Northern Portugal

Portugal September - October 2013

Too Much and Too Tired

Porto was busy, busy, busy.

As I mentioned before, it bears similarity to San Francisco with hills and even streetcars. We walked and walked and walked. To treat ourselves (and because it is a "required" activity) we went to a port lodge for a tour and tasting. The hotel recommended Ferreira's and they did not steer us wrong.



Is that a stork? An ostrich? No. It's an emu. Why?

The story goes, Dona Antonio, the founder was quite the business woman. She chose the emu because if is focused and runs in a straight line. The analogy is wonderful. Bear in mind, there are two sides to every coin. The emu has been known to run straight through a barbed-wire fence.



We've been to several winery tours in the U.S. and this was quite similar. Not being a port expert, I only knew about ones you had with chocolate. That one is a ruby port. We had tastings of a white port (aperitif) and a red port (digestif).

At the tasting, we sat next to a couple from Perth, Australia. Breaking out of our introverted selves, we had a lovely conversation. Perth bears many similarities to Austin and Texas. One of the funniest was how the wine country around Perth is promoted as the "Provence of Australia." It is no more Provence than the Hill Country is Tuscany.

From the port lodges, the view across the Duoro River is one of the most famous in Porto. The colorful buildings stacked up the hills are distinctive and immediately recognizable.

Harry Potter Is Alive and Well in Porto

The students in Porto dress in black cloaks and formal jackets and ties. They look just like the characters from Harry Potter. It's rather bizarre, but completely normal. Why?

JK Rowling spent several years in Porto as a tutor. She took inspiration from the Porto students walking the narrow streets when creating her characters.

Stuck on Wine

The Duoro River Valley is covered with terraced vineyards. Some are large and some just a handful of vines. It's quite beautiful.

It's difficult to see, but there are wind turbines across the top of the hill. While not to the scale of the windfarms in west Texas, they were noticeable enough.

Even the Train Station is Fancy

Portugal is known for its pottery and tiles - used everywhere from building façades to house numbers to artistic embellishments. One of the most beautiful are the tiles in the Porto train station.

You know it's special when all the guide books place the train station as one of the top attractions.

Behind

I'm behind by about 4 days and 3 locations. The Algarve may or may not get blogged - 3 days of steady rain. Essentially, we went to Portugal and found England, right down to the people around us.

But, Here are Some Pictures Anyway

"Surf" is a universal word and surfers look the same the world over, right down to a VW bus (old style) with painted art on the sides. Surfing is a popular sport along the western coast. The waves are fairly high and the water not as cold as at Santa Monica.

An incredibly 12th - 13th cistern adjacent to a Moorish castle in Silves, Portugal.

One of the most fascinating aspects to the Algarve is the Moorish (Islamic) influence. While we saw very few Muslims, many of the town names reflect the history: Aljezur, Albufeira, and Alfambra to name a few.

The grottos at Ponta da Piedada, south of Lagos, Portugal.