susannefortune

It’s a Sunday, we drove to Porto, Laura looked for the right parking spot, she found one. We would find a coffee shop first and head to the monastery. First things first, coffee then prayer.

This monastery is named the Mosteiro de Serra Pilar dating back to the 1500s. It sets on a hilltop notable for its round church.

This bird’s eye view of Porto is taken from the monastary. To the left are the winerys. Look close my walking tour guide (Laura) will walk us back down the hill from the monastary, over the bridge into the center of downtown and the market.

We will make a circle and head towards the Douro River, follow it towards the bridge. If you zoom in, the dockside is packed with folks gathered at outside cafe’s on a Sunday afternoon. There’s lots of festive music and fellowship. I loved watching the locals watching the tourists, me included of course.

Warning: Watch for birds overhead. We heard this splat. You guessed it and just missed us!

Porto is the second largest city in 🇵🇹 Portugal. It’s another beautiful day.

We are headed to the train station. It is the Sao Bento Station on the site of an earlier monastery that was completed in 1916. The blue and white azulejos (tiles) have these beautiful historical scenes all telling a story. Awesome.

It’s late afternoon we hop in the car, we are both tired today. Cars go fast up and down hills and share streets with pedestrians. We are going fast also. No one is on their cell phones.