The Livraria Lello bookstore, opened in 1906 and is billed as one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. J.K Rowling lived in Porto for a couple of years (prior to her rise to stardom) and is said to have frequented the bookstore. Harry Potter fans may notice a striking resemblance to the Flourish…
Category: Puttering through Portugal
Photos: A Taste of Porto
https://photos.app.goo.gl/NE7spVxeoZcFxHbr6
Uncorking a Coke
Or rather, uncorking a memory of corked Coke was my arresting moment of time travel today… But first I had to wake up to another day of resplendent sunshine and balmy breezes. And I wasn’t able to fully take it in until we had our morning cappuccinos on the Ribiera dock. Ella pointed out that…
It’s all in the cork
The other side of the Douro River was today’s destination. Requiring crossing the Luis I bridge…on foot. The warning – if you have vertigo, don’t try this at home. We don’t, so we did. Reminded us of getting married on the catwalk 5 stories above the soundstage at the Albuquerque Studios (now owned by Netflix)….
In the green
Goodbye to all that is beige. In Porto, if I were a chameleon slithering down the streets, I’d be green. Even the sidewalks are green. Easter holiday here and old guys like me sit on benches and watch the couples court and the kids run loose. Not enough benches in Albuquerque for elderly eyeballing. The…
The best
Best artist of the day…Mark Bradford. An L.A. based contemporary artist seen at the Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves in Porto. My personal favorite: Fire Fire painted in 2021. And an untitled one painted at the beginning of 2020 that should have been called Covid, Covid. Best garden trowel of the week. Best Tree…
Arrival Porto
The fast train to Porto was smooth and comfortable. Being eligible for those senior fares, for a couple extra Euros, we bumped ourselves into the first class car. A mere 3 hours and voila, here we are. And then there was the taxi. Grubb will fill you in on that. For those of you who…
Wait, where’s our cab driver?
After arriving at the Porto train station, we were shooed towards the next cab in line where our driver, after Ella told him, “Viela Ilha de Ferra 12,” looked at the printout of the address and then started wagging his finger at us, “Porto, no Porto!” I was confused. Was this a warning? Or was…
Photos: Lisbon AirBnB
Here is what the inside of our Lisbon AirBnB looks like. I am guessing it is a typical layout for an apartment in Lisbon. It is old but spotlessly clean and well kept. You can see in the kitchen, the range is about half the height of a regular range. The microwave and washing machine…
Touching base with the Duke
Another sunny day? It’s beginning to seem like normal weather for Lisbon. A nice soft light (not sharp and intense like back home) along with a big river breeze that doesn’t kick up any dust. Balmy. One could go out and conquer the world. Like the Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque did in the early…
Just another day
The weather channel promised a rainy morning and why yes, we did have a 2 minute shower as we moseyed down to the bus stop. That’s it. Then followed yet another weather perfect day. We boarded the crowded 727 bus to the Belem district to visit two museums we missed when we visited the Tower…
Photos
Photos from the little oasis https://photos.app.goo.gl/L6o8jyi9ZWimFpSHA Museu do azulejo (Museum of Tile) https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ti1V8p2CKSR84Z9C7 Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado https://photos.app.goo.gl/gAQvFiGzyuY2CnFo6 Marionettes https://photos.app.goo.gl/7MfhtKt4P392SpAF7 A taste of Lisbon 4 https://photos.app.goo.gl/eTfAEjwKNKnfTnAf8
Fernando and the Monk
Speaking of masks, not devil masks, but the Covid masks that are still required indoors in Lisbon, I can’t resist including a shot of a woman exiting a somewhat formal event a few days ago as we were somnambulating towards the riverfront. It’s not a closeup, but if you look closely you’ll see the lady…
Skipping ahead to the food
Grubb will be on board soon to take you through the Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea do Chiado and the Museu do azulejo (Museum of Tile). In the meantime, I will just say it was another weather-perfect day and skip ahead to the food. The meal, because I know you want to know I had a…
Mask of the Monk’s Inner Demon
This morning when I stepped out to get coffee from the kiosk of my dreams, the streets were damp and the moisture in the air spritzed me intermittently. I thought, “This is it, Lisbon as advertised, rain soon to follow.” Ella, on the other hand, chooses to make weather predictions from reports on her cell,…