I've put the map below to illustrate the distance we traveled today. Unfortunately, our departure point of Sagres is too small a town to warrant a location point by the map makers; so just look at the bottom of the map and Sagres is located to the west of Portiamo by the spit of land jutting out into the ocean.
Ricardo drove us from Sagres to Lisbon where we would catch the 2:00 train to Porto.
Ten days before, we had been picked up in Lisbon and driven to Lagos for the start of our Algarve Coast Cliff trails hike by the Portuguese Nature Trails driver Heloise, who was delightful. We all laughed a lot and had a great 3 hour drive. We hated for it to end!
The first words out of Ricardo's mouth when he picked us up in Sagres were, "I am sorry I am not Heloisa but I will try! I heard how nice you are to be traveling with." Ricardo was a jewel of a fellow and a wealth of knowledge about Portuguese culture. He is also a Lisbon policeman who is out on a knee disability; but loves driving for Portugal Nature Trails while he recuperates. He told us how safe all of Portugal is because it is against the law in Portugal to own a gun. Only police "and only a few criminals" have them. The only problem is pickpockets; but he definitely didn't think we would have a problem with them for we "were smart travelers". We enjoyed Ricardo's "You know you're a red neck if..." jokes. He was a funny guy and the time flew by. We made it to Lisbon's gorgeous Oriente train station
with time to spare. We purchased first class tickets which were only a little more than regular. We walked over to the beautiful new 4 story mall across the street.
It had a gorgeous supermarket so we bought some lunch and then walked to our train.
with time to spare. We purchased first class tickets which were only a little more than regular. We walked over to the beautiful new 4 story mall across the street.
It had a gorgeous supermarket so we bought some lunch and then walked to our train.
Talk about a smooth train ride. It was heavenly! We couldn't tell we were going 125 miles per hour even when we rounded the corners. The cars are mounted on gimbils so when the train goes around a curve the cars tilt in a manner that the centrifugal force keeps you comfortably in your seat. You don't even know you're going around a curve. It was smooth, comfortable ride!This premier AP train, which stands for Alfa Pendular tilting trains, took 2 hours and 44 minutes center to center!
We had free WiFi and attendants who served beverages and food.
We had free WiFi and attendants who served beverages and food.
We arrived in Porto about 2 and a half hours later at the Campanha Station (one of two train stations in Porto). We got a cab and we were off down windy, narrow cobblestone alleyways, which were actually "streets",
and made our way to the Porto Insight Apartment, where we met our lovely host, Ani. Ani is the most considerate and thoughtful hostess:homemade pastries, port wine, and a lovely apartment were awaiting us. Ani gave us tips on sights to see in Porto and the location of the local grocery store.
One of the main reasons we selected this apartment is because of its location, right smack dab in the historic old town, conveniently located to everywhere we wanted to see.
This old part of town was spared the devastating 1755 earthquake and is preserved today as a World Heritage Site.
We decided to head on out and explore Porto.
First stop: The Ribeira. We wandered down the narrow, twisty and steep cobblestone streets to the waterfront, which is the riverfront neighborhood of the Ribeira. This is Porto's most scenic and touristy quarter. It also has the highest concentration of restaurants. The delicious aromas lead the way and we found a fabulous restaurant with divine fresh fish, farm to table veggies and draft Super Bock beer.
We walked thru Ribeira and marveled at the old ramshackle homes which had survived centuries of wear and tear and are still lived in today. Many had their clean laundry flying like flags waving in the wind as they are drying outside the upstairs windows. We saw many little old ladies chatting with one another from one top window balcony to the next. (There's one white haired woman in the tallest yellow right hand window). It all added to riverfront's atmosphere on our beautiful afternoon's stroll thru Porto's Ribeira.
There are numerous 50 minute river cruises that leave continually from the Ribeira riverfront. Many are on old fashioned boats called "rabelos". These boats have flat bottoms, a big square sail, and a very large rudder to help them navigate the rough and winding course of the mighty Douro River. These rabelos were, believe it or not, once the only way to transport the precious wine down the precarious river to Porto.This region's famous port wine is actually produced in the Douro Valley, some 60 miles up the Douro River and aged in "lodges" down here in Porto.
While Porto has 6 bridges across the mighty Douro, the Ribeira neighborhood looks up at one of the most dramatic, the Ponte Dom Luis I bridge. It looks striking against the sky rising 150 feet above the river.
