Porto is a town with a reputation for being lively and fun and that it is. It’s also very historic, filled with beautiful buildings that are centuries old. People have lived in Portugal since before history began. The Porto cathedral was begun in the year 1110 AD but there may have been a bishop here since the 6th century.

Although the exterior of Porto’s cathedral is a plain, romanesque style, the interior has many areas covered in gold, such as the main altar and the choir, shown here.

Porto lies on the river Douro a few miles inland from the Atlantic, in the northern part of Portugal. Port wine is made up-river and Porto has been its trading port for hundreds of years, making it sometimes a very rich town. But not always.

Boats made for tourists today are modeled after the very old small craft used in centuries past for bringing port wine to ships bound for Britain and the rest of the western world.

The 20th century wasn’t so good here, it seems. Many — perhaps a majority — of the old homes and business buildings are derelict and abandoned.  There are workmen and cranes to be seen everywhere, but I think for every old beauty being brought to life again there are many who are still neglected and empty.

A typical narrow, medieval street in the oldest section of Porto, near the river.

There’s a wide variety of ways to spend time in Porto. I’ve been walking all day, every day, seeing all I can. Many people spend the day at the nearby beaches and the evenings in the city. It’s a very affordable place to visit.  I’ve been paying just €1.50 for a glass of wine and no more than €10 for dinner in a nice restaurant.

My birthday delights!

I’m staying in one of the best AirBnB rentals I’ve had, located just off a main avenue about a mile from the river. Yesterday was my birthday (one of those terrible ones for an age ending in zero!) and my lovely “landlady” brought me a box full of delicious Portuguese pastries.  That was so nice.

More to show you and tell you in the days ahead.

Libbie

These 70-year-old feet have walked 30.6 miles in the past seven days according to my iphone and boy, are they tired!!!