The day dawned bright and somewhat sunny, which, apparently for Porto and this time of year (October) is a bit out of the ordinary. October is the rainy season, or at least the beginning of it. I had arranged for us to do a Tuk Tuk Tour of Porto. As it turns out, it was a private tour, which made it even better. We were picked up by our host at the apartment and delivered into Porto where our Tuk Tuk driver, Hugo (it looked more like a Model T Ford) was awaiting us. Over the next hour we hit the highlights of the city – the train station with its pictorial tiles embellishing the walls, then on to the Muralha Primitiva do Porto, then a bridge (one of seven that the city is famous for) over to Vila Nova de Gaia to see the Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar (pictures were taken from here) from which you can see the Douro River and look down upon the bridges and the Port Houses. We were able to drive past the main shopping street (Gary was happy about that) and then on through the old Jewish Quarter where we were able to get out and stretch our legs and take more pictures. Hugo gave us a running commentary about some of the places we were passing through which added to the richness of the experience. Once we arrived back at our starting point, we were returned to our driver, I think his name was Sebastien, who drove us to our next location of Matoshinhos for a lunch of freshly caught fish (we picked what we wanted) at Do Mercado para a Mesa. The drive there was lovely as we drove along the coast with the waves crashing on the shoreline (apparently it is a great area for surfing, but the legendary waves are further south in Nazare). One of the most stunning things we saw as we arrived in Matoshinhos was this amazing sculpture entitled “She Changes” that is positioned on a roundabout, it is a massive metal and mesh sculpture meant to look like a fishing net and to pay homage to the industry that employees so many in the area. The mesh sways in the breeze. It is breathtaking in scale and meaning. What a wonderful way to spend the day in Porto/Matoshinhos.
