Porto, Portugal

-

 15th September 2023

Viking Jupiter arrives at our berth at the Port of Leixoes on time at 8 am. Leixoes is the seaport of Porto, as Porto City is located on the River Douro further upstream. It is a large and busy port with a good sized fishing fleet.


View from our cabin looking back across the harbour towards the fishing fleet

Finally we have berthed at a port with a good sized, and very modern cruise terminal. The new terminal building was completed in 2015 and in true Portuguese tradition it is clad in ceramic tiles.


Leixoes CruiseTerminal Building

The ceramic tiles are all different thicknesses giving a 3D effect to the surface they are fastened to. It must have been a nightmare for the tilers and a windfall for the adhesive/sealant supplier.


Gangway from the ship

Unfortunately the planning for this new complex did not include a large area for tour buses to line up next to the building, so the organisation of the shore excursions took a bit longer than normal as only 6 buses at a time could wait inside the terminal.

One other thing that strikes you is the multitude of seagulls and the impression they leave on the dockside.


Our tour today is a combination of a bus and walking tour of Porto, and it seems most of the passengers are doing something similar, as most of the optional tours could only accept small numbers and were quickly booked out. The bus trip to Porto takes us along the river and it takes around 30 minutes.

We drive past a fishing net sculpture that is suspended over the road at the boundary of Porto City and Matsosinhos's town limits. Matsosinhos is the township where to Port is located.


Titled "She Changes", the locals call the sculpture "The Anenome"

We also pass some old fisherman's houses that are well preserved.





There are 2 stops to give us time to look around and it is largely free time. The first stop is near Clerigos Church with it's imposing bell tower.


The Church is massive and difficult to get in a single shot. The front of the church is below and the Bell Tower at the rear of the church is above.


There is lots to see in this old area of town and we take in as much as we can in the time allocated, which was quite generous.


Old ceramic tile clad buildings


Narrow streets with tram lines running down them








As a stark contrast to the old buildings, a new shopping plaza with olive trees growing on the roof has been built in the same square






This shop sells only canned fish. This wall is devoted to Sardines.


University of Portugal


Time out for a Portuguese Custard Tart

It is time to get back in the bus and head to the waterfront area of Ribeira, the part of the old city of Porto that faces the Douro river. The city is one big building site at the moment as a new Metro line is under construction, and our driver has quite a task to wind through the narrow streets to get us to our destination, where hopefully we can find somewhere to park the bus. Below are a few photos from the bus on our way across the city.




City Hall

Arriving near the waterfront, we get off the bus near the statue of Henry the Navigator, and then walk the rest of the way down to the river.


Henry the Navigator






The riverfront is very touristy and very busy. Lined with restaurants and bars along the waterfront with colourful old buildings on the upper level.







The steel bridge designed by Gustav Eiffel is one of 6 that cross the Douro at Porto


These traditional boats were use to transport wine from the wineries in the Douro Valley to Porto



River tours seem most popular and as long as you have a boat, it seems you are in the market



The sister city to Porto is Gaia which is on the other side of the river. It is a newer area and is now growing at a faster rate than Porto, already exceeding Porto's population.


Carole and I at Ribeira

Back on board by 1 pm we had lunch onboard and contemplated the afternoon program. Whilst most voted for the relaxing option, I headed back ashore to check out Matosinhos, the town where the port is located.


This sculpture on the beach is a monument to a fishing disaster that occurred in 1947 when the greatest nautical tragedy in Portuguese history occurred when 152 crew were lost at sea.


The beach at Matosinhos

A bit of a surprise in town was this barber shop. I am not sure why you would think you would get a good deal going there, but I am not Portuguese.


Below are a few photos of Matosinhos.






Tomorrow we are at sea on our way to Malaga in Spain.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boarding the Viking Jupiter and an afternoon in Bergen

-
Image
 6th September 2023 It is time to link up with our cruise ship after a great few days in Norway as an introduction to this amazing country. A transfer from the hotel to the ship has been booked for 11am, so there is no rush to have breakfast and check out. Our transport arrives on time and 15 minutes later we are at the cruise terminal unloading our luggage and getting ready to go through the check in process to board the ship. It is a pretty slick operation. Our bags are whisked away with a promise of being delivered to our rooms by 2 pm, passports etc checked and we are all checked in, through security and on board by 11. 45 am. Viking Jupiter After a bit of a look around the ship we headed up to the 7th floor where the buffet restaurant was open for lunch. The restaurant wasn't all that busy, and the food was up to the expected high standard, as was the wine. There is no rigid plan for this afternoon, so we took our time and had a relaxing lunch. At 1pm there was an announcement...
Read more

The Scenic Maritime Village of Honfleur

-
Image
11th September 2023 This morning we entered the port of Honfleur, in Normandy France. Our initial itinerary had us berthing at Le Havre, also at the mouth of the Seine River, but on the Northern side. It is an overcast day, but maximum temperatures in the high 20's are expected and some rainfall this afternoon. We are secure at the dock by 7.30am and passengers who planned to take the long bus ride to Paris soon go ashore to meet up with their bus. A 10 to 11 hr excursion had little appeal to us, and we look forward to embarking on a local tour at the civilised time of 9.30am.  A guided walking tour of Honfleurf is included in our package, so we set out in a bus into town which is really only a short distance away. Honfleur is apparently famous for seafood, salted caramel and hard liquor made from fruit, in particular Calvados Apple Brandy. Also Claude Monet is said to have obtained most of his inspiration for his paintings from Honfleur, something the locals are keen to relate. Th...
Read more

Drive to Gruyeres, Switzerland

-
Image
 29th September 2023 It is our last day in Evian before flying on to Singapore from Geneva at 7.30pm tomorrow. At least this gives us another morning in Evian before we drive to Geneva. Another beautiful sunny day awaits us with temperatures in the mid 20's expected. We depart from La Verniaz at 9 am to drive to Gruyeres in Switzerland, expecting to arrive at around 10.45 am. The road takes us through small and very old French villages along the lakeside and about 15 minutes after crossing the Swiss border, the scenery changes dramatically to very green lush fields and stunning mountain backdrops.  We arrived in Gruyeres on time, and like many old Medieval villages, there is no car or parking access in town. Several car parks are provided outside the town and when we arrive the upper one closest to the town is full, but there are plenty of spaces at the next level down. There is a steep but short walk up to the town. Scenery on the walk up to the village We were not really pre...
Read more