Fresh from Barcelona and Ahliana's debut panel on AI, along with Jack, we had the privilege of enjoying our friends in Portugal. It's always a good time when the four of us go on a playdate. It could be said that it's always a 'hoot'.
We all enjoy a market so we took them to the most famous one in Porto - coincidentally around the corner from us - Bolhão Market. There's a piano for all to enjoy at one of the entrances and Jack treated us to some melodious content (Ahliana in the foreground).
We walked and enjoyed some typical Portuguese streets and of course had to stop and have some Port at the Batalha Market. It was quite good.
We decided to finish the day with an evening of Fado - traditional Portuguese music - and there's probably no better place in Porto than the Casa da Guitarra.
"Fado is a melancholic Portuguese musical genre rooted in Lisbon's working-class neighborhoods, characterized by its deeply emotional expression of longing and fate — a feeling the Portuguese call saudade. It typically features a vocalist accompanied by the Portuguese guitarra (a pear-shaped 12-string guitar) and a classical guitar. Recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, fado covers themes of love, loss, the sea, and destiny, and remains one of Portugal's most defining cultural traditions." It is traditionally sung by women, but in the City of Coimbra, it is traditionally men.
We were able to sample and appreciate some traditional, acoustical Fado along with a glass of Port in this acoustics driven building. The venue is very intimate and there are maybe 40 audience members. While we enjoyed the first performer, the second performer, was absolutely amazing. You could feel her emotion from the toes of her feet to the top of her head. Both the guitar and the guitarra player were magnificent.
The next morning, we stopped at this gem of a place. Jack and Ahliana declared the 'Drama Queen' benedicts were tasty and Stacey thoroughly enjoyed her Toasta Mista (Ham and Cheese). JR made a decision to have the 'pequeno' stack of pancakes. For future note, it wasn't enough to satisfy a twelve year old; next time order the full stack. He did say it was very tasty.
It was very rainy this Sunday morning - European Mother's Day - so we opted to get out of the rain and chill for a bit, and ride the metro from São Bento station - which has lovely examples of Azulejo tiles - to Nova da Gaia. We rode to the terminus and then rode back to Jardim do Morro stop and then took the cable car - what we Coloradoans would call a Gondola - down to the Port Wineries.
This bunny wraps around the corner of a building and from the approach of the sides seems disconnected. But seen diagonally from the corner, it is a beautiful sculpture made from unique materials. The artist, Bordalo II (Artur Bordalo), is known for using trash to create animal art that critiques wastefulness.
We passed on waiting for a table here. It looked to be a long wait for a table.
Sculpture made from car tires, artist Cummul. We will need to go at night as the light from the lampost in the center must give it some interesting shadows.
Upon a search, we found that this stencil art is by the Belgian street artist JAUNE, "who is known for depicting small municipal workers in humorous situations. His full name, Jonathan Pauwels, uses these characters to explore the paradox between the visibility and invisibility of city employees. His work often features these figures interacting with garbage bags, traffic cones, and other urban obstacles".
The rain had stopped and the clouds made for interesting backdrops for this church and mural.
If you click to embiggen, you will see some apartment doors that are 'interesting' in placement.
We stopped at Bom Dia winery, which is a specialized local producer, and received a tour from Manuel. Bom Dia only uses their own grapes - 3 red varietals and 3 white - to produce approximately 70,000 bottles per year. They produce everything from a dry white to a 40 year Tawny.
The narrow street is a connector to the World of Wine experience and has several different small winery opportunities.
When the touring was done, we made our way back to Porto utilizing the cable car and the metro where we walked over to Arco das Verdades to enjoy some wine, cheese, pork, hummus and bread. This is a much sought after happy hour location and we were delighted when we were able to secure one of the two window tables. The bar is intimate with opportunities to enjoy the encyclopedia on the shelves, listen to some 'table' jazz or change the channel to several other selections, and just enjoy the view. JR and Stacey will definitely be back. Caution: they have a very limited menu and do not serve beer, but do have coffee. The wine selections are curated to show off the best of the Duoro Valley.
Below image borrowed from SipwithNik As I forgot to take a pic.
Camino de Santiago - from Claude AI - The Camino Portugués is one of the most popular routes of the ancient pilgrimage network leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, where the remains of St. James the Apostle are believed to be enshrined. Starting most commonly from Lisbon or Porto, pilgrims walk northward through charming towns, coastal cliffs, and rural countryside, covering roughly 280 km from Porto or 620 km from Lisbon. It remains both a deeply spiritual journey for religious pilgrims and a beloved long-distance trek for secular hikers seeking adventure, culture, and reflection.
Stacey found this marker indicating the route at the Bishop's Castle on the walk home.
As always, our time with Jack and Ahliana was a ton of fun - brief, but grateful they were able to squeeze us in. We look forward to a longer visit - Até a Proxima!
No comments:
Post a Comment