Porto

The Ponte Dom Luis, one of Porto's six bridges that cross the Douro

Porto is a curious sort of place. It has that juxtaposition of new and modern steel, glass and concrete against a core of centuries-old terracotta roofed buildings on a medieval street plan. It's an incongruence that many of Europe's oldest cities has to deal with and it's one of the reasons I generally prefer Old World cities to New World ones; they feel more organic, like they've grown with the need of their citizens as opposed to being artificially plonked down by a non-native explorer. I like the idea that when I'm walking down certain streets in London that there are over two millennia of footprints ahead of me to follow.

Like London, the development of Porto has been dominated by one major feature - its river. In this case, the Douro. Having gone on a little guided tour up and down it I learnt that it was only within the last 150 years that a bridge has been put across it; before that navigation was only possible by barge. There are now 6 bridges spanning the river that cuts it's way between the hills of this coastal region, one of which, no longer in use, was designed by a student of Gustave Eiffel.

Terracotta roofs on the south bank

Porto's south bank is dominated by an expanse of terracotta roofs the bulk of which belong to the still extensive Port cellars that produce over 8.5m bottles of the stuff each year; one of which sits proudly on the shelf behind me. This brings in over a third of a billion Euros to the region every year, little of which is apparently spent on the upkeep of their roofs.

Another mismatch I spotted was that dotted between the well preserved old buildings there were quite a lot of derelict ones. Strangely, though, they didn't look particularly out of place; if anything they actually added even more character to the place.

Nice occupied building

Nice derelict building

One particularly beautiful and well maintained building is Sao Bento train station. It looks more like an ancient bath house or museum piece but is still a fully functional station. The entrance hall is covered from floor to ceiling in ornate, hand painted tiles that depict scenes from the history of Portugal and landscapes too.

Porto has an array of long golden beaches which seem to have some good surf, which you might expect as Portugal bears the brunt of what the Atlantic can throw at it.

I really liked Porto, it felt welcoming, laid back, reserved and, down in the Old District, seemed to have a certain classiness about it. Although I was there for the best part of three days I don't fell that I really made the most of my time there, but that's probably because I went as part of a stag do as opposed to with my wife. For me, the highlight was walking across the Ponte Dom Luis; it gives enough height to afford a stunning panoramic view of the Old District that even my wide angle lens was struggling to capture at 10mm. With a clear blue sky overhead it was a rare treat.