Day 5 – Portugal – the City of Porto
Having survived the portentous swells of the Bay of Biscay – Rocked ‘n’ Rolled – Written and Read – we boogied into Portugal. It welcomed us with blue skies, beaming sun and warm smiles. We docked in Lexiosis – a small fishing town with an impressive set of anguished statues on the beach commemorating 34 fishermen who lost their lives on one terrible day. They left behind bereft wives and children.
The huge rollers were thudding into the rocks sending spray tens of feet into the air. We could imagine.
We made our way to the tiled city of Porto,
admired the bridges, the gaily adorned houses and riverside life.
It is a city alive with churches,
monasteries, civic buildings, squares, statues and restaurants. What a beautiful city!
After getting directions from Henry the Navigator we checked out the Harry Potter bookshop,
the narrowest house in the world and the magic railway station.
The station interior was extravagantly garnished with elaborate blue glazed tiles depicting all manner of battles, scenes from ordinary life, Kings and Bishops. Likewise, the churches were similarly adorned with tiles illustrating religious scenes. The artwork was spectacular.
Then there was Sandemans
and the famous Port warehouses (couldn’t fit a barrel in our cabin), cormorants roosting on the rocks,
fortresses on the beaches, artwork and some extremely weird trees.
Following an Italian meal in the restaurant we completed the day with a recital from two brilliant musicians – a violinist and pianist.
We’d packed a lot in.