Bonfim

Last nights accommodation was at the Oca Oriental (eastern goose?); which is a bit upmarket for me, but with a late flight I just wanted somewhere close to Campaña station with 24hr reception.

Perfectly nice hotel, midway between Heroismo and Campaña metro stations. €71 B&B. Got here by 2130 from a flight which landed at 2010.

Breakfast from 0700 which it useful - a business-oriented clientele lends itself to an early start.

I haven’t been in Porto for 30 years, regrettably. So long ago that Mrs HtD and I then shared a tent and backpacked throughout the north and the Peneda Geres. My abiding memory is that the Portuguese are, as the late Rev. Edward Crilley would have said ‘a grand bunch of lads’; perhaps prone to melancholy, but fundamentally sound.

Embarrassingly I speak little Portuguese. On our long ago trip we relied on a BBC cassette ‘Get by in Portuguese’; which combined about 50 phrases with some additional vocabulary and worked surprisingly well. I’ve remembered enough to check in and get a few scoops of beer without resorting to English; which is enough of a success for one evening.

Delightful morning. Bright sunshine and lots of tiled facades.

Porto has changed, with a fair bit of development. The Cathedral (Sé) is a constant; the cloisters are much like those of cathedrals throughout Europe, but being Porto every vertical surface is beautifully tiled. There’s a statue of Santiago Peregrino up on the first floor also.

I thought to go and have a look at the Sao Bento station’s tiles whilst I’m here and have a coffee in the venerable Café Brazil. Something struck me as strange (and I’m not the most observant chap in the world); a complete absence of trains.

They’re on strike.

That rather scuppers the plan to go to Barcelos today and Valença tomorrow. Ah, well - nothing that ‘throw money at the problem until it goes away’ can’t solve.Read more