Geoff and Rita's Trip to Portugal

 We have an early start tomorrow as we want to get to Lisbon, drop off the car at the airport, take a taxi to our accommodation and then take a stroll around our neighborhood.  So we spent most of the morning packing and cleaning up so that we could just put our toiletries into our bags and head out the door.  We had one last area we wanted to walk around and so we headed out in the early afternoon to check it out.  We had made a reservation at Pizzaiolo again as we really enjoyed the pizza but wanted to try their other Italian dishes.  Rita and I split an appetizer of bruchetta and for our main courses I had lasagna and Rita had spaghetti bolognaise.  With a name like Pizzaiolo, we should have guessed that their specialty was pizza.  The food was ok but did not match the quality or the flavor of the pizza we had a few days before.  But at least the local red wine was delicious.    We headed down to the river via a different route and ca...

 Yesterday we took it easy and lazed around the apartment doing laundry, reading and caught up with emails before getting out in the afternoon and headed down to the waterfront to soak up the sun and people watch.  It was a very relaxing day.  Today we are heading out to Aveiro, which we read about in our travel book and it sounded like an interesting place to visit.  It's 76km south of Porto so it was a short drive to get there.  Aveiro is a popular tourist destination famed for its canals, art nouveau architecture and colorfully painted moliceiros boats.  The city lies at the edge of the Ria de Aveiro, a saltwater lagoon that was historically famed for its seaweed, salt and bountiful fish.  We toured the town for several hours and thoroughly enjoyed the experience as there was a huge flea market going on in the center of old town.  We had to get back to Porto as we had a reservation at Mind the Glass, a bistro specializing in Portuguese hot pots...

 The sun was out again today so we wanted to explore Porto's beachfront which is located 5km outside of central Porto.  As we had read that parking was difficult we took a 7euro Uber to where the Douro River meets the Atlantic.  We were very impressed with the small but beautiful sandy beaches and the wild Atlantic waves, even though it was a calm day.  We strolled along the beach wall promenade checking out its several beaches and took in the wild wave action before heading to a local café for a light lunch.  After lunch, as the weather continued to be so nice and warm, we decided to walk the 5km back to Porto and continue onto the top of the Ponte Dom Luis 1 bridge and cross over to Gaia before heading back to our apartment to change for dinner.  Pizzaiolo is an Italian restaurant with a wood-fired pizza oven and Rita and I both had a delicious pizza.  It was a very nice atmosphere and the prices were very fair so we will definitely come back again....

 After departing the Stock Exchange Palace it was still cool and overcast so we continued with our exploration of the interiors of several landmark buildings and hoped the sunshine would come back tomorrow.   First stop was the Clerigos Church and Tower.  The church itself was completed in 1750 and was the first in Portugal to be laid out in an oval shaped plan.   The wonderfully carved choir chairs were installed in 1777 with the two organs located opposite of each other were installed two years later Next stop was the Lello Brothers Bookstore.  You have to book your 5 euro ticket through their website and choose a time you want to visit (they are in 30 minute increments).   We chose a 12:30 time slot thinking it would not be that crowded and arrived at 12:15 only to stand in the 12:30 entry line.  The entrance is the building with the three beige awnings.  I guess we do stand in line after all!! Built in 1906 by the Lello brothers...

Woke up to overcast skies and cool temperatures (12c) and were happy that we had booked our tour of   the Palacio da Bolsa (Stock Exchange Palace) for 11:30 as it will be inside.  It took 70 years to be built and was completed in 1842.  The Commercial Association of Porto (what we know as the Chamber of Commerce) built and paid for the facility.  It is no longer a stock exchange but is still the headquarters of the Association and is mainly used for major events and official receptions.  In 1957, Queen Elizabeth 11 was received here in a great ceremony.     On the left side of the building, just before entering the main hall, there is the lavish Commercial Law Library which was completed in 1834 and used by lawyers, judges and jurists to consult legal texts governing Portuguese river cruises.    We start the tour in the dramatic main hall-where the stock exchange was located.  The floor is made of intricate ceramic tiles and th...

 It was another warm and sunny day as we headed down to explore the Lower part of Porto.  We stopped at several places as we made our way down the steep and narrow street towards the Duoro River district. We started our walk at the top of a hill where the hulking, fortress-like 12th century Romanesque Porto Cathedral is situated in a large square. Looking over the edge of the cathedral square where we will soon take steps down to is the impressive looking Igreja dos Grilos, a Jesuit church completed in 1690.   Heading down to the waterfront we travelled through the oldest part of Porto with its very  narrow cobbled streets. We come out of the narrow streets and into a colorful square just before getting to the waterfront. The Ribeira, Porto's romantic riverfront district is the most touristy part of town.  But before tourism, the Ribeira was a working port and before the embankment was built in the 20th century, the water came up to the arches, many of whic...