We diverted off the motorway for what was to be a short drive along the Doura Valley which turned into a two hour journey through the eucalypt forest east of Porto. We could have been in the Conondale Range!
Porto is interesting with many very old buildings in advanced decay, bricked and boarded up but with many others being renewed, facades retained and looking good. It appears to be a neglected and run down place on the mend. We had a good walk this afternoon down the hill which didn’t seem that steep until we returned in the evening.
We ate in an interesting organic food shop and thought of you Diane and Rick.
San Francisco Church was something new in churches for us. That’s saying something as we have been in a few over the years! All of the walls were covered with carved timber, painted and gilded with 100 kg of gold. One Moroccan martyred monk had his head being removed.
The church museum also was interesting especially when we descended the stairs into the catacombs. Recent internments are in the walls but under the floor, we could see through an opening, were thousands of bones of people who had been “buried” over the centuries. Amazing!
The riverside was busy, full of tourists. You can’t get away from them!
Youths were standing on the railings of the bridge and jumping off. This reminds me of your Wongi photo, Mike.
We sat for an hour on the opposite bank and were strong and refused to be tempted by cellars selling the local drop, Port. After all it was 32 degrees not the single digit numbers from home. Perhaps tomorrow.
We spoke to a young woman in a shop about Portuguese food and she described some recipes for us. I asked her to tell me how to prepare chicken gizzards which I saw last week on a menu, but it was lost in translation. I’ll have to look up a recipe.
