May 12a, 2010 - Porto

Wednesday morning, we head down to the street to meet the bus taking us to Porto.
This is a shot of our road sign and the general northwest Portuguese scenery.

On the way, we pass an adorable little girl who waves as we go by.

After a short bus ride, we're in Porto,

the heart of northern Portugal.

The downtown square is gorgeous.

They're anticipating a visit from Papa Bento (Pope Bendict) in two days.
While we find this welcome sign,

Jason and Abigail find a different one.

Forrest and Beth [try to] lead us to The Majestic, where J.K. Rowling started writing the Harry Potter series.

Jill and Ella pose out front while Damien gets bumped into by a passer by.

Good brunch!

Katherine and Rich enjoy the Majestic as well, as do most of those who came to Porto this morning.

Outside, the streets are distinctly European, though different than other countries.

Produce stands still hark back to the old world days,

We pass the main square again on the way up the hill.

as do hanging meats

and whole pigs, baked, then cut in half.
The original intent of the picture was to show the massive sandwiches above.

Porto is unexpectedly hilly

but worth walking.

A meat store, complete with pigs hanging in the window.

A requisite belltower adorns the highest hill.

Looking down on Porto.

Now at the top of Porto, we start the descent down to the river for some wine, though the girls chat a lot and lag a bit.

Dames feels like a giant outside a no-doubt hundreds-of-years-old doorway.

Some of the alleys are not quite as pretty as others, but still picturesque.