This bridge was built in 1886 by Teofilo Seyrig, who was a young protege of Gustave Eiffel. The genius of Seyrig stretching this wrought iron bridge across the 500 foot-wide Douro was not lost on Monsiuer Eiffel. Not only did he claim the praise for Seyrig's creation; but Eiffel immediately went back to France and created the Eiffel Tower (which he started construction of a year later in 1887 and it was completed in 1889) as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. Incidentally, Gustave Eiffel made sure the height of his Eiffel tower was twice the length of that of Seyrig's bridge. Would there have been an Eiffel Tower had Seyrig not built the Ponte Dom Luis I bridge? One can only wonder.
We felt that Porto is as picturesque a place as you'd hope to see.
As the beautiful sunset filled the sky
As we rounded the corner to our apartment, we looked up and saw that the moon was already over the railroad station. It had been a full and busy day of travelling from Sagres to Lisbon to Porto; but it was well worth it. We could hardly wait until tomorrow to learn more about this beautiful city.
One of the main reasons we selected this apartment is because of its location, right smack dab in the historic old town, conveniently located to everywhere we wanted to see.
This old part of town was spared the devastating 1755 earthquake and is preserved today as a World Heritage Site.
We decided to head on out and explore Porto.
First stop: The Ribeira. We wandered down the narrow, twisty and steep cobblestone streets to the waterfront, which is the riverfront neighborhood of the Ribeira. This is Porto's most scenic and touristy quarter. It also has the highest concentration of restaurants. The delicious aromas lead the way and we found a fabulous restaurant with divine fresh fish, farm to table veggies and draft Super Bock beer.
Porto is very proud of its heritage. Legend has it that when Porto's favorite son, Prince Henry the Navigator, left for his explorations, "the city slaughtered all of its mature livestock to send along with his crew---keeping only the guts" or innards, called "tripe", for themselves. Even today, Porto's arch nemesis, Lisbon, refers to those living in Porto as "tripe eaters". For their part, Porto folks refer to their rival Lisboners as "cabbage eaters". While we never tried tripe, we did see it listed on the menus.
We walked thru Ribeira and marveled at the old ramshackle homes which had survived centuries of wear and tear and are still lived in today. Many had their clean laundry flying like flags waving in the wind as they are drying outside the upstairs windows. We saw many little old ladies chatting with one another from one top window balcony to the next. (There's one white haired woman in the tallest yellow right hand window). It all added to riverfront's atmosphere on our beautiful afternoon's stroll thru Porto's Ribeira.
The Douro River laps at the waterfront while various tour and river excursion companies beckon and entice tourists to part with their money.
There are numerous 50 minute river cruises that leave continually from the Ribeira riverfront. Many are on old fashioned boats called "rabelos". These boats have flat bottoms, a big square sail, and a very large rudder to help them navigate the rough and winding course of the mighty Douro River. These rabelos were, believe it or not, once the only way to transport the precious wine down the precarious river to Porto.This region's famous port wine is actually produced in the Douro Valley, some 60 miles up the Douro River and aged in "lodges" down here in Porto.
While Porto has 6 bridges across the mighty Douro, the Ribeira neighborhood looks up at one of the most dramatic, the Ponte Dom Luis I bridge. It looks striking against the sky rising 150 feet above the river.
This bridge was built in 1886 by Teofilo Seyrig, who was a young protege of Gustave Eiffel. The genius of Seyrig stretching this wrought iron bridge across the 500 foot-wide Douro was not lost on Monsiuer Eiffel. Not only did he claim the praise for Seyrig's creation; but Eiffel immediately went back to France and created the Eiffel Tower (which he started construction of a year later in 1887 and it was completed in 1889) as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. Incidentally, Gustave Eiffel made sure the height of his Eiffel tower was twice the length of that of Seyrig's bridge. Would there have been an Eiffel Tower had Seyrig not built the Ponte Dom Luis I bridge? One can only wonder.
We felt that Porto is as picturesque a place as you'd hope to see.
As the beautiful sunset filled the sky
we walked back to our apartment basking in the twilight glow of Porto.
As we rounded the corner to our apartment, we looked up and saw that the moon was already over the railroad station. It had been a full and busy day of travelling from Sagres to Lisbon to Porto; but it was well worth it. We could hardly wait until tomorrow to learn more about this beautiful city.
