Day 14 - June 11, Porto

Our Azamara excursion got canceled today, so we decided to make it a lazy day and do whatever we wanted, so we took an Uber from our terminal up to the Riberira, which is Porto’s old town.

We docked around 1 pm, so we snarfed some lunch and headed out because I bought tickets the previous night to Levraria Lello for a 2 pm timed entry. If you’re not familiar with Levraria Lello – well, it’s often linked to J K Rowling and the Harry Potter series. And it does, indeed, feel very Hary Potter-like because it has a red staircase that curves through the center of the space. The interior is stunning – it’s not large; in fact, it’s a rather slim building; it has beautiful carved wooden shelves and a stained glass ceiling. The Harry Potter connection has turned the bookshop into a massive tourist attraction, thus the timed entry – can’t get too many people in there at one time. It was warm, and we saw a woman faint that was kind of scary but several people helped her and she recovered.

From there, we found a shady space to view the Torre dos Clerigos and read some history about it. The tower, along with the church, forms the architectural complex of the Church and Tower of Clerigos. Built of granite, the tower is a little over 245 feet. Apparently, you can climb an interior staircase of more than 240 steps – we DID NOT climb the stairs. We didn’t even go inside. Both the church and the tower are the work of Nicolau Nasoni, one of the leading figures of Baroque art in Porto. Construction began in 1754 and was completed in 1763 at the behest of the Brotherhood of Poor Clerics. In addition to the church and its tower, the Clerics complex also included an infirmary. For many years, the Clérigos Tower was the tallest building in Portugal. The complex has been a National Monument since 1910, and the Clérigos Tower is one of the main symbols of the city of Porto.

We then wandered over to a nice shady restaurant in front of the Igreja do Carmo, which is a Carmelite Monastery. It’s an unusual church because it’s made up of two churches from completely different periods. Apparently, both are impressive with rich interior decoration. But you can see just so many churches, if you know what I mean. In the photo, the older but lesser known of the pair of churches is Igreja dos Carmelitas, which is the one on the left. This is the main part of the convent of the barefoot Carmelites. It was completed in 1628 and its simple Renaissance facade of granite stone doesn't impress too much.  The adjacent Igreja do Carmo, the right part of the Carmelite monastery, is mainly interesting for its exterior. This church was completed in 1768 and its Rococo style front portal boasts rich sculptural decoration. 

While our Uber was descending the steep hills of Porto to drop us off in the old city center, I saw a poster for an exhibit of Vivian Maier in a building not too far from where we were at the restaurant. I really wanted to see the photos. The "Vivian Maier — Antologia" exhibition is hosted by the The Centro Português de Fotografia and features 140 photographs by Maier, who died in 2009. She has a very, very interesting story: she is considered one of the most extraordinary photographers of the 20th century but she earned a living as a nanny, devoting herself, discreetly, to photography. She built up a vast archive of over 120,000 negatives, prints and Super 8 films. Her work was only discovered in 2007, by chance, when the lockers belonging to her were auctioned off due to non-payment. Curated by Anne Morin, the exhibition explores different themes in Maier’s work, featuring black-and-white and color images, offering insights into her interests and revealing how her perspective and photographic style evolved over the years. 

So lucky to have run across the exhibit!

We wandered down the hills from the old city center before giving it up and calling an Uber to take us back to the terminal. We had a lovely supper in one of the onboard specialty restuarants with Debbie and Sandy, then we to see the evening’s entertainment – a guitarist – before calling it a night at 10 pm.

The interior of Levraria Lello.

Stained glass window and starcase in Lello.

The infamous staircase in Lello.

The Clerigos Tower.

The Church of the Carmelites and the Church of Carmo.

Me having a refreshing beer in Porto square.

Beth having a refreshing Lipton tea in a can in Porto square.

A view of the Douro River that flows through Porto.The Douro empties into the Atlantic Ocean right between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. It is highly famous for the scenic wine-producing Douro Valley upstream and the historic rabelo boats that historically transported Port wine.

A typical Porto street. It's very hilly; the old city center sits on top, and it's all downhill from there.

The Vivian Maier exhibit at the Portuguese Center of Photography that is housed in an former prison. Built in the late 18th century, the building was a prison for about 200 years until 1974 when Portugal gained its freedom, ending a long military dictatorship.  When the Ministry of Culture took it over in 1997, it was converted into a photography museum. Two very prominent architects were handed the task of converting it from a prison to a museum and gallery space where photographic works by Portuguese and International photographers are shown.

Part of the exhibit, acknowledging the fact that Maier's photographs were stored in boxes in a storage until it was auctioned for non-payment.