There is no hurry to get up this morning, as we have the whole morning to have a look around Santiago de Compostela, leaving after lunch to drive across the border into Portugal to our next destination, Porto.
There is a special "Pilgrims Mass" at the cathedral at 10 am (and a larger one at 12 noon), where we will be able to see the swinging Censer in action.
I hope the video below can be accessed on the blog, as it shows the whole performance, which is impossible to describe in words and still photos.
Pilgrims in the square
An impressive human statue trying to earn a few Euros
Shops were open handing out free samples of St James Cake
Two of the Courtyards back at our Parador
Lunch today was a "light" lunch of Tapas at the Parador in another of their restaurants.
The bus left on time at 1.15 pm, for our drive to Porto. We followed the coastline and crossed a number of large estuaries. We are surprised at the number of eucalypt plantations there are on this part of the journey.
After a couple of hours we stop for a break, not far from the Portugal border at a roadside service centre located alongside the Ria de Vigo, a large estuary of the Vigo River which is famous for farming mussels. We are told that Galicia is one of the largest mussel producing regions in the World.
After a couple of hours we stop for a break, not far from the Portugal border at a roadside service centre located alongside the Ria de Vigo, a large estuary of the Vigo River which is famous for farming mussels. We are told that Galicia is one of the largest mussel producing regions in the World.
Mussels being farmed in the Ria de Vigo
Our roadside service centre stop
We were soon over the Portuguese border, and have to set our clocks back 1 hr, as unlike Spain, Portugal is on Greenwich Mean Time. Roads are very good, mainly paid for by funding from the EU. Arrival in Porto is at around 4pm, local time.
First impressions are that it is not as clean as the cities in Spain, with noticeable graffiti and the buildings are a bit run down. Our guide explains that Porto is a city in transition and is improving each time he visits, being transformed mainly by tourism. It is a very hilly city, and physically quite small. The permanent population is only around 200,000, but many people commute here for work during the week swelling the population several fold during working hours. The city government are pouring a lot of effort into the refurbishment and renovation of old buildings, instead of knocking them down for redevelopment.
There are many beautiful old buildings, many clad with ceramic tiles.
Our hotel, The Intercontinental - Palacio das Cardosas, is located right in the centre of the city. It is an old building turned into a 5 star hotel.
Hotel Intercontinental - Palacio das Cardosas
One of Portos Famous Cafes, The Majestic Cafe which opened in 1921 was the place the rich and famous used to visit, now fully renovated it is a popular cafe
The Streets are not yet busy, but already the cafes are filling for an afternoon snack and drink.
Looking down from the bridge to the waterfront
We have the rest of the afternoon free to explore Porto, so decide to stretch our legs and go for a walk around town for a few hours before dinner which is booked for 8.30 pm at the hotel.
Our hotel is located at one end of Avenida Dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies). It is the largest Avenue in Porto. At the other end of the avenue is the Town Hall, a relatively new building (as the old one was destroyed).
Town Hall
The avenue is lined with impressive buildings with mainly French architecture.
Wandering around the backstreets we came across a church decorated in blue and white ceramic tiles. Tile clad buildings are very popular here, as are brightly coloured buildings.
They still run trams in Porto, and tracks seem to run through pedestrian areas
One of Portos Famous Cafes, The Majestic Cafe which opened in 1921 was the place the rich and famous used to visit, now fully renovated it is a popular cafe
The Streets are not yet busy, but already the cafes are filling for an afternoon snack and drink.
Our walk took us down to the river, where we realised just how steep the river banks are. At the bridge we finished up at, there is a funicular railway to take you down to the waterfront.
Whilst there is a lot of graffiti around, some of the street art is very good.
Having seen enough for today, we walked back in the direction of the hotel, and stopped at curbside cafe to have a beer and listen to live jazz music being played on the opposite street corner.
Dinner was at 8.30 pm at the hotel fine dining restaurant, The food was excellent, but the service was terrible. This is the first hotel on our tour where we have encountered this and our Tour Director was not happy. It seems to have been an issue of new staff and poor training, but you expect better at a 5 star hotel.
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