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Antigo Asilo de Mendicidade do Porto

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    • LadyandtrampPortugal and Islands - 2019

      On to Porto with a bottle of Porto

      February 10, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

      To start off, we felt very proud of ourselves. We figured out how to pay the parking ticket by deciphering the Português instructions on the ticket without use of a translator or dictionary!!!! On our way to Porto, we had to drive through the town where we got the ticket anyways. There are machines on the street where you quickly pay your fine ($3) and we were able to do it. Actually a kind Portuguese firefighter wanted to help too, so he did. He told us it was his first time using the machine too so we all learned something.

      Porto is not that far away using the toll road (2 hours) so we opted to use that road because of the rain. We have been lucky to have had only a handful of rainy days and a driving day in the rain with no cars on a well-maintained highway works for us.

      We passed the town of Vila Real where the Mateus Palace is located. If you remember the Mateus bottles with candle drippings on it, we know how old you are!

      We have had the car for a month and decided that we would return it a little earlier as we didn’t feel that we needed it in Porto, and onward. The area from Porto to Lisbon is very touristy so there is a good transportation system here. We drove to the Porto airport where things went smoothly. We still wonder how much we paid in tolls (we had a monitor). We avoided the toll roads in most situation and took the much nicer scenic roads. They were all in good condition and usually the dries were only a little longer and much more interesting.

      The moment we arrived in Porto, the sun came out and it was a beautiful warm day.

      We were excited about actually getting to Porto. Most people rave about it and we were meeting our friend Vaughan, from Toronto, there. We rented an apartment in the historic area of Porto very close to the Sao Bento train station, the Se Cathedral and the big bridge that goes over the Douro River. We couldn’t have asked for a better location. We can walk everywhere.

      Remember that we have only been in small villages for the past month. Now we are in the big city and tourists. A brave new world.      Read more

    • LadyandtrampPortugal and Islands - 2019
      1

      The Porto Puppet Museum

      February 14, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

      We saw an advertisement for Porto’s Puppet museum and couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to visit it.

      To create a puppet museum in a Porto was a dream that João Paulo Seara Cardoso (1956-2010), director and artistic director of the Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, had for many years. It is very interesting that a puppeteer friend of mine, Annerose Schmidt, also had a similar dream and presently has a wonderful exhibit of 25 years of Puppets Elora puppets on display at the Wellington County Museum too!

      The Porto puppet display opened in 2013, the year that the company celebrated its 25 years of existence. Unfortunately, João died before the museum was launched.

      It gives visitors a glimpse of the off-stage life of his puppets. It brings together 1,200 pieces, including puppets, props and backdrop scenery, of which we only saw a small number. We enjoyed the small video clips of various shows and the chance to try out a few puppets. The hand puppets were made of different materials - wood, paper mâché, leather and foam. There was even a collection of shadow puppets.

      The museum is housed in an old 3-storey building, in the historic centre of Porto, right next door to the Belmonte Puppet Theatre.

      Visiting this exhibit reminded me that sadly by the time we return to Canada, the Puppets Elora exhibit will have closed and I will not see it. I guess I will just have to enjoy the wonderful photos of the displays and recall fond memories of my time with the troupe...      Read more

    • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
      Day 21

      Last day in Porto

      October 23, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 21 °C

      The tickets we bought yesterday for the Blue Bus included a trip on the Rio Douro on the Blue Boat. We walked over to the riverside dock where we were soon on a boat. Once again, it was interesting and the 45 minutes we spent on board showed us things we would not otherwise have seen. Most of the traffic on the river was tourist boats such as ours, with one going past every couple of minutes.

      Our next planned event for the day was to visit the Offley Port House. We had read a good report about it in the SMH six months ago so we bypassed the ones closer to the tourist area. On arrival, at 1 pm, we were told that the next tour was at 3pm. Not to be deterred we went for a long walk, with gelato, and were back in time for the tour.

      Sophie, our guide, gave a good presentation of the history of Port Wine, how and where it is made, and so forth. I believe that this is not one of the larger port houses, but they certainly had a lot of wine maturing away in French oak barrels. At the end of the tour we were taken to the tasting room where tables had been set up to reflect each ticket. Robyn had bought a two glass tasting, and of course I had to have a three glass ticket. It was all very nicely set out, and we were talked through the various types. Obviously doing two port house sessions in one day would take an effort.

      On our return we showered and changed and went out for a pre-dinner drink. This was a pleasant way of ending our time in Porto, as tomorrow we head to Lisbon for three days.      Read more

    • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
      Day 18

      Porto

      October 20, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Breakfast at our hotel was sumptuous, unless you wanted a truckie’s breakfast. We had plenty of choice and the staff were very helpful.

      As we were leaving, one of the hotel staff suggested that we go to the church museum just up from the hotel, and, not wanting to appear rude, we took her advice. As we have found in the past it is awesome to be in the presence of paintings, or statues etc from many hundreds of years ago, with NO security. While there I heard the organ in the church start up so I went in, hoping to hear something really nice. The organ was nice, the acoustics were fine, and ... the organist was a young boy practising. Oh well ...

