These pick up right where the pictures from yesterday left off. I had just walked by the guy in the bear suit playing bass, it was our second day in town and we were just walking around the tourist area near the Ponte Louis I, the arch bridge in a couple of these pictures. Lots of locals hanging around too, although it was obviously a destination and not as much a place people live.
The top of the bridge was maybe 100m longer than the bottom, and connected higher elevations of each side. The hills of Porto were steep enough around the river that there were stairs and a funicular that I didn’t get to ride (too crowded, didn’t want COVID). But the bridge was nice, top and bottom.
Went across, dodging the bright yellow trams, and took a cable car ride down to the side of the river. Nice way to see the city, good views all around. When we got to the end, we went to a little food hall, where there was a Brazilian spot serving Pao de quejio, brazilian cheese bread. It’s so good, and so cheesy.
I think after that we looked around at a bunch of little stalls in a street market that was set up, nothing I really wanted to buy though, so I didn’t. Took the tram back up the hill, walked back across to the Porto side of the river; at least according to the map, Porto is on the north side, and it’s another town on the other side. Our rental was up the hill a bit, just around the corner from some spectacular views.
We did end up taking kind of the long way home, wandering up into town, past some more modern shops and cafes. It’s a nice town, Porto. A bunch of people have said it’s similar to SF, in that both are tourist destinations, both are very hilly, both are on the west coast and enjoy a mediterranean climate. It’s also actually several cities bisected by a body of water, the bay here and the River Douro there. Neither is the biggest city on their respective coasts, both have a larger city to the south that starts with L (LA/Lisbon).
I think that’s where the similarities end, though? Porto is a very different geography really, away from the river it’s a plateau. The architecture couldn’t be more different; the building we stayed in was older than California. They speak Portugese, and when I tried to speak it, I think there was some confusion because I speak the Brazilian form and not theirs. Tons of walking, just way more than is possible in any city in the US save like, New York.
Good city though. Plenty of good wine, coffee and food. I’ve got one more set of photos and then it’s on to the next thing that happened. I have no idea what that is now, but I will soon.
