Portugal!

I was fortunate enough to visit my aunt and uncle in Portugal recently...after nearly two years of trying to make it happen!

The visit was unfortunately clouded by the severe illness and eventual death of my Uncle Paul in Australia, though, so I wasn't able to blog immediately; forgive me if this post is a bit sketchy. At least it will give you the flavor of the visit and perhaps a desire to see Portugal yourself if you haven't already been!

On the theory that a picture is worth a thousand words (but that sometimes explanation is required), I'm simply putting up some photos with captions.

A country house

The church just on the other side of Ponte de Lima

For some reason, it made me think of a little Swiss church!

The jail of Ponte de Lima, now the tourist office

Dickie going into the jail!

Check out the thickness of the walls!

Portugal has a huge history of ceramics

A cute little piazza for having coffee...so we did.

View across the river from the piazza

All the buildings had this great tile work. The purple banners were for Lent.

There are some lovely bike paths that follow the course of the river.

A little shrine...just as in Italy, they're everywhere!

The church, seen up close.

Carved and painted entry door

I liked the way the stonework was done to a point from the door of the church

St. Anthony of Padua? Born in Lisbon, as a matter of fact.

View of Ponte de Lima back from the church!

This funny little statue was in the open shrine just next to the river...
a tiny space perfect for outdoor Masses.

Another sweet shrine

I just love the way sand collects on the other side of bridge pilings...

Another day, another town. This one was called...Viana do Castelo

Went into the museum to see the historical costumes. Beautifully worked, amazing detail!

The costume color palettes are highly localized.
A common thread is the use of gold necklaces cascading down.

What I had thought of as embroidery was actually tufted work!

Handknitted socks! Gorgeous!

Some lace detailing at the neck

Traditional raincoat

Technique for gathering the skirt at the waist: smocking!

The shoulder smocking was divine!

Marital status and wealth also figured into the costuming

Another stocking...drool...

View of a shrine at the very top of the hill from a hotel window...dreamy!

View from the hotel balcony

Kitty and Dick's visitors' house

Dickie's new pets. They needed to stay in the shed for a few days to learn that it was "home."

Time for them to leave the shed! Lots of clucking and flapping
...and that was by Dickie!

I loved this vignette at K&D's

Isn't the stonework on this door lovely?

The cathedral

Yup, the Romans built walls here, too!

I just adored all the tilework on the buildings! It was so pretty!

And the amount of detail was outstanding!

Quite a caryatid, I thought. 

Okay, it's seen better days, but it was nifty

The bridge at Oporto. "Oporto" means "The Port."
The city has since been renamed to "Porto," meaning "Port." 

Oporto

Church! Tile!

More tilework in the station. It depicts traditional agriculture, transportation, etc.

View from a train platform

I'm not in a hurry to drink this, but perhaps others are!

We found the most marvelous bookshop,
courtesy of Atlas Obscura
(although Kitty already knew about it)

Skylight!

Stairs seen from above

At this point, my camera had died. However, we continued wandering around Oporto, toured the Palace of Trade (which was truly magnificent...built in the 1800s, it was a tribute to trade and opulence), and the cathedral (also lovely). Had a GREAT dinner of pork and (of all unexpected things!) clams, and then off to the airport!

Love,

Alexandra