Oporto, Portugal

(A note to anyone considering a gym membership: Save your money; take a trip to Portugal. The food is better and you’ll get the same amount of exercise.)

Views of Oporto

Portugal is old world. From the topography to the architecture, Portugal is beautiful; stunning really, and while impossible to miss the civic celebration of its rich heritage, one quickly realizes that tourism comes with a steep price (pun intended). It took just one day to test adequately the tensile strength of my tibialis posterior. In other words, my calf muscles were so sore I wasn’t sure I could even walk let alone navigate the ridiculously steep streets.

Steep enough?

Our full first day, Sunday, was in Oporto, the second largest city in Portugal with an urban population of 250,000 and a sprawling metropolitan area extending from the city center to the Atlantic Ocean with a population of nearly two million people. Established as a Roman outpost named Portus Cale (most likely the origin of the word ‘Portugal’) some 300 years before the birth of Christ, its present-day name was derived from “o porto,” a translation of the English phrase “the port.” Located on the Douro River, “Porto” (as the city is called by almost everyone) is perhaps best known for its namesake wine—port.

Day One began with a failed demonstration of map reading skills. Put it this way: the real-time differences between what a tourist map shows and the reality of age-old streets was seriously complicated by the continuous choice between uphill or down, knowing full well that either way led directly to the other (and my calves were already beginning to seize up.) No sooner had we reached the top of the first “hill,” and before we started wandering aimlessly, we found the Church of Saint Ildefonso. An 18^th century Baroque style gem named in honor of a 7^th century saint, Ildephonsus of Toledo, the church was constructed entirely of granite but later covered with approximately 11,000 blue and white tiles depicting the life and times of its patron.

 

Church of Saint Ildefonso

To be honest, we started the day with a plan to visit the train station, which as it turns out we never did. That’s because in a place with so much history and so many unbelievably beautiful things to see, there didn’t seem to be any bad choices. We tried to find it, but somewhere between where we were and where we wanted to be, we saw the Se Cathedral of Porto.

Se´

It has been said that every great city has a great cathedral, and Oporto is no exception. Easily spotted and unmistakably identifiable from almost everywhere in the city, the cathedral is considered one of the most important buildings of Romanesque style in all of Portugal. Built in the 12^th century and enlarged in the 14^th and again in the 18^th, the cathedral resembles the fortress it became when the French in attacked the city in 1809.

From the vantage point high atop one of the highest points in the city, we could easily pick out our next destination—the river (and all downhill, but to be candid, I never did decide which was worse on my seriously struggling calves). Just to make the day more challenging, we were more than half way to the river when we decided to use the bridge to cross, which, of course, meant trekking back uphill! Coupling my clinical fear of heights and drum-tight calf muscles made for a memorable, if nonetheless harrowing twenty minute crossing.

 

View from the bridge

Once on the much appreciated far side of the river, and eventually to the safety of sea level, we strolled the highly commercialized banks of the river. Hey, it’s what tourists do; right? After a stop at Sandeman’s for a taste of port and re-crossing the river (this time on the lower level) we made our way to one of the few high-priority items on our must-see list—the St. Francis Church.

St. Francis Church (left)

 

View from the street

From the banks of the river, everything, and I do mean ‘everything’, is uphill. So, after a breath-taking (not to mention calf-killing) walk, we arrived at Sao Francisco do Porto. Although the church no longer conducts religious services, it attracts countless visitors. Several years ago after leaving St. Peter’s Basillica in Rome, Debbie remarked that she wasn’t sure she could visit any more churches because, as she asked, “What’s left to be seen?”

We found our answer in Porto.

Once described as “the Golden Church,” the St. Francis Monument Church is (as the guide brochure says) “a natural and world masterpiece.” Having seen it myself, I can’t say it any better (although I couldn’t find the “natural” part.) The entire interior of the church is covered floor to ceiling with carved chestnut; and as breath taking as it is astounding, the entire body of work is gilded with an estimated 600 kg of gold. Although age and countless other factors have dulled its luster, the walls seemed to radiate light.

Tree of Jesse, hand carved and gilded as is the entire interior woodwork

Although little evidence exists, tradition contends that St. Francis himself established the first monastery in Portugal in 1214. What is for certain is that by 1237 the Franciscan order was established in Porto. The church we see today was begun in 1245 and not completed until 1410. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, St. Francis church was favored by several of Porto’s wealthiest families. With a renewed source of funding and changing aesthetic preferences, the church underwent significant changes, and in the 17^th and 18^th centuries the interior was covered with gilded carved wood.

Outdoor cafe on the Douro

Our walk back to the river was made less painful by the promise of libation and knowledge that the funicular (inclined railway, from the Latin word “funiculus” meaning rope) would carry us uphill and much, much closer to our hotel.

Inclined railway

Before checking out of our hotel on Monday and taking a bus to Lisbon, we had one more stop to make—Livraria Lello, the Harry Potter bookstore. Touted by Time magazine as one of the 15 most beautiful bookstores in the world, Livraria Lello was a favored hangout of then-unknown author J.K. Rowling, who taught English in Porto. That’s not hard to believe. With its neo-gothic architecture, remarkable woodwork, gorgeous stained glass, and sweeping staircase, the bookstore is a favored hangout for many people—most of whom are tourists. Entrance is by ticket only (three euros, which is deducted from the purchase price of any book), but that doesn’t seem to deter many people.

Ticket please!

Referring to its Rowling-Harry Potter connection, Time wrote, “It doesn’t take long to appreciate Lello’s potential as a muse: a stained-glass atrium puts the spotlight on the bookshop’s deep-red staircase, spectacular enough to stop you in your tracks.” Um…yeah…that last part—stop you in your tracks—that’s exactly what happened. One inside, one can hardly move for all the snap-shot-taking gawkers, like me, stopped in their tracks. (Note: before the entrance fee was instituted, photos were prohibited. Instead of trying to enforce an unenforceable rule, the management became smarter than the problem.)

Livraria Lello Bookstore