We awoke this morning and got ready for our Panoramic Porto Shore
Excursion, which started at 8:30 am. Before departing, I took some photos of the suite.
It is not huge, although it is the largest they have to offer. The bath room is very small compared to Tauck. The amount of drawers, closets and luggage storage area is also very small (almost non-existent) compared to Tauck. It does have a separated bed room from the living area...if that is important, although it eats up space. It also has a veranda instead of the French balcony. They claim the size of this suite is 302 sq ft...probably includes the veranda. In contrast, the Tauck suite we had was stated to be 300 sq ft. The Tauck suite seemed, and was, much roomier.
We had a quick breakfast and headed to the dock to board our bus. It is a cool and overcast day. They are predicting light rain this morning and again this afternoon.
The Douro River separates the cities of Porto and Gaia. We are docked on the Gaia (south) side of the Douro River. The north side of the river is the City of Porto. To get to Porto, we will need to cross one of six bridges. We crossed the Dom Luis I bridge which was originally constructed in the late 19th century. Our tour guide said the bridge was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel, of Eiffel Tower fame. The internet says it was designed by Gustave himself. The bridge has two stacked spans across the Douro, one above the other. The top span supports a light rail and the lower is for automobile traffic. Pedestrians can cross on either span.
It took us almost an hour to get across the river due to the morning rush hour traffic.
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| The Dom Luis I Bridge |
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| Crossing the Douro River on the Dom Luis I Bridge |
Downstream of the Dom Luis I bridge is the Arrábida Bridge, opened in 1963. We will be returning over that bridge.
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| The elevator to the top of the Dom Luis I Bridge |
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| Our ship viewed from the Porto side of the Douro River |
Our first stop on the tour was at the Porto Cathedral. It was originally built in the 12th century and modified many times. It is a combination of Gothic, Romanesque and Baroque architectures.
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| The Porto Cathedral |
They were holding mass during our visit.
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| Cloister |
After leaving the Cathedral, we walked down to the train station. The main attraction of the train station is the tiles. My headset was not working so I did not hear any of the explanation by the tour guide, but it was interesting none the less.
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| Henry the Navigator in his conquest of the Moorish port of Ceuta in northern Morocco in 1415 |
Lots of iron balconies which made me think of New Orleans.
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| No sure what church this is, but more tiles |
We passed the Majestic Cafe which supposedly was an inspiration for the Henry Potter books. Quite a line out front. We could not get close enough to peer through the windows.
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| More tiles on a church |
On the way back, I stopped in a little shop and bought some fish pate.
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