Portugal

A bridge over the Douro in Barca d'Alva

Last month we traveled to Portugal with my parents for a seven-day river cruise. We flew to Porto (a city I must admit I’d never heard of before) and sailed from there up the Douro river, in the heart of Portuguese wine country. I learned a lot. For one thing, Portuguese sounds nothing like Spanish in my opinion.

Porto is surprising. It’s pretty big for one thing — especially for a city I didn’t know existed. It is second only to Lisbon in size, with about 1.3 million people.

One of many rotting apartments -- this one directly across from São Bento train station in the oldest quarter of Porto One of many rotting apartments -- this one directly across from São Bento train station in the oldest quarter of Porto One of many rotting apartments -- this one directly across from São Bento train station in the oldest quarter of Porto

Porto is a city of sharp contrasts. The airport is modern and pleasant, with a metro line that takes you downtown quietly and efficiently. The metro stations reminded me a little of Copenhagen’s metro stations. And then you climb the stairs to the street and BAM! – there’s the contrast. Porto is full of beautiful old buildings… many of which have clearly been abandoned and some of which appear ready to be condemned.

For every abandoned building in Porto, there seems to be one next to it that is clearly well cared for Apartments in Porto There is no shortage of doors with character in Porto

But it’s not a city of ruins — not by any means. It’s a vibrant and bustling metropolis. But that just makes it more strange because, in a city that is clearly not dying it’s strange to see that perhaps as many as one in four buildings in the medieval part of the city are visibly falling apart.

Street vendor in Porto. Can't remember what she was selling though. Blending in perfectly, we discovered Porto without a trace of suspicion of being tourists Church covered in tile in Porto 'Rabelo' boats, traditionally used to transport Port wine casks (but now used only to transport tourists) Porto, Portugal Rabelo boats on the Douro, with the Maria Pia bridge in the background, which was designed by Gustave Eiffel In the Sandeman Port wine cellars in Porto Ellen, in the Sandeman Port wine cellar in Porto In the Sandeman Port wine cellar Tile murals in the São Bento station in Porto Tile murals in the São Bento station in Porto Tile murals in the São Bento station in Porto Perhaps the most innocent grafitti I've ever seen. Dad, clearly appreciating the sights More blue tile in Porto There is no shortage of doors with character in Porto There is no shortage of doors with character in Porto Vendor in the old quarter of Porto

If we’d had more time, it would have been interesting to see the newer parts of Porto. We pretty much only saw the touristy and ancient part of the city, and naturally a city of this size has more sides to it than that.

The Igreja de São Francisco (church of Saint Francis) Inside the Igreja de São Francisco (church of Saint Francis) A church in Porto Inside the Palácio da Bolsa -- the stock exchange palace Inside the Palácio da Bolsa -- the stock exchange palace (shot discretely from the hip) Inside the Palácio da Bolsa -- the stock exchange palace Portuguese women aren't as dark as I expected them to be A massive, apparently abandoned building in Porto

Porto was also incredibly hot, especially when we first arrived. We took a short taxi ride to the boat, and, as we crossed the bridge over the river, we could see the smoke from several fires. Most were in the distance, but there was one right on the cliff below the bridge. It gave the impression that the whole country was on fire.

Dad discovers a latent love of dance Ellen discovered Teletubbies (and, like us, appears to wonder, 'What the hell is this?') The Teletubbies offer Lisbeth and me a bit of quiet time

We weren’t sure just what to expect of the boat. Years ago I took a short cruise to the Bahamas, but I figured this would be a much smaller boat than a full-fledged ocean cruise ship. But it was a pretty big boat. It had four levels if you counted the sun-deck (where we spent a lot of time), and even had a pool.

