Porto!

This summer, my travels took me to Portugal.  Portugal was the first country to bring oranges to the east.  I remembered when I studied Arabic in Damascus way back in 2006, that the Arabic word for "orange" is actually "burtuqaal."  Arabic does not have the letter "p" in its language, and when you sound it out you get bur-tu-qal...which actually sounds exactly like "Portugal."  The more you know...

Portugal has a long, sorted, modern history with the invasion of the Romans.  They named the area Port of Cale, which then became known as "Portugal."   Then the Visigoths invaded and established their kingdom in the region.  But around the year 711, the Arabs and Berbers invaded and defeated them.  The Muslims went on to rule the south of Portugal and Spain for the next four centuries.

Portugal became a world power back in the 15th and 16th centuries during Europe's "Age of Discovery." They went on to colonize many parts of the world including: India, Africa, Brazil and other places.

So, first stop was Porto!  Home of port wine!  

Porto, or Oporto as it's known in Portuguese, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, mostly due to the beautiful, old buildings in the city.  We headed up to Vila Nova de Gaia where all of the port wine ccellars store their wine in caves.

On the advice of my friend Felicedade, we visited the Ramos Pinto Port wine cellar for a tour.  Casa Ramos Pinto was founded in 1880 by Adriano Ramos Pinto.  They soon became known for the quality of their wines.  Personally, I don't like port.  Tastes too much like a sweet dessert wine to me!

The Francesinha is a Porto food said to have been invented in the 1960s. It is made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries.  Ok.  Tried it.  Didn't really like it.  The sauce was too tangy or something.  No not so much.  Hey, at least I tried it!

Kids jumping off the bridge.  I guess they like to do it for fun.

The Cathedral of Porto (Sé do Porto)

View of the city from the cathedral.

A really strange sculpture in the city.

Train station in Sao Bento said to be the most beautiful in the world!  The name of this station derives from a Benedictine monastery that was originally built on this spot in the 16th century.

 

There are about 20 thousand tiles that date from 1905–1916 and are the work of Jorge Colaço, the most important azulejo painter of the time. The first tiles were put up on 13 August 1905.

The panels depict landscapes, ethnographic scenes as well as historical events like the Battle of Valdevez (1140), the meeting of the knight Egas Moniz and Alfonso VII of León (12th century), the arrival of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster in Porto (1387) and the Conquest of Ceuta (1415).

This library, Livaria Lello & Irmao, is said to be the inspiration for the Harry Potter library.

Carmo Church built in the 18th century is an example of the baroque architecture.

Beautiful tile work on the side of Carmo Church, representing the Brown Scapular imposition on Mount Carmel. The panel is rich in details, perspective and color and was designed by Silvestro Silvestri.

A great finish to my trip to Porto.  Lunch with my friend Felicedade at the famed Majestic Cafe.