, so we started questioning whether it was open to visitors today.  After a few minutes, we decided to skip this part of our plans — especially since the walk to get there was taking us in the opposite direction from our next stop … the Sé do Porto [Porto Cathedral].

The Romanesque-style church, built in the 12th century, stands in the historical center of the city, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We wandered around a bit inside — I especially liked the stained glass rose window — before paying the €3/person fee to visit the Gothic-style Cloister that was added in the 14th century.  Here there were more beautiful azulejo tiles depicting events from the Song of Solomon … and some exceptional ones on the terrace accessible by way of the Nasoni Staircase.  In Saint Vincent’s Chapel, we studied the carved wood panels decorating the perimeter of the room.  Then we moved to the Sala Capitular [Council Chamber], which boasts an elaborately painted ceiling and more azulejo tile scenes.  The Treasury and the Sacristy also grabbed our attention … especially the latter, which I thought was perhaps more lavishly decorated than a dressing room needs to be!

The cathedral has an eye catching cloister.

One of the many wood panels decorating the perimeter of St Vincent’s Chapel.

Sala Capitular

A skewed panorama of the Sacristy … but you get to see how lavish the room is.

When we left the cathedral, we headed down to the Ribeira district, which sprawls along the Douro River.  This area is considered by many as being the heart of the old city.  Narrow, meandering roads led us to a square overlooking the riverfront … a hubbub of activity.  Our goal was the find a place to have a leisurely lunch.  When we spotted shipmates Karen and John sitting at a café named Jimao, we headed over to ask them if they were pleased with their dining experience.  Not only did they rave about the food, but they offered their table to us since they were about to leave … excellent.  We took over the table and had a wonderful al fresco meal … people watching as we ate.

Our meal started with small bowls of olive oil and olives and a variety of breads.  GM Victor had said Portuguese olive oil was of excellent quality … what we tasted proved him right.  We ordered several tapas dishes … a tower of buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes, with the cheese rolled in sesame seeds so as to resemble a bun; black noodles and octopus; frittata; and porcini mushroom ravioli.  Afterwards, we walked up the street a bit to get some ice cream to enjoy as we wandered down to the banks of the Rio Douro.

An excellent al fresco meal on a lovely summer day in Porto.

Our after-lunch plan was to cross the river by way of Ponte Dom Luís I, a steel bridge that was completed in 1886 by a student of Gustave Eiffel.  Once on the other side, we were going to then catch the metro back to Trindade Station to pick up the A Line back to the port.  But by this time it was getting on towards 3:00p and time for a leisurely walk was dwindling fast.

The Rio Douro is spanned by the Dom Luís I bridge.  At the time it was
constructed in 1886, the bridge was the longest of its type in the world.

Scrapping our original plan, we girded our loins to hoof it up from the river front by way of very steep stairs.  Then we noticed that we were standing in front of the Funicular dos Guindais.  Perfect!  The €2.50/person was a bit on the high side for the short ride, but we were happy to pay it for the convenience … and to save time.  A short walk from the top station of the funicular put us at the São Bento Metro Station where we hopped on the D Line.  In short order, we were transferring to the A Line for the trip back to Leixōes.  From there it was a 10 minute walk and a short shuttle ride back on the ship.

The funicular is an efficient way of getting from the river to the metro service.  The original line was inaugurated in 1891.  Riders enjoy views of the river and the bridge along the way.

We really enjoyed Porto.  Taken together with our two-days in Lisbon, today’s experience has definitely put Portugal on the ‘return-to’ list for a future overland vacation.

Losing an hour tonight … boo hoo!

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