Art in Porto

Our final full day on our Douro River cruise began with coffee on deck and then breakfast in the dining room.

Soon, we were on a bus headed to the Porto Cathedral (Sé do Porto).

Why drive?

Because it made the excursion an easier, mostly downhill walk to return to the ship on what nonetheless carried a caution to those unable to walk long distances over uneven surfaces.

One woman, afraid of holding everyone up, ended up walking to the Cathedral that afternoon and back that same day escorted by her husband.  He had gone on the excursion, returning to tell her it would not have been too hard and encouraging her to make the trek.

Construction of the Romanesque Sé do Porto Cathedral began in the late in the 12th Century on the site of an older church, continuing into the 16th Century, with subsequent updates.

Like so many churches in Europe, the interior is spectacular, with wealth from the Age of Discovery often devoted to some extent to the glory of God in Portugal and Spain.

A vaulted hallway opened to to a vast courtyard surrounded by the stunning architecture.

 

We climbed stairs to explore more rooms filled with masterful art.

The artwork inside and walls around the courtyard of the Cathedral included "azulejos," the beautiful glazed blue ceramic tiles as we had seen in Lamego the prior day.

The Moors brought what they called "al-zellige" --- polished stone --- to Iberia.  Seville became a major producer of this tile art in the 13th Century.  Seville's Alcazar makes good use of this stylized art.

The tile was usually white plus one other color and assembled into geometric shapes.

In 1498 while visiting Seville, King Manuel I of Portugal was enchanted by the tile art.

The King introduced the artwork to Sintra.

Just as Mateus Rosé became a worldwide sensation when England's Queen Elizabeth II carried that pink wine into the spotlight, Portugal followed King Manuel I's royal lead, embracing blue azulejos.

Restoration in process

Azulejos in Portugal are primarily cobalt blue, because it is vibrant, durable and, perhaps most importantly, works well with the tile making process.  Porto in particular adopted this artform.

The many azulejos have earned Porto its nickname as the Blue City of Portugal.

The blue has since come to be associated with beauty and serenity in Portugal, where it is part of their cultural identity.

In the mid-15th century, an Italian method called "majolica" (enamel glazing) allowed artists to paint directly on the tin-based, white glaze.

Porto whole-heartedly integrated this breakthrough, as evidenced in Porto, creating religious and historical scenes in stunning, large-scale artwork.

Porto's grand train station brings azulejos to the forefront.

São Bento Station displays remarkable picture using a total of over 20,000 tiles.

It makes quite a statement.

Incidentally, any time you find yourself in a big city train station, including in U.S. cities like New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, take time to look around you, including up at the ceiling.  There's often magnificent art and architecture to behold while awaiting a train.

Douro's São Bento Station is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Monument of Portugal.

A building decorated with azulejos on the facade sits across the street from São Bento Station.

From there, we strolled along Rua das Flores, a bustling street lined by sundry shops and cafes.

Our guide told about different specialties, including "Arraiolos" rugs displayed by hanging them from the railings of balconies above their shops.

Arraiolos are the Portuguese take on Persian rugs, which like azulejos, were introduced into Portugal by the Moors. Portugal's version uses Portuguese folk-art patterns and more limited range of colors.

They get their name from the Portuguese city where they are handmade as a cottage industry.  These embroidered wool floor coverings are artistically created with a special type of cross-stitch that envelops a linen cloth foundation.

In that definitive way, they differ from Persian and Turkish rugs, which are made on looms with knots.

There were no flying carpets among the Arrailos, as far as we could tell, although who can be certain how they landed on the railing.

When our guide gave the group free time to shop or grab a snack on Rua das Flores, Julie and I decided to quench our thirst with a Diet Coke.

It was a pleasant place to walk, but where among the busy cafes would we be welcomed to take a table and chairs from customers ready to buy a meal or at least a round of mixed drinks instead of one soda.

We came upon a sign outside a small hotel promoting their rooftop cafe.

Upon checking, the front desk clerk said it was not open at that moment.  However, she said we could go up to check out the area.

After taking the elevator up, we were happy to find a lawn space above the fray.

We managed to buy a Diet Pepsi from someone who was closing out the morning coffee service and went outside to some rooftop lawn chairs.

Nothing dramatic, but it was a nice place to relax above the hustle and bustle that most younger adults and tourists seem to crave (as evidenced by the popularity of big city downtowns and mega-ships in the family ocean cruise market).

Did our cat Raja from Carmel Mountain find us again?

Down, down, down to the Children's Carnival...or Rua das Flores.

After our Diet Pepsi break, we were surprised to come across a slightly different lineup of Tuna Folk Show that we'd watch the prior evening aboard Viking Torgil performing on the street for tips.

We enjoyed this encore of sorts.

We walked to Palacia de Bolsa, home of Associação Comercial do Porto, which seems to be a Chamber of Commerce of sorts.

While this Neoclassical building may look like it was constructed during the Italian Renaissance, the palace was actually built beginning in 1842 on the site of the cloisters of St. Francis Convent.  That 13th Century Convent was burned down in 1832 during Portugal's "Liberal Wars."

You may recall from Touring Belem that in 1834, a government decree abolished all convents and other religious orders, with their properties being put to into secular uses.  In 1841, Portugal's 22-year-old Queen Maria II granted the property to the merchants of Porto.

Designed by architect Joaquim da Costa Lima Júnior, Palacia de Bolsa is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the interior is supposed to be at least as impressive as the exterior.  We did not go inside.

We could have spent more time exploring the city on our own, including lunch at one of the many restaurants.

Instead, we met with our Viking group at the appointed time and place.  We strolled like a loose herd downhill toward the river and then along Cais da Ribeira to Ponte Dom Lui I Bridge and then back to our ship for lunch onboard.

For something different, we decided to walk to the Atlantic Ocean.

It turned out to be a longer hike than we expected.

Note that the Atlantic Ocean isn't even on the Viking map of Porto and Gaia as a reasonable walking destination.

But we eventually came to a sandy beach, first on the Douro and finally on the Atlantic Ocean.

Surpassing Columbus in reaching what we actually sought on his initial voyage, we made it to our goal.

We rested on some rocks and walked down to put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean before heading back.

This was the last evening of our cruise, so we savored one last evening aboard with happy hour and dinner before packing our bags and setting them outside our door in preparation for our included Viking transfer to the airport the next morning.

Airport check-in for Porto was something of a pain, but changing planes in Lisbon was a real pain. I assume this is some transitional stage due to new regulations, but it was a madhouse, with an hour-long line.  Many people cut the line because of theoretically tighter flight departures than everyone else standing in line.

We didn't experience any airport problems last time we were in Portugal, but perhaps only because we were cruising from Lisbon on a wonderful Mediterranean cruise.  Then again, it comes as no surprise that it is better to cruise than to fly, if you have the time. 

With movies to watch on the non-stop flight, the air journey --- to paraphrase Spain's Miguel de Cervantes --- truly was much better than the airport.