Porto

On the north to Porto we stopped at a picturesque little village called Obidos, where they were having some sort of medieval festival.

Sue discovers cherry liqueur in an edible chocolate cup!  At Obidos.

Street scene in Obidos.

We managed to get ourselves into Porto and through some challenging narrow and steep streets to our next Airbnb.  Our Porto apartment has a spectacular position, looking out across the river to the old city and with a view down the river almost to the sea. Technically we were in the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, which is that part of Porto on the south side of the river.  Porto is the part on the north bank.

The city is built around the river and grew out of the lucrative trade in port wine, produced from farms all the way up the Douro valley and brought down to the warehouses and traders in Porto for export.  The city is built on the waters edge; up the steep banks on each side, and outwards from there.

A crowd gathers on the park above us in Porto, to watch the sunset and generally party into the night.

Praca da Liberdade, Porto.

A Portugal-supporting cow.

Wall art in Porto, in the old riverbank area.

The Loui I Bridge, looking across the river to where our apartment was on the hill opposite.

Replica of the old boats used to ferry the port wine down to Porto from the wineries up the river Douro.

 On our third day we drove up the Douro Valley to Pinhao, where we had booked a two hour cruise.

A lovely spot for a coffee at Amarante, Portugal.

It was time for some festival in Amarante.

We drove up the lower part of the beautiful Douro Valley, to the town of Pinhao.

At Pinhao we went on a cruise further up the river on one of these boats.

Decorative tiles on the railway station at Pinhao.

On our last Porto evening we drank that cherry liqueur on the roof terrace at sunset.

Kevin and Linda helped.

Sunset over Porto.

...and the same scene in the morning sun.