An amazing third day in Porto. My toursbylocals guide Jose picked me up at 6:45 am at my hotel and we embarked on a memorable 6 hr walking photographic tour of Porto. Being able to slow down and truly look at the place you are in was pure magic today. Jose’s knowledge of the old city got me into some areas I never would have found on my own and the day morphed into photography for the joy of it. Jose offered historical background to each area we visited, which added to the experience. Hope you enjoy the results.
Dawn
The Islands
The original Island neighbourhoods were built along the river in the 19th C to accommodate workers who came to the city from surrounding outlying areas. There were originally many more, however they have disappeared or fallen into decay over the decades. The ones that do remain were eyed by developers for demolition and development as potential tourist accommodation sites. The Govt has stepped in though and funding is being directed towards the repair of The Islands. The proliferation of tourist Air BnB’s plus other short term accommodations has caused the same issue that we are struggling with in Canada i.e. the lack of affordable housing. Here in Portugal Air BnB licenses have been severely restricted and more effort is being directed into solving the housing shortage. Ongoing construction/renovation was evident in the island communities we saw.
Subway
Just having fun 🙂
Mosteiro de Serra do Pilar
The Mosteiro de Serra do Pilar is one of the primary view points along the Douro River in Porto. No longer an active Monastery, the out buildings have been transferred into areas used by the army, a port storage facility and a hotel. The central part of the monastery is closed and undergoing reconstruction before being opened to the public. The views down the Douro River are unparalleled. While watching the seagulls which followed our every move, my attention was drawn to a number of padlocks locked onto the railings around the viewing area. It turns out they are symbols of love and can be found locked onto bridge and viewpoint railings all over Europe. I was left wondering what happens if things don’t work out. Unless one kept the key, some work with a bolt cutter was probably required to move the outdated symbol….
Evidence of revelry the evening before was evident with bottles and trash left around the viewing sites in the area. Some bottles had been placed on trash receptacles ready for pick up and park workers were busy gathering everything up. An interesting juxtaposition of the old and the newly depleted new.
Faces
A little bit of everything
One interesting story told to me by Jose. The boats in the left hand photo below are referred to as Rabelos boats. The original harbour in Porto was a shallow one with just enough depth in the middle of the river to accommodate the sailing ships which brought cargo into Porto. These small tenders would go back and forth from the ships unloading everything manually and bringing it to shore – the boats often pulled to shore by draft animals or humans. Much later on a much larger harbour was dredged out at the mouth of the river, when mechanized methods became available.
Photos below – from left to right. Chestnut seller, members of the local rowing club and plastic/cloth bags drying in the sun. Reusable shopping bags in Portugal are costly and people take care to extend their lifetime as long as possible.
Shadows
Colours
The second image below is an interesting one. Bread is delivered to restaurants every day if they do not bake their own. If no one is there the bread is simply left on the door knob.
More Experiments with black and white.
Porto City Scenes
Tomorrow I head to the Douro Valley for my final day in the Porto area. Until then boa noite!
What a fantastic morning!