That is a very convenient question and that was, needless to say, my situation last week. I was in Porto, a wonderful town in Portugal (just in case, Jen), in an amazing hotel (Hotel Pestana, close to the river in the former port) and I do not like wine, Porto or any other kind of wine. Although I do not drink wine, I recommend a visit to the wine cellars in the other side of river Douro, in the city of Vilanova de Gaia. It is worth the visit, believe me.
The city centre of Porto is part of the World Heritage but it seems a bit dirty, poor and abandoned to my eyes. The streets are hilly and one gets tired easily, especially when your hotel lies close to the river. On the other side, there are many buildings which should be visited. Let me mention Clerigos Tower (with amazing views of the city from the top), Sao Bento station and its blue glazed tiles, the Bridge of Luis I (cross in on foot on top is a must), the Stock Exchange and its Arab Room, and the Cathedral (also remarkable is the cloister, see picture below).
One of them, a bit beyond the touristical tours, is the bookshop Lilho, close to Clerigos Tower. There you can enjoy their famous Gothic stairs, which have appeared in many films. The bookshop itself is really charming and a very nice place to visit. Unfortunately I did not decide myself to buy an Astérix book for my collection there, grrrr!!!!
Once in Porto, one has the opportunity of watching the Atlantic Ocean and that is what I did on Friday afternoon. The ocean was quite "nervous" that afternoon and, thanks to dusk and its special light, I could take very nice pictures. Here goes one of them.
Last but not least, I must refer to the taxi I took to go to the airport. First, the taxi was a Nissan Primera about 20 years old with Volkswagen hubcaps, the boot could not be locked and the rear seatbelts did not work. The driver was about 70 years old, a man who turned to me when talking and he even used his hands when talking. Then, suddenly, we faced a traffic jam and the driver had the bright idea of using the bus lane. But there were some cars stopped because of a previous accident plus a police car and... The impact was not strong at all (at around 20 km/h). As my seatbelt was not fastened, that is probably the best which could happen. Then, everything went on very quickly in front of me and in Portuguese. The driver seemed not to have the legal papers required for the car and he pretended to get free of the accident. He did not want to phone a colleague to pick me either. Thanks Lord a police man called and a taxi appeared some time later and I could take my plane to Madrid without further problems.
The city centre of Porto is part of the World Heritage but it seems a bit dirty, poor and abandoned to my eyes. The streets are hilly and one gets tired easily, especially when your hotel lies close to the river. On the other side, there are many buildings which should be visited. Let me mention Clerigos Tower (with amazing views of the city from the top), Sao Bento station and its blue glazed tiles, the Bridge of Luis I (cross in on foot on top is a must), the Stock Exchange and its Arab Room, and the Cathedral (also remarkable is the cloister, see picture below).
One of them, a bit beyond the touristical tours, is the bookshop Lilho, close to Clerigos Tower. There you can enjoy their famous Gothic stairs, which have appeared in many films. The bookshop itself is really charming and a very nice place to visit. Unfortunately I did not decide myself to buy an Astérix book for my collection there, grrrr!!!!
Once in Porto, one has the opportunity of watching the Atlantic Ocean and that is what I did on Friday afternoon. The ocean was quite "nervous" that afternoon and, thanks to dusk and its special light, I could take very nice pictures. Here goes one of them.
Last but not least, I must refer to the taxi I took to go to the airport. First, the taxi was a Nissan Primera about 20 years old with Volkswagen hubcaps, the boot could not be locked and the rear seatbelts did not work. The driver was about 70 years old, a man who turned to me when talking and he even used his hands when talking. Then, suddenly, we faced a traffic jam and the driver had the bright idea of using the bus lane. But there were some cars stopped because of a previous accident plus a police car and... The impact was not strong at all (at around 20 km/h). As my seatbelt was not fastened, that is probably the best which could happen. Then, everything went on very quickly in front of me and in Portuguese. The driver seemed not to have the legal papers required for the car and he pretended to get free of the accident. He did not want to phone a colleague to pick me either. Thanks Lord a police man called and a taxi appeared some time later and I could take my plane to Madrid without further problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment