Rain, lots of rain. Those were my days in Porto. It was not a torrential rain, nothing that would end the world, but it certainly was continuous and annoying. It was rain that didn't give us enough room to do many things, much less if the plan was to walk around to see the city. A city full of hills, cobblestones, and slippery streets. spoiler alert.
I knew where I was going, I had checked a thousand times the weather forecast to see if something changed and yet, I still didn't lose my illusion of finding a city full of colors and art in every corner.
I thought there was no need to make a drama about the weather and get to know it from another perspective. I love taking pictures in the rain and I appreciate the colors it brings with it, but that usually happens when I know the spaces well and not when I have to organize, as a main task, a tour with a large group of people in an unknown place.
But there I was, excited and surprised right away from the arrival at the airport, which made me feel like I was inside a science fiction movie set in a spaceship. We were off to a good start, as despite arriving quite late it was easy to get to our accommodation and, it never hurts to say it, people in Portugal are very friendly and warm.
However, the few vibrant colors I got the next day, what I thought was going to be everywhere, was reduced to the mural of a hamburger restaurant, a bit ironic really, and the rest of the well-known postcards of the city were dulled by so many raindrops and by the lack of sunshine.
But I'm not going to deny it, the Steak'n Shake mural was quite cool and it helped me not to complain all the time and enjoy the classic panorama without melancholy eyes.
Lluvia, mucha lluvia. Eso fueron mis días en Oporto. No era una lluvia torrencial, nada que fuera a acabar el mundo, pero sí era continua y molesta. Era una lluvia que no te daba margen para hacer muchas cosas, mucho menos si tu plan suele ser pasear caminando para conocer la ciudad. Una ciudad llena de colinas, con adoquines y calles resbaladizas. spoiler alert.
Yo sabía a donde iba, había revisado una y mil veces la predicción del tiempo por si algo cambiaba y sin embargo, no perdía la ilusión de encontrarme con una ciudad llena de colores y arte en cada esquina.
Pensaba que no había que hacer un drama del clima y conocerla desde otra perspectiva. A mí me encanta hacer fotos en la lluvia y aprecio mucho los colores que trae consigo, pero eso normalmente sucede cuando conozco bien los espacios y no cuando tengo queo rganizar, como principal objetivo, un recorrido con un numeroso grupo de personas en un lugar desconocido.
Pero ahí iba yo, motivada y sorprendida desde la llegada al aeropuerto, que me hizo sentir como si estuviera dentro de alguna película de ciencia ficción ambientada en una nave espacial. Comenzábamos bien, porque a pesar de haber llegado bastante tarde no fue tan complicado trasladarnos hasta nuestro alojamiento y, nunca está de mas decirlo, la gente en Portugal es muy amable y cálida.
Sien embargo, pocos colores vibrantes me conseguí al día siguiente, lo que yo pensaba que iba a estar por todos los rincones, se quedó reducido al mural de una hamburguesería, un poco irónico la verdad, y el resto de las tan conocidas postales de la ciudad quedaban apocadas por tantas gotas y por la escasa presencia del sol.
Pero no voy a negarlo, el mural de Steak’n Shake estaba muy divertido y me sirvió de consuelo para no andar quejándome todo el rato y disfrutar del clásico panorama sin ojos de melancolía.
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It was nice to suddenly come across the beautiful tile mural of the Church of Carmen, we were walking so fast trying to run away from the rain that I almost missed it, luckily I stopped in time to take a closer look.
It is one of those pictures that you always see everywhere but you can't imagine what it's like to see it in reality, standing there in front of those thousands of tiles that represent so well the nature of Portoto. Although I was unhappy with the photos I would take as a souvenir, I have in my mind a pleasant memory of that brief stop we made there, joking among all of us about the weather conditions and the anecdotal tour we were doing.
Given the weather, riding the trolley was tempting, even more so when we saw the beautiful cars that stopped at the Clérigos station, just where we were going, a church. I'm not one for visiting churches, but we were encouraged to go up by the fact that we could see the whole panorama of the city from the top of the tower.
Fue bonito encontrarte repentinamente con el hermoso mural de azulejos de la Iglesia del Carmen, íbamos caminando tan rápido intentando huir de la lluvia que casi me lo paso por algo, menos mal que me detuve a tiempo para mirarlo de cerca.
Es de esas fotografías que ves siempre en todos lados pero no terminas de imaginarte como es observarlo en la realidad, estar ahí de pie ante esos miles de azulejos que representan tan bien el perfil de Oporto. A pesar de que estaba inconforme con las fotos que me llevaría de recuerdo, tengo en la memoria un grato recuerdo de esa breve para que hicimos ahí, bromeando entre todos sobre las condiciones climáticas y el anecdótico recorrido que estábamos haciendo.
Con el clima que hacía, moverse en tranvía resultaba tentador, mucho mas cuando vimos los hermosos coches que paraban en la estación de Clérigos, justo el lugar a donde nos dirigíamos, una iglesia. Yo no soy de visitar iglesias en realidad, pero nos animaba a subir la idea de poder observar desde lo más alto de la torre todo el panorama de la ciudad.
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The Igreja dos Clérigos is not only open for free tours of the temple but also offers entrance to the museum and tower for a price of 6,00 €. The museum is mostly a collection of Christian objects and art, although on our visit there was an exhibition of Kandinsky which made it more interesting.
The truth is that the museum is larger than I thought and at the end of the tour, just before the access to the old tower, some promoters offer to edit some photos to make it look like you were posing on the edge of the very high tower, we took a few shots almost without realizing it, but in the end we didn't decide to keep them. I guess we're not really into that kind of photography.
