{"id":89,"date":"2018-10-02T11:20:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T17:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/?p=89"},"modified":"2018-10-04T11:42:25","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T17:42:25","slug":"porto-day-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/porto\/porto-day-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Porto, Day One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The plan was to spend the morning walking from our apartment through the old town and city center on our way down to the Ribeira, the touristy but very beautiful northern bank of the Rio Douro. From there, we\u2019d catch a trolley out to the Foz do Douro, the point at which the mouth of the Douro meets the Atlantic Ocean. We would find a spot to eat, find a bus back to the Museu Serralves, and then find our way back to our apartment for a little rest before venturing out again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that happened, and it was glorious, but what we didn\u2019t count on was happening upon the Porto Guitarra<\/a>, a small, unassuming shop just a few doors down from the Livraria Lello bookstore, JK Rowling\u2019s inspiration for the Hogwarts\u2019 library. Photos are not allowed in the bookstore, and it\u2019s absurdly crowded, but it\u2019s worth googling. The word that comes to mind is \u201csumptuous,\u201d but that really doesn\u2019t do it justice. (Update: Photography is allowed. Sometimes. See this post<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to Porto Guitarra. The owner and luthier, Tico Rodrigues, is known far and wide for his shop\u2019s exceptional collection of traditional Portuguese and South American stringed instruments\u2014classical guitars, mandolins, and ukuleles, and the Guitarra Portuguese, the traditional guitar of Portugal and integral to the Fado music of the land. His instruments are made by local luthiers of solid woods (no laminates) and exceptional craftsmanship. I was just going to peek in. Really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I wanted to try a Guitarra Portuguese, and I was instantly hooked. Very unique tuning, tone, and playing style that is unlike any other stringed instrument I\u2019ve encountered. To make two hour-long story short, this one is getting shipped home to me, thanks to the insistence of my lovely, patient, and very understanding wife Mary. I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019ve ever done to deserve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Guitarra Portuguese. MY Guitarra Portuguese. It looks like a mandola, but it\u2019s much larger, has unique tuning, and sounds like a harpsichord. Beautiful walnut back and sides. In the Coimbra style, I learned.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you visit the Porto \u00a0Guitarra website, click on his Produccts link to see more traditional Portuguese instruments, and be sure to click \u201cSee more of our product catalog\u201d to see the other Guitarras Portugueses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So anyway, Porto. Our first full day here was a joy. Founded in the 13th century but with settlements going back to pre-Roman times, Porto is an intriguing mix of old and new, of good times and bad, and modernity and traditionalism. Most of the old buildings have balconies and courtyards, grand portals for doors, and tiled facades of local manufacture. Many are also abandoned and decaying, although there appears to be a building boom of sorts going on here, with many older buildings for sale and many others being restored. Throughout the city are remnants of Roman walls, centuries-old fortifications, and cathedrals and palaces, often with new additions or with entirely new construction built on top of the old. Narrow, winding (and often steep) cobblestone streets are often squeezed to the limit by cars, delivery trucks, and large buses. It all works somehow. Porto feels comfortable and liveable. (Speaking of living, I have never seen as many apartments in one place as I have seen in Porto.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few images. Another full day tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An older building sandwiched between two renovated spaces.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tile detail from an older abandoned building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Street scene leading up to the old city center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fromt facade, Igreja das Carmelitas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tile detail Igraja das Carmelitas. Each tile is about 8 inches square.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Street tile detail. I feel guilty walking on these.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Livraria Lello, the \u201cHarry Potter\u201d bookstore. Photos not permitted inside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Door detail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looking uphill to the Universidade do Porto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Estacione de Porto – Sao Bento; Porto\u2019s grand train terminal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tile detail, Sao Bento. Extraordinary example of Portuguese tile art\u2014each tile is about 8\u201d square, and the tiles cover all fours walls up to 30 feet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Street scene looking out from Sao Bento. Note the steep, winding streets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rio Douro and the Ribeira, looking west to the Ponte Don Luis I.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Atlantic Ocean from Foz do Douro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One more street scene for good measure. I\u2019m obviously drawn to buildings that seem to have stories behind them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The plan was to spend the morning walking from our apartment through the old town and city center on our way down to the Ribeira, the touristy but very beautiful northern bank of the Rio Douro. From there, we\u2019d catch … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-porto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skipvia.com\/Portugal18\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}