Entering the Carrapatelo lock -- the highest of five locks on the Douro river Entering the Carrapatelo lock -- the highest of five locks on the Douro river Entering the Carrapatelo lock -- the highest of five locks on the Douro river In the lock, looking back. The door then drops and the lock is filled, raising the ship 35 meters (114 feet) In the Carrapatelo lock Rising in Carrapatelo lock -- the highest of five locks on the Douro river Leaving the Carrapatelo lock, the ship having been lifted 35 meters (114 feet) Leaving the Carrapatelo lock, the ship having been lifted 35 meters (114 feet)

Dad considered them as “delays billed as attractions,” but one of the facets of this cruise is that you go through five locks. (And, since we sailed back to our starting point, that meant we passed through each lock twice.) I’m sure that the locks onthe Panama Canal are more impressive, but these locks are amazing. The Carrapatelo lock (above) has the highest difference in water levels in Europe — 35 meters or 114 feet. It’s incredible, especially when you consider how much water is involved for each passage.

Portugal is full of crumbling buildings One of hundreds of beautiful, apparently unmaintained buildings along the Douro river One of hundreds of beautiful, apparently unmaintained buildings along the Douro river

Aside from the locks, the next most interesting sights along the river is the abandoned estates and villas. Not all of them are abandoned, but perhaps a third of the houses we saw were either clearly abandoned, or at least lacked evidence of life.

Terraced vineyards just outside Pinhão Terraced vineyards on the Douro river Houses along the Douro river One of hundreds of vinyards along the Douro river. Terraced vineyards on the Douro Stunning vineyards (a bit obscured by wildfire smoke)

We had seen pictures of these terraced vineyards on the advertising for the cruise. I skeptically figured that sure, there is a stretch along the river that looks like this, but it’s the exception and not the rule. I was wrong. We passed sites like these for entire days.

In Pinhão, a charming but odd little town where we stopped twice. Well, at least we have a 'benz A potentially unoccupied building in Pinhão. The metal shutters are pretty common on Portugal, but the fact that there is nothing on the terraces makes me wonder if there's anyone living there. In Pinhão, a charming but odd little town where we stopped twice. This place is _much_ bigger than it looks In Pinhão, a charming but odd little town where we stopped twice.

Something else that surprised us about Portugal is that there aren’t many towns or attractions along the river. We sailed along for hours without seeing more than the occasional car or small boat. And when we did see towns, they were generally small towns. We stopped in Pinhão (above) twice. It seemed like a tiny town, but my subsequent research puts it at around 3,000 people.

Our ship, moored on the Spanish bank, on the stretch of river that divides Spain and Portugal The ship, as seen from a hill near Barca d'Alva A surprisingly well maintained building next to the defunct rail line

Our turn-around point was Barca d’Alva — a town that the ship crew described to us as “200 people and a lot of dogs”. It is indeed a small town (but we didn’t see many dogs). Barca d’Alva is very near Spain. In fact we docked on the Spanish side of the river the night we arrived.

Dad, mentally reviewing his many past girlfriends Mom, shrewdly reviewing dad's past girlfriends Lisbeth Ellen, quietly enduring the adoring attention of virtually everyone on board You'd think that not having Internet would stress a web developer out...

We sailed back the way we came, stopping at some but not all of the same places. It might have  been a little boring, but now it was the weekend, and the river was much livelier than it had been on the way up. It still wasn’t the summer buzz that I expected, but there were boats and jets skis in the water, and people on the beaches. This went a long way to reverse my perceptions of Portugal as sleepy and partly abandoned.

We got back to Porto at dusk, and the ship sailed through the city and to the sea before turning around.

Porto, at dusk, on our return A Rabelo boat moored in Porto Porto, Portugal

The trip confirmed something that we all suspected but never before spoke of: my dad and I are both quite severely addicted to the Internet. There was no service on the boat, and that was a bit of a shock. Questions about where we were kept popping up — questions that normally would be answered quickly with a few Google searches.

When we got back to Copenhagen (and hence my beloved connection) I learned that Portugal, despite being one of Europe’s poorest nations, has opted to invest heavily in renewable energy. There’s an interesting article in the New York Times here. These two facts help explain the crumbling buildings. A struggling country has to be selective about priorities, and Portugal is clearly decided to let the past go and concentrate on the future.

(More pictures from Portugal here.)

One Thought on “Portugal

  1. bananabender on September 2, 2010 at 5:33 pm said:

    lady in red = hottie!

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