At the Adega, the mist burnt off quite quickly this morning and revealed a soft blue sky and a series of hamlets in the nested in the folds of the distance hills. It was a pretty quick breakfast of Easter cake and tea as we had to pack the bags and load them in the car for the trip to Porto. Of course we had to feed Mamma Cat before we left. She is becoming more used to us and is venturing closer.
We set off about 9.45 and after filling up with diesel, belted off along the freeway. As we whisked through the countryside, Britt's keen eye sought out so many interesting buildings that with love and money could recover their past glory. T he Portuguese know how to build wide, sweeping elegant freeways, and either there are very few cars on the roads, or people were still on holiday because it was a very easy drive.
Our first stop was the historic university town of Coinbra. We scored a brilliant all day free parking stop near the bus station, but doubts beset us and we photographed the car just in case we had misread the signage and came back to find the car had been towed away, We need not have worried. All was ok.
We walked through a lovely pedestrianized shopping street in search of a good coffee shop and google showed us a very elaborate one just before the main square. It had an ancient stone façade and looked out to an interesting aspect where several roads met and tourists from around the world rubbed shoulders in the outdoor cafes. The coffee was good and the waiter explained that it was associated with the church next door. That of course explained the marvellous vaults and other embellishments.
We also went next door to the ancient church that held the remains of the first and second kings of Portugal. Coinbra was once the capital city of Portugal. The tiles that covered the walls were pained with enormous delicacy and the organ was astonishingly elaborate. This past also explained the impressive and varied architecture of the city and the wide streets.
We took a circular route though the mall and looped up towards the university precinct. On the way we found an astonishing building that looked as if it had been influenced by Indian architecture. It was ringed by pools that must have been filled with fountains in the past. The river that runs through Coinbra had carved a deep valley through the landscape and of course the people of Coinbra has built their stacks of tall thin houses across its face. It was reminiscent of the Cinque Terre in its architectural clusters and colours.
The city housed the country's oldest university and we were keen to have a look at the buildings. Yes, there were countless steps to get up to the crest of the hill where a muddle of lanes housed a mixture of ancient buildings and student residences. The latter were easily identified by the eccentric decoration that hung across the façades. We also has a quick look at the first Coinbra cathedral, that built in the Romanesque and Gothic styles, had little of the elaborate decoration of other churches we had seen.
We lunched up on a hill reached by a path that wound up behind the shops and houses of the mall, in a cafe that served a delicious warm pork in a ciabatta roll with mustard. We supplemented this with salad and a few chips. People don't just grab a meal here. They linger over the selection, sipping through the little fat jugs of white wine, and after the meal, lean back to take in the scene of passing tourists and locals walking their dogs. There was a LOT more to see in Coinbra, but the main show for the day was Porto, so we hurried on.
The outskirts of Porto signalled a different style of city to that which we had so far seen. The hills were covered with modern multi-storey flats. Even though the buildings were quite modern, the roads followed the eccentric twists and turns we had come to expect from Portuguese town plans. Google maps and Johnny guided us to an enormous circular underground parking station a few hundred yards from the apartment Britt had booked. I cursed the 19 kilos of clothing I had packed as I dragged my bag over the cobbles and up the hill. We were all so tired and hot by the time we reached our destination, a very modern apartment in the style of a New York loft in a traditional building from a past century, that hung over a winding cobbled street that housed no shortage of interesting shops. Unwilling to waste any time on this fabulous holiday, we were soon out and heading down to the river front pausing here and there to peek into some interesting and unusual businesses like the the traditional brush maker.
The front was pulsing with people and the traditional port carrying boats that had been converted to tourist transport plied the glistening water. We found a table at a busy restaurant and ordered cold drinks and some snacks. Britt had the signature drink of tonic with white port. I had never had balls of fried cod or the fried and salted bell peppers before. They were the perfect antidote for weary tourists. Though there was a glorious sun shining down by the river, it was getting a little cooler and lovely Britt volunteered to go back to the apartment to get me my jacket. Lesson learnt: no matter the temperature, always take a jacket. Hoiking up the hill in the sun took its toll on Britt and her return took a bit longer than expected. Still, it was an opportunity to try to get some money from an ATM. We had tried a half dozen or so so far and either they were not working or they did not recognize our card. With a bit of shuffling money between accounts, Johnny finally got some money out.
As we had planned to walk across the top level of the bridge, rather than returning to the river front, Britt suggested that she meet us at the bridge. She approached from the level of the apartment and we worked our way along the riverfront and then up several hundred steps to the top span of the bridge. It was VERY high and I knew i couldn't get too close to the edge, but it was worth the views it gave us down the river. The setting sun over the river is quite a show and the hill above the bridge was full of people who were listening to a DJ and waiting for the spectacle.
That walk left us all feeling a bit depleted but as we were very close to the Bermester port merchants and their historic vaults, we pressed on for a look inside even though we were to late for a tour of the massive vaults. We walked down to the river bank as trains trundled across the iron bridge overhead and aerial glass capsules criss-crossed the bank with tourists.
We stayed on that side of the river for dinner and found a good seafood restaurant cited almost directly opposite the long steep street we had explored as we waited for Britt's return from the apartment. It was really nice, and the serves were quite large. You can imagine that our walk back to the iron bridge and back up that hill on the other side of the river was quite slow, but made enjoyable by the discovery of a lovely ice cream shop along the way. The sun was now quite low in the sky and the windows of the houses on the opposite bank glowed with bright gold. The river transformed into a silvery glow. The tide rushing out to sea tugged at the dark shapes of the port boats moored along the Gaia quay.
While the young people of the city must have been putting on their glad rags and preparing for the excitement of the abundant nightlife to be found in this cool, vibrant city, for us there was only one priority to get back to the apartment; and BED. Goodnight.
