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23 May 2024 - Porto
We took an Uber into Porto today and it cost Eur 7, which isn't much more than 2 tickets on the metro would have cost.
We first visited the 12th century Porto Cathedral which the Rough Guide said wasn't very special. The entry fee was Eur 5 and it was worth it. There was a lot to see and there were good views from the tower.
Our next stop was the Sao Bento train station! It is a tourist attraction as it has historic scenes made from 22,000 blue ceramic tiles.
We had lunch at Cafe da Gina on the upper floor of the Mercado de Bolhao. The food was excellent and it was so much cheaper than restaurants in tourist areas. They have very good reviews on Tripadvisor.
We walked over to Porto city hall and about 20 people were patiently waiting for their turn to pose in front of the Porto sign! The avenue leading down from the City hall was lined with interesting buildings.
We paid a Eur 5 entrance fee to visit the interesting church of Carmo. It was built for monks and is very ornate. The entrance fee also covered the Carmelita nunnery which is now a museum.
The Church and the Nunnery are separated by probably the narrowest house in Portugal, barely 1 metre wide. This house was built as churches couldn't share the same wall.
As we had plenty more time in Porto we called it a day and took an Uber back to our apartment. We were impressed with Porto and preferred it to Lisbon.
24 May 2024 - Porto
We took an Uber from our apartment to the beach area of Porto. From there we walked for about 1.5 hours to the centre of Porto along the Atlantic coast and the Douro river. It was a sunny day but there were only a few people on the beaches.
We had a quick lunch and then continued walking along the river to the old Ribiera area on the waterfront of Porto. It was very lively and it is one of the most popular areas of Porto for visitors.
We walked across the lower deck of the Ponte Luiz I bridge to the south side of the Douro which is known as Gaia. It is another busy and popular water front area as there are excellent views across the river to the historic centre of Porto.
There is a cable car (Teleférico) which goes along Gaia's waterfront up to the upper deck of the Pont Luiz 1 bridge. We took the cable car despite the Eur 7 charge being a bit expensive for a 5 minute ride.
25 May 2024 - Porto
We had a more relaxed day today and took an Uber to the Crystal Palace gardens in Porto. Porto's Crystal Palace was modelled on London's Crystal Palace but the original structure has been replaced by a modern dome shaped building. It is possible to walk on top of the dome but it costs an extortionate Eur 10.
The Crystal Palace gardens are worth seeing. The views over the city and the river are the best feature. There were lots of peacocks, peahens and cockerels strutting their stuff.
We walked into the historic centre of Porto from the Crystal Palace gardens and wandered around. A couple of days ago we had come across a long queue of people waiting to get into the Livraria Lello bookstore.
We didn't know why at the time but this bookstore is said to have inspired JK Rowling when she lived in Porto before writing Harry Potter. Apparently she frequented the bookstore.
Lonely Planet ranks it as the world's third most beautiful bookstore.
I have seen photos of the Livraria Lello bookstore and it is impressive. However, I wouldn't go to the hassle of buying an online ticket for Eur 8 and queuing to enter a bookstore crowded with Harry Potter fans. I'm not a fan!
We later passed the Majestic Cafe which also had queues to enter. It turns out that it was a popular hangout for JK Rowling.
26 May 2024 - Porto to Pontevedra, Spain
We drove 170 kilometres from Porto to Pontevedra in Spain. We visited Ponte de Lima and Valencia do Minho on the way to Pontevedra. Both towns were on our route and were worth visiting according to the Rough Guide book. We also couldn't check into our next apartment in Pontevedra until 17.00 and therefore needed something to fill in the time!
Ponte de Lima is one of the oldest towns in Portugal and is on the River Lima. It is an attractive town but doesn't have any real sights. There was plenty of safe and free parking at the "Parque Estacionamento - Expolima".
It was a Sunday and the town centre was busy with Portuguese visitors and locals strolling around. We walked over the old 14th century bridge to the Parque do Arnada and then strolled around the town centre and the riverside.
After lunch at Ponte de Lima we drove the short distance to Valenca do Minho. Its old town is within 13th century fortifications. We drove through several narrow gateways to park inside the walls at "Parking Fortaleza". It wasn't free but it seemed secure which was important as we had our luggage in the car.
The Rough Guide made out that it would be swarming with tourists and being a Sunday I feared the worst. Fortunately there weren't many visitors and we spent a pleasant hour wandering around the historic centre.
