Porto, Portugal

Before flying out from the Porto airport back to Paris, I decided to spend the day there to explore the city. It was sort of overcast and then rained off and on during the afternoon, but overall it was a good day to wander around the city (and get lost a bit! my map wasn't very accurate!). My impression of Porto is that it is a rather grungy, dingy city. I don't really know how much of it is due to the economic problems that all of Portugal has been facing, but it was much more noticeable here than in Lisbon or even Coimbra.

 city hall

looking down the hill from city hall toward the old city center and the Douro River

Saint Antonio's Church with azulejos

 

 the inside of the São Bento train station has huge murals in tile

 across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia is where the port wine companies have their warehouses and factories

the hillside is marked with large signs with the names of the companies, which are mostly of English origin

 Ponte Luís I, built by Gustave Eiffel

 colorful buildings on the Douro River

 the side of the Sé with more azulejos

 Sé

 Santa-Clara church

the Torre dos Clérigos, the Clerics' Tower, during a bout of sun between rain bursts

 

 the Torre dos Clérigos

 an old fascist-era facade