OPORTO

Porto (in English they say ‘Oporto’…but nobody seems to know why) is the 2^nd largest city in Portugal. It is also one of the largest urban areas of Western Europe.

The city sprawls along the river Douro from it’s estuary and has a wonderful promenade running along its coastal road for many miles.

I thought I’d been here before, but I hadn’t. The first thing to notice was the brand-new and spectacular Cruise Terminal-what a feat of architecture-it really is something else and has everything you could wish for…….

………….including really helpful tourist information officers, who advised me NOT to use the hop-on buses which were about 20€ as I’d said I wanted to go into the city, they told me to get the local bus, which also travels along the coast-road, only costs 1.85€ each way and runs every 15 minutes! Bargain! So that’s exactly what I did. The driver was lovely and said he’d tell me when to get off and where to wait for the return trip-and he did exactly that, bless him.

I have to say, it’s a bit of a hike to get from the ship into the terminal building-at least about a quarter of a mile and then a bus takes you to the dock gates.

Porto is steeped in history-my kind of city-and in 1996 was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Over the centuries it has had many settlements and also been an outpost of the Roman Empire.

It’s combined Celtic-Latin name: Portus Cale is referred to as the origin of the name ‘Portugal’.

One of Portugal’s biggest exports is of course Port Wine which is named for Porto, since this metropolis and in particular the caves of Vita Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport and export of the fortified wine.

Free wifi is everywhere in the city and also available on the buses. There is a Metro line and numerous tour buses available doing different circuits of the city, depending on what you want to see.

I decided to walk from the town centre where the bus dropped me off, up the hill to the Fortress. I have to say, the whole city is very hilly and also has a lot of cobbled roads which are tricky to cross if you have mobility issues, so be aware.

On my way up, I passed the main central train station and on a whim, I went in-I’m so glad that I did! The walls were adorned with the famous Portuguese blue tiles, depicting many scenes in massive murals-absolutely stunning.

Imposing, impressive buildings are everywhere, as you’d expect from an old city, but they also have street-cafés and bars everywhere with very reasonably-priced menus.

I made it to the top of the hill to the Fortress and it afforded me spectacular views out over the city. Seeing all the rooftops reminded me of Florence.

Around the back of the fortress is the Catholic Cathedral-another very imposing building, so I went in. Some of the metalwork in there was absolutely exquisite and I sat there for a while. I was disappointed there were no candle-tables though, or I’d have lit one for Ross.

I had a good look around inside and out, then made my way back down the hill to the cty-if I’d gone the other way, I would have come to the river, but it was too much of a walk for me, but totally recommended if you are able.

All the photographs that have water in them, I took from inside the bus, so that will give you some idea of the value for money you get when using the local transport and you’re seeing exactly the same thing as the people who paid ten times what you did on the tourist buses. Don’t be afraid to use the local buses-they’ll save you a fortune.

I was a bit thirsty by this time and needed the loo, so I went into the most grand McDonalds I’ve ever seen! I had a strawberry & Banana smoothie for 75c!! SO much cheaper than the UK! I guess the Euro is still struggling.

I loved it here, but it definitely NOT a one-day city. To do it justice, you’d need a short break at least-so many museums, theatres and other places of interest to see-one day just wasn’t enough.

I returned to the bus-stop and within a couple of minutes, the number 500 was there and brought me all the way back-so I took more photographs as this time, I was sitting on the side of the sea…

I’d definitely come back here-totally recommend it to everyone. Really beautiful and lots to see and do-not to mention the incredible beach!

Definitely one to return to one day 🙂

RED, RED WINE-UB40