Buenas Festas

The following day the forecast was as good as its word and the sun made a reappearance. Lynne opened the window shutters and bathed in the warmth.

after lunch (Portugal doesn't keep the extended siesta like Spain ) we made our way back into the old town. It is crammed with interesting shops some dedicated to just one item. T-shirts, wooden toys or in the case of the shop below, brushes.

Of course the decorations continued as we climbed the hill towards the Torre de Clerigos.

Unlike the modern tendency for all town centres to look the same we enjoy the Iberian way of hanging on to the older model with individual shops, specialists and downright quirky. It is constantly surprising and Porto is especially gifted in this respect.

The streets in the old town are narrow and shady, unfortunately in Winter this equates to chilly, however the steep climbing keeps you warm.

Porto is one of those towns that seem to have a surprise around every corner, its one of the delights of exploring by "wandering around" in this case however despite the distractions of the Cordaria park we had the aim (well I did) of climbing the Torre de Clerigos. This is one of the best viewpoints , if not the best in Porto.

From this angle the attached church is not very obvious, it basically runs back from the tower in a triangle. Once we had paid our 3 euros we began to climb the 240 steps that bring you to the balcony at the summit. As usual with heights I am far keener than Lynne, but as she was looking after me and my strained ankle I'm afraid I left her no choice.

The viewing gallery was quite crowded but the views are indeed tremendous, the view below is looking back towards the river and the cathedral, our apartment almost exactly in the middle of the photo, just by the Mercado Ferria Borges (market Hall)

Below is the Park Lisboa, which has shops and cafes that unbelievably are topped by a wooded park area, very popular shopping for hobbits!

we dawdled around on the top of the tower for quite a while as the views just drag you in, there is a brass top to the balustrade which has engraved upon it the points of interest and the distinctive buildings (of which there are many) to be seen. A fabulous place from which to see the city.

Eventually we had to descend, by this time my damaged ankle was giving me some pain and I almost walked back out before remembering that our ticket enabled us to see the church as well, from a fairly unique vantage point.

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The nave is an ellipse, and a raised passageway allows you to walk around it, the viewing galleries are seen in the photo above along with the rich gilded decoration and the fantastic confection of the alterpiece.
As we walked round we entered the museum, which is located above the alter and has a unique viewpoint back into the nave from directly above the statue that surmounts it.

The museum itself is a small collection of religious artefacts, including a lot of carved wooden images of Christ that are from Crucifixes. The images are not allowed to be destroyed and are normally stored beneath alters or similar. apparently the arms are more vulnerable that the body so many of the images are without arms. The smaller examples in the photo are complete but the photo shows the viewing window in the background, which is why I chose this angle.

I always feel a great sense of history when looking at these objects and Portugal seems to be if anything even more Catholic than Spain. Its easy to forget that they were at one time the greatest colonial powers in the world. The catholic church in essence dividing the world up between them.

 It was becoming obvious that there was a lot to see in Porto and our four days would be full indeed.
Lynne was keen for a coffee and to look at the street market we had spotted from the tower, Lynne is a committed shopper!

After a coffee we looked around the stalls, Lynne narrowly avoided becoming the proud owner of a fur coat.

I thought it was quite fetching but Lynne settled for a new Jumper as the sun was slowly going down.

I had one more church to see before my ankle gave out completely, this is the Chapel of Souls, or Capela das Almas.

 Unfortunately closed but the incredible tiled exterior was worth the walk. We walked on and discovered a church that was open, The Church of Saint Idelphonso. We contributed a small amount to the new roof fund which enabled us to sign a roof tile.

We were also delighted to be sung Christmas carols by children in the choir high above the entrance.

We had wandered into one of the main shopping area of the city and the crowds were tremendous, however every corner had a performer or a roast chestnut seller and the whole thing was feeling a lot like Christmas as the song says! We walked back towards the tower in the evening light and the crowds died down a little. we had planned to eat out but were too tired to do so. My painful ankle gave us a perfect excuse. we had however had a fantastic day out in Porto.