We reached Pontevedra at 17.00 and checked into a very modern 1 bedroom apartment that we had booked through Booking.com for Eur 71 per night. We will be staying 4 nights in Pontevedra.
27 May 2024 - Pontevedra
The weather in Galacia isn't usually good but we woke to sun and the weather forecast is good for the next week.
It was only a 10 minute walk along the river from our apartment to the historic centre of Pontevedra. It was surprisingly quiet in the centre but that may have been because it was a Monday morning.
The centre of Pontevedra is a very pleasant place to wander around but there aren't many sights. We visited the convent of San Francisco, which was founded by St Frances of Asissi, and entry was free.
We also visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Mayor, a 16th century Roman Catholic church. The interior was plain but beautiful. It was free to enter the church but we paid Eur 1 to climb up the bell tower
We entered the Church of the Pilgrim (Igreja de la Peregrina) and again entry was free. The church's scallop shell shape is thought to indicate that it was intended for use by the pilgrims on the road to Santiago.
We had problems finding any restaurants open for lunch and it seems that Mondays are a very quiet day. We had lunch at an Indian restaurant as we couldn't find any other open restaurants. However, on the way back to our apartment we saw that there were 2 or 3 restaurants open in the Plaza da Lena.
We had spent about 4 hours walking around the centre of Pontevedra and had seen everything there was to see in that time.
28 May 2024 - Day Trip to Santiago de Compostela
We drove 40 minutes from Pontevedra to Santiago de Compostela today. I am very conscious that car parking in Spain can be very difficult. I therefore always research car parking beforehand and had found 2 car parks that were near the centre and had good reviews.
We tried the cheaper "Parking Municipa Belvis" first but unfortunately it was full and after circling around a few times we gave up. Luckily there was plenty of space at the "Continental Aparcadoiro" and the parking spaces were reasonably wide. It didn't break the bank as 4 hours cost about Eur 8.
The main site in Santiago de Compostela is the cathedral and we headed straight there. Four squares surround the cathedral and each square provides a different perspective of the cathedral.
Obradoiro square is the largest of the four squares surrounding the cathedral. The Hostel of the Catholic Monarchs adjoins the square. It was founded in 1499 to house pilgrims and is now a Parador. Raxoi Palace is also on the square and was built in 1766. It was originally used as a seminary and is now the City Hall.
The smallest of the 4 squares is Platerías Plaza which has the baroque Casa Cabildo, which was built in the 18th century. In the centre of the square is the Fountain of Horses.
The Plaza da Quintana is flanked by the Monastery of San Martino. It was founded in the 10th century to house monks overseeing the relics of Santiago. It is the second largest monastery in Spain covering 20,000 square metres. Visitors aren't allowed to enter.
We entered the cathedral to which entry is free. It was full of pilgrims, people who have hiked the Camino and other visitors. There was a long queue to see the bones of St James in the crypt and to go behind the high alter. We didn't do this as the queue was too long.
We had lunch at the Mercado de Abastos as its sea food restaurants have a good reputation. Lani ordered octopus for Eur 20 and was given a whole one which was a very large portion. I ordered a dish of scallops costing Eur 20 and got ten very small ones! As I was still hungry and I ordered a octopus for myself!
29 May 2024 - Day Trip to Vigo
We drove along the coast to Donon which is south west of Pontevedra. Most of the coast around Pontevedra has been spoiled by development. However, there is very little development on the very scenic headland at Donon.
There was free parking on the coast at Donon and signs showing walks in the area. We decided to walk south to the two lighthouses near Praia de Melide.
We initially walked south along a narrow road and after ten minutes turned off onto the coastal path. There was a sign saying "Senda da Costeira" at the turn off. The path went all the way to the lighthouses and it took about an hour. It was a very scenic walk and there are two nice beaches just past the light houses.
On the way back we took a quicker dirt track that didn't follow the coast and joined up with the road near the car park. The signboards at the car park showed that there was another interesting coastal walk northwards to an iron age fort. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do it.
We then drove to nearby Cangas. We parked the car and took a 20 minute passenger ferry ride across the estuary to Vigo. It was a very modern ferry which runs every half an hour and only costs Eur 2.80 each way
There isn't that much to see in Vigo. We had lunch first and then wandered around the older part of Vigo. We were intrigued that there are a series of covered escalators from the lower part of Vigo to the upper town.
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