[Updated to correct the horrible spelling errors]
Every vacation has some down days, and the past two have been like that for me. Perhaps I’m just getting tired of the foreign-ness of everything (especially here, where I can’t speak the language), perhaps it’s the days getting shorter, perhaps it’s not having enough intellectual challenge without the class, or perhaps I just miss Paris, I’m not sure.
Yesterday we went into Porto itself. It is a very unique, unusual city, in a beautiful setting, on hills above a river, but I’m not sure how much I liked it. The older part of the town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and I can see why it has that designation, because it is very unique, with narrow, narrow streets and interesting buildings. But it is a little run-down, and I found myself feeling claustrophobic, and the buildings seemed like warrens for humans, too many people packed too densely in too small of a place. Then, too, there was the traffic; if you think it’s bad in Santa Rosa, try Porto at rush hour (at least Santa Rosa has street signs). A few pictures follow, and more are here, which will give you a sense of the place; as I said, it is on a beautiful location, and the waterfront is lovely, but I found it had a strange feel to it, an oddness that I can’t put my finger on.
When I woke up today, I was tired in spite of a long sleep, perhaps because it was cloudy and rainy. I almost just bagged the day and stayed in the apartment, but I forced myself out, and I was glad that I did, because we visited a very pretty and very nice small city about 70 kilometers north of Porto called Viano do Castelo, which had been recommended to us as a destination by the very charming and friendly lady in the restaurant in Guimaraes where we had a late afternoon dinner yesterday. The drive up was short and easy (all freeway, through countryside that looked remarkably like Northern California, with forests of eucalyptus in the lowlands and pine in the hills), as was parking (at a premium, it seems, here). After a brief search, we found a restaurant that was recommended by the Michelin guide, in a 16th-century building that housed the communal oven for the village (our table was on the old hearth, beneath the grand arch of the oven, which looked to be exactly the same as it had been 400-plus years ago). The food was excellent, the best we’ve had in Portugal so far, served to us by a couple that looked to be the owners of hte place. My dish was a type of pork, which was flavorful and tender, served with a slightly vinegary sauce, whole baby potatoes, and vegetables. The boys had steak and mushrooms, which was great, and Suzie had a lamb dish that was very usual, in that it looked something like the Italian dish Osso Buco, but made with lamb. We finished off the feast with two wonderful deserts, a chocolate mousse topped with cream that was both sweet and slightly sour, and a local dessert made of cream that was somewhat like creme brulee, but different; it too was outstanding. Following lunch we walked around the charming older area of the village, which was unspoiled and lively, consisting of plazas and narrow alleys. Again, a few pictures give a good sense of the place.
We also happened upon an old church (dating from the 14th century) that looked like nothing on the outside, but was fantastic on the inside, with detailed, rich, impressive, gold-painted scenes on the side walls (I’m sure there is a technical, religious term for them, but I don’t know what it is).
We also visited the municipal museum, which was small but interesting, although our experience there was darkened by the fact that a woman on the staff there kept following us around the museum as if we were going to steal something. She also seemingly gleefully scolded me when I tried to take a picture; I hadn’t known that photography was prohibited, nor could I figure out any reason it should be, given that the museum consisted of old porcelin works and old furniture (very beautiful, I should add, but hardly a state secret). We left the museum and walked down to the river:
By the time we got back to the car, it was almost dark, and our drive back was uneventful except for the now-routine Porto traffic jam that greeted us when we got back to the city.
Tomorrow we are thinking that we may give ourselves a break, a day to do nothing but walk up and down the beach. This is totally off topic, but I’m also getting nervous about the election on Tuesday. I watched McCain today being interviewed on CNN by Larry King, and he was pretty good, and it seems to me the polls are still close enough to make an Obama victory uncertain. It’s nail-biting time….
Categories: Travel -- France
Tags: Porto, Portugal, Viana do Castelo