Porto’s Old Town
Porto’s Old Town is a web of cobblestone streets that climb hills and cascade down towards the Douro River. We shopped our way to the Bento Train Station. Fierce picked out a soccer jersey that was not associated with any team so that it could be his own design for The House Colonies (his made up country). Love it.
The Bento Station is a working station, but the lobby area is a tourist destination. It is covered from floor to ceiling with painted tiles making historical murals. It’s free, beautiful and completely worth checking out.
Stopping for a snack, we ordered pastries. Fierce smiled a stinker smile and ordered a Fanta. mmm…hmmm…I added a café con leite and Coxinhas. Both of us actually liked the chicken fritters the best and boxed up our desserts for later.
Afterwards, we re-oriented ourselves with the map and headed to the Mercado de Bolhao. There were stalls in rows of color explosion. Each with either flowers, spices, juice bars, fruits, veggies, chocolate, sardines or other fresh goodies. We bought some Portuguese chocolate for Wes and a Mango / Maracuja juice for us, which was fruity sweetness.
Another straight up climb and we arrived at Se` Parish. Four stone halls of arches surround a courtyard at it’s center. The blue tile murals, iconic of Portugal, are showcased in each arch. We climbed the stairs to find more murals and look down on the courtyard with the stone cross in the middle. Then we went up the tower and saw the views of orange tiled roofs and colorful buildings below. The sun was warm and the skies were blue. I enjoyed looking at the vastness of the city.
I knew our hotel was near the river, so I followed a few exiting tourists in that direction. Cute, two-person wide alleyways led us along city walls with homes and restaurants built right in their stone edifices.
An elderly man opened his top floor window to watch the wanderers flow like a river through his street and an elderly woman peered through her first floor window also watching the newcomers. They seemed to fit their strong, stone surroundings. Locals, fixed in place, yet, they gave the scene life and I wish I could have met them. Hola! Bom Dia!
Home, temporary home, sweet home. I convinced Fierce not to settle in quite yet, because I wanted to use the laundry just a few doors down. It was super easy and very convenient. All you have to do is load it in, pay and hit start. The soap gets added automatically. Que Ligal!
