Tuesday 2 September - Oporto
It promised another beautiful day for the sail up to Leixoes, the port for Oporto, in Portugal - the city of bridges as it is called! As we berthed Peter Deilman's Deutschland was also just arriving in port so took
photos, but it was very misty.
Once our lines were made fast, we caught the shuttle into Oporto
itself and then boarded the HoHo bus for a drive right round both sides of the river.
Oporto is a lovely city with a central old part but also sporting stunning beaches on the Atlantic coast.
As soon as we stopped the far side from the main area, we got off for a walk
along the waterfront lined with port warehouses, and to take photos across the Douro to the oldest part of
the Unesco World Heritage listed city.
Then we carried on walking back over the
bridge to this area. The river frontage was pretty and lined with bars and
cafes so we stopped for a cold drink and to absorb the atmosphere.
There was
another Uniworld river boat Douro Queen berthed across from us - must have been a lovely cruise. After refreshments we climbed back up the steep hill
to one of the HoHo bus stops and got back on board to complete the tour – well
worth it for the fabulous views from the top of the opposite bank of the river.
Once back where we started we set off on foot to firstly go inside the most
magnificent bookshop ever! Wonderful soaring spiral staircases up to upper
levels lined with books as far as you could see – unfortunately no photos
allowed (although I did sneak one!). Then up and down the steep streets
(watching out for trams).
After another stop for a drink and pastry, I returned to the ship leaving Caryll ashore some more. It was once again very hot and I was all walked out. After a snack at the Grill I sat on deck until Caryll returned and sailaway, watching some gulls fight over a strip of, what looked like, plastic!
No comments:
Post a Comment