Some more images of Baiona

Baiona was the place Christopher Columbus arrived in 1493, and announced to the Old World that he'd discovered the New.

Baiona has hilly, rugged coastline.

The more you look at Baiona, the more beautiful it becomes.

Neil at an old chapel - the site of the defeat of Drake against the Spanish forces in the 16th century.

Looking to the east in the early morning - day one of our walk

From Porto to Baiona

We left Porto early and drove for two hours through eucalyptus forested mountains across the border to the Spanish town of Baiona, where tomorrow we will commence our Camino walk.  The Hotel Bahia Baiona, where we will spend tonight, is quite nice.  

We strolled down the main street, looking for lunch.  We settled on a small cafe where the man serving couldn't speak English and we tried our best to communicate.  He served us several dishes of mixed seafood including octopus and king prawns as well as paella and Spanish omelette with an unending supply of bread.  The rain in Portugal didn't leave us alone for very long, and the rain in Spain followed suit.  It rained steadily on us as we returned to the hotel, making it necessary to hang trousers and coats out to dry.  After our return, the sun came out.

In the hotel, we prepared for tomorrow, attaching Camino tags to our luggage and packing back packs for the walk.  We think we will be walking in the rain.  Tomorrow, we will walk from Baiona to Vigo.

 Of 

Hotel Bahia Baiona

The beach in Baiona

Baiona has a small marina.

The main street

The castle, which we'd intended to visit.  The rain came and dampened our enthusiasm.  We abandoned the visit.

Some more images of Porto

Jean enjoying a Portuguese tart

In the Cathedral's cloisters

Looking down from Ponte Luis on the area near our accommodation, featuring a couple of bars and restaurants.

The Cathedral 

Not the Sydney Harbour Bridge

In the street

A decrepit-looking building 

An outdoor restaurant 

Porto is a very multi-levelled city - not ideal for carting luggage.

We stayed in this yellow building - Neil is outside the front door.

A Port or two in Porto

The world knows that champagne comes from the region of Champagne in France, and likewise for the product Port, which originates in the Duoro Valley around the city of Porto.  I've always loved port, and there's no way I was going to miss out here on sampling some of the local produce and having a tour of their cellars.  The Ferreira cellars are located, as are all their competitors, on the southern bank of the river.  A 40-minute walk from the tourist office, including crossing the King Luis bridge over the river, preceded our arrival.

At midday, our English-language tour began.  The guide was very informative.  The year 2011 was a good year for port production, and by 2017 they will know if 2015's harvest will be declared a 'good year' or not, when the port authorities make the decision about that year's quality (by tasting a sample). She said several ports of different ages will be combined to form an average, which we see on the labels.  At the conclusion of the tour, we were given a glass of white port and a glass of ruby port to enjoy.

Afterwards, at lunch by the river, Jean and I had a second ruby port.  I nearly had a third.  Later, we caught the funicular up to near the Cathedral, and paid a visit, roaming round the cloisters and admiring the tiled artworks.

The Ferreira Cellars were established several centuries ago, but expanded upon in the 19th century.

Some of the smaller vats

Our guide told us this large vat holds 73,000 litres of port.

We were given white port and ruby port to try.  The white was lighter while the ruby was quite full-bodied.  I loved them both.

All of us enjoying a port or two in Porto.  

Moor tiles than you've ever seen

The following show examples of tiling, a legacy of the Moors (Muslims) who occupied the Iberian Peninsula for centuries...

Inside the cathedral...

There is evidence of damage

At the train station

Some images of Porto

Us having coffee

Ponte Luis

The Duoro River

On the top of the Luis bridge

Remnants of the old city wall

Arrival in Porto

Sunday 8 May 2016

Yesterday, we left home around 10.10am.  Jess dropped us at the Jolimont Centre in Canberra, and we headed to Sydney on the bus.  We flew Singapore Airlines to Singapore, the flight taking about eight hours.  We forgot ourselves:  the minute we stepped into the terminal, we put chewing gum in our mouths and then Singapore's strict anti-chewing gum laws hit me.  We put the gum in the bin quickly.  But then, we hadn't actually entered the country, just the terminal.

We boarded another Singapore Airlines flight bound for Milan.  The flight took 12 hours, and we both managed to fall asleep for some of the time.  All my life, Singapore Airlines has had a great reputation, but I'd never flown with them before.  I can tell you the service is pretty good.  They never stop serving you food and drink.  Jean had a few Singapore Slings.  I really liked the hot towels they give you for your face.  I like to put the near-boiling towels on my way-too-tired eyes.  Feels great.

We eventually arrived in Milan, but remained on board as we were flying on to Barcelona, where we duly arrived a few hours later.  With a nod to the old expression about the rain in Spain, the weather was wet in Barcelona.  Some confusion ensued as to where we were supposed to clear customs and whether we had to collect our luggage or not.  But it all worked out in the end.  We flew on to Lisbon, and again changed planes to make the final leg of our journey.

We arrived in Porto around 4.30 pm.  Our friends, Neil and Carolyn, couldn't collect us from the airport as they were delayed trying to find our accommodation.  We caught a taxi to the vicinity of our accommodation, as we knew Neil was somewhere nearby.  The Portuguese taxi driver spoke no English, but I was shocked to find he spoke German!  The taxi driver, who looked quite old, must have driven through the streets at 200 km per hour.  

We found Neil and Carolyn on the banks of the Douro River, beneath the Ponte de D. Luis I bridge, with what looks like an old monastery perched on the hill above.  They escorted us to our accommodation, difficult to find if you didn't know where it was - into a cafe and into its rear shadows and up a hidden path with steep steps.