Porto—May 7, 2023

 

Porto—May 7, 2023

(Remember, you can click on a picture to enlarge it.)

Day 4: Sunday and Porto was quiet. Quite a contrast to the party-hardy university students outside our window Saturday. Still, we woke early again and waited for Cristal Cafe to open at 7AM and then enjoyed coffee and pastries while watching the locals and a few Camino de Santiago pilgrims wander in for their favorite morning treat. 

No real plans today other than purchasing round trip Metro tickets to Campanha, the train station we need to make our trip to Coimbra to see Susana. It's a 1.5 hour ride and we're meeting up for lunch for a long visit before returning to Porto.

We did walk down to the Crystal Palace gardens and I took some pictures of this lovely city park enjoyed by all ages. It was sunny and warm so lots of families were out and about. Many  university students carried bouquets and diplomas and posed for pictures with parents and grandparents and the mood was festive. The local residents (i.e. peacocks and roosters) seemed to enjoy the extra company.

One promenade in the park. You can see why it's
so popular.

He was giving it his best but she just didn't care.

This rooster was overseeing the action between
the peacocks and couldn't resist chiming in.

This little boy is happy just to be. Dad, in
university regalia, tags along.

The Crystal Palace gardens overlook the Douro
River and this shady view point is a good spot 
to enjoy the city and the river that runs through it.

Showing off the goods.

Peacocks pretty much rule the gardens. They have
just the right attitude.

Ponte de Arrabida is the 7th (& last) bridge span-
ning the Douro River. The river begins in Spain
and empties into the Atlantic.

Outdoor stage has great acoustics

Super Bock (a beer) Arena is a multipurpose
cultural, music, and sports venue in the middle
of the park.

After the park we "got lost". This is our favorite pastime. Basically, we just head out walking without a clue where we might end up. We see all kinds of stuff most visitors don't, walking and gawking and enjoying whatever the city has to offer. Today, somehow we ended up on Cedofeita, our street. In fact, we came out of a narrow lane two doors from Humana, the second hand shop Marie wanted to return to for an extra top she saw the day before. Talk about serendipity!

University students walking with purpose along Cedofeita to meet up with friends or relatives.

We ended this part of our walk with a stop into Pingo Doce (grocery store) for some cheese and crackers. Spent the rest of the afternoon on Paula's cool back balcony overlooking her garden. 

On this evening's walk we noticed the elaborate
tiled front of this building. Love the moorish
influence. Walked up to get a closer look to 
discover it's a bar and cocktail lounge.

Another surprising day when we realized we'd walked nearly 8 miles. It's easy to do when there's so much to look at and explore.