      When travelling, we try to avoid tolls and did the same today, until it became obvious that we were doing it the hard way. So we changed the GPS and headed in to Porto , ending up in the old part of town. We were really early, and I wanted to scope the place out first, but all we could see was a garage entrance in a one-way street with no parking. This made for a difficult time. Anyway, we drove around until I could park (illegally) and we texted the owners to open up the garage door. In five minutes or so we came up the street and the owner was there with the door open. Good, except that we had to stop our line of traffic. The we had to wait until the other lane was relatively clear so I could swing out and then turn left into the very narrow entrance. I think we probably upset about 100 drivers in all!

      That aside, our apartment is just wonderful - so roomy and well presented. We asked if it would be possible to stay another day, which was okay, so we can now settle in a bit and not live out of our suitcases for a little while.

      We went for a brief walk to see what the lie of the land was. Then we returned to our apartment to do some washing (very important when travelling for some time) and then went for a much longer walk, over one bridge and back on another. Back for a shower, then had a drink in a local cafe, did some shopping and returned for dinner. All in all, another good day.      Read more

    • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
      Day 19

      Porto on a Sunday

      October 21, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      We eased into the day slowly so it was around midday when we went shopping. We really packed for colder weather and the 25 degrees in Porto has shown up the weaknesses in both our wardrobes. So, when the going gets tough the tough get going, and Robyn is tough.

      Robyn soon found a lightweight top and two T-shirts, and even I found a nice shirt, T-shirt and jeans. Unfortunately shorts were off the menu here, as most of the stock on display was for winter.

      Then it was off for our walk for the day. Those to whom we have related our plans for these holidays will know that we are going for a 5 day walk around Segovia in Spain, averaging around 15 kms per day. That is why we have been trying to walk more each day, and today was no exception. We managed around 9 kms, which included a long walk along the river and crossing it twice, on two different bridges. They certainly know how to build bridges here.

      Earlier in the evening, on our way home from our big walk, we started looking at restaurants in our area. One that appealed to us had only 1 person in it, while the next one had people all over the sidewalk. Not a good recommendation. After showering we went back and it was still deserted until 6 people suddenly walked in while we were looking on. We ended up having a lovely meal there, more like a tapas evening, with nice wine and beer. The young lady who served us spoke lovely English, and no wonder - she had English as a subject for 12 years at school! By the time we left there were heaps of people there. The Portuguese do prefer to come out later in the evening, like the Italians and Spanish I suppose.      Read more

    • TravelerPorto und so...
      Day 5

      Gestern noch

      September 24 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Sonnenuntergang auf der Brücke " Ponte Luis l. "
      Danach wieder Spaziergang zur Essenssuche.
      Tolles Restaurant gefunden mit einem Platz direkt neben den Grillmeistern.

      See translation
    • TravelerPorto und so...
      Day 4

      ???

      September 23 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

      Heute mit dem Auto zum Strand gefahren und entlang gewandert.
      Zwei Objekte gesehen bei denen ich nicht weiß was es ist oder sein soll.
      Deshalb Fragezeichen.
      Wer eine Idee hat bitte melden...

      See translation
    • TravelerIreland, Portugal and Spain
      Day 15

      Belfast

      October 17, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      It was time to pack up and leave our cottage and head for Belfast. Mary, our host, turned up early because, as she explained, she had to look after breakfasts for her B&B. She read the meter, calculated the electricity cost and gave us a bill for a ridiculously small amount. Admittedly we had to stuff coins into a meter for the gas heating, but it was still peanuts for a nice cottage with a million dollar view!

      Our trip to Belfast was easy as we ended up taking more major roads than little byways. This put us in Belfast a bit early for our unit, but it is always nice to know where it is and what the parking is like. Because there were few opportunities to park on the side of the road and put the actual address into the GPS we ended up in Belfast proper first. By then, of course, we had overshot the mark, and Madam Lash took us up some fairly narrow streets to get us back on track.

      Parking around the corner from the unit was a breeze, so we headed down Antram Road towards town. As luck would have it a lady opened the (very shabby) door of our apartment block so I asked if Barry was in. The lady was the person who did all the housekeeping and was more than happy to let us in quite early. What a bonus that was. It meant that we could set ourselves up early and then spend the rest of the afternoon in town.

      We walked in to Cathedral Square, had a look round, and then decided to have some lunch. The couple beside us in the patisserie, sort of locals, strongly advised us to take one of the Red Buses on a tour of the city. What a good suggestion that was. We had an hour and a half of a guided tour that gave us a brief history of much of the town. Robyn was especially interested in The Troubles, and travelling down Falls Road and seeing the murals and memorial gardens was very sobering.

      Following that Robyn went shopping and ended up with three items of clothing, so all in all a great day.      Read more

    • TravelerCaminho Portugues 2019

      Die Brücken von Porto...

      April 9, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 12 °C

      ...sind schon sehr gigantisch, gegen die z.B. die Tower Bridge in London wie eine Miniatur wirkt. Hier stehe ich gerade vor der Ponte Luis und komme aus dem Staunen über die Ausmaße gar nicht mehr raus.Read more

      See translation

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Antigo Asilo de Mendicidade do Porto

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