Porto

I was sad to leave Lisbon today. It delighted us in every way and I can highly recommend visiting here. Speaking to the locals they say the city has changed significantly in the past 3 to 5 years, with so much regeneration and development, it is good to see such a thriving, exciting city. If you visited here say 10 years ago you will find quite a different city today. We got an Uber to the station and on the way the driver was pointing out all the new developments, including a new university, a new ferry terminal and lots of new modern residential accommodation. 

The train journey to Porto was so easy and comfortable in a modern train with all the facilities. And of course about half the price of rail travel in the U.K. We are trying to be more green and use rail as a transport method when we can, every little bit helps.

We arrived at out hotel, checked in and then went out to explore the surrounding area and to make the best of the sunshine, as the weather looks like it is turning from tomorrow - less sunny, with some rain and colder. We went down to the Ribeira which is the UNESCO world heritage site along the River Doura. It was very charming with coloured houses and boats on the river, where I took the first extra photo. We then walked across the Luis I bridge to the other side of the river, and this image is of the view looking back on to the Ribeira with the port boats and the bridge. All the port cellars are situated along this side of the river. We caught a cable car up to the top of the bridge from where we walked across the bridge back again to the other side. My second extra image is of a painter at work on the bridge.

We wandered around the city, enjoying the beautiful buildings and sights. We are now back at the hotel and are about to go out for supper, when I am sure we will taste some port. 

Tomorrow we have the morning together and at lunch time Gavin leaves to return home to Xena, and I transfer to my hotel south of Porto for the start of my photography workshop. The rest of the photography group arrive in the afternoon and the plan is to go out and take photos straight away. We will be photographing around Aveiro and Porto, so the hotel is situated between the two places. It will be a busy few days, up very early to get the pre-dawn images and working until after sunset, so I don’t think I will have much time to comment on journals.

We continue to get updates, photos and videos of Xena from the brilliant dog sitter. And the best news of all - her booking for February 2020 has moved to the following month so she can now look after Xena when we have our trip at that time.