The access to the tower is quite narrow and long, there are more than two hundred steps quite high, something to keep in mind if tiny children accompany you, there is no way to go up or down by elevator, so be prepared for a strenuous climb.
La Igreja dos Clérigos no solo está abierta para realizar visitas el templo de forma gratuita, sino que también ofrece entrada a al museo y a la torre por un precio de 6,00 €. El museo es en su mayoría una colección de objetos y arte cristiano, aunque en nuestra visita había una exposición de Kandinsky que lo hizo más interesante.
La verdad es que el museo es más amplio de lo que pensaba y al terminar el recorrido, justo antes del acceso a la antigua torre, hay unos promotores que ofrecen editar unas fotos para que pareciera que estuvieses posando en el borde de la altísima torre, nos hicimos unas cuantas tomas casi sin darnos cuenta, pero al final no decidimos quedárnoslas. Creo que no somos muy de ese estilo de fotos.
El acceso a la torre es bastante estrecho y largo, son más de doscientos escalones bastante altos, algo a tener en cuenta si vas acompañados de niños muy pequeños, no hay forma de subir o bajar en elevador, así que hay que estar preparado para una subida agotadora.
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Almost at the end of the stairway, there is a section that is protected, you don't go up the original ladder, but there is a metal staircase above which you access the exit. Honestly, it is a bit scary and if we add the number of people passing through at the same time, it is quite overwhelming, not recommended if you are anxious about enclosed spaces.
When you get out of the narrow stairway, breathing fresh air is more pleasant than expected, even the raindrops made me feel very relieved. However, this aspect did have a small accident in our group, on the way back down the metal staircase someone slipped, not too badly hurt but very sore.
Going back to the positives though, the views are well worth the effort of going up, it is still a narrow space when you get out and there are several warnings because there are some spaces with low height that can be dangerous for children. I would not go back to this site with small children, at least not under 6 years old, I would not feel completely safe, but for adults, it is a highly recommended visit.
Casi al final de la escalera, hay un tramo que está protegido, no subes por la escala original, sino que hay una escalera metaliza encima por la que se accede a la salida. Sinceramente da algo de miedo y si sumamos la cantidad de personas que transitan a la vez, pues, resulta bastante abrumador, no recomendable si te angustian los espacios cerrados.
Cuando sales del estrecho camino de la escalera, respirar aire fresco resulta más agradable de lo esperado, hasta las gotas de lluvia me hicieron sentir muy aliviada. Sin embargo, este aspecto caso un pequeño accidente en nuestro grupo, al regresar, bajando por la escalera de metal alguien resbaló, no se hizo demasiado daño pero estuvo muy adolorido.
Pero volviendo a lo positivo, las vistas valen mucho el esfuerzo de subir, sigue siendo un espacio estrecho cuando se sale y hay varios avisos porque hay algunos espacios con baja altura que pueden resultar peligroso para los niños. Yo a este sitio no volvería con niños pequeños, al menos no con menos de 6 años, no me sentiría del todo segura, pero para adultos es una visita muy recomendada.
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One more thing to keep in mind about going up the tower, if you are someone who gets dizzy easily, do not do this tour, going down in circles can be uncomfortable and make you dizzy easily.
Also, I wouldn't go up again while it's raining, it was tricky going down because everything was very slippery, the wet footsteps of everyone coming back made the descent very difficult and I couldn't enjoy the experience as much because of being careful not to fall.
But well, falling was something that I was destined to do because during the walk we did down the hill to get closer to the riverbank, to eat at a typical food place, I had the bad luck to step on a cobblestone surrounded by moss and fall sliding a couple of meters. A scene as funny as painful, my left wrist and butt were hurting for a couple of days.
Then I understood why we were the only ones walking downhill in the rain, things you know can happen, but we think it won't happen to us. Metal note, don't walk the hilly Portuguese streets in the rain.
Algo más a tener en cuenta en cuanto a subir a la torre, si eres alguien que se marea con facilidad, no hagas este recorrido, bajar en círculos puede resultar incomodo y marearte fácilmente.
Además, tampoco volvería a subir mientras llueve, fue complicado bajar porque todo estaba muy resbaladizo, las pisadas mojadas de todos los que regresaban hacían el descenso muy complicado y no pude disfrutar tanto la experiencia por estar atenta a no caerme.
Pero bueno, caerme era algo a lo que, al parecer, estaba destinada porque durante el recorrido que hicimos colina abajo para acercarnos a la ribera, con el fin de comer en un local de comida típica, tuve la mala suerte de pisar mal un adoquín rodeado de musgo y caer deslizándome un par de metros. Una escena tan graciosa como dolorosa, mi muñeca izquierda y trasero estuvieron doliéndome un par de días.
Entonces entendí por qué éramos los únicos que caminábamos colina abajo bajo la lluvia, cosas que uno sabe que pueden ocurrir, pero que pensamos que no será a nosotros. Nota metal, no caminar las inclinadas calles portuguesas bajo la lluvia.
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Keeping this in mind, we decided to do the rest of the city tour on a tourist bus. It wasn't the coolest plan, but given the circumstances, it was the option that would allow us to make the best use of our time in the city. I can't talk about prices because being in denial about the idea, I ended up being invited hahaha and I didn't find out how much the tickets cost, although I'm sure much more than necessary.
For these buses it is not a good idea to go up with easy sleeping adults or children, because it is wasted money, I can assure you that more than half of our group used it to take a long nap and not to see the places along the route.
Since it was still raining, I didn't spend much time in the upper area from where I could have taken some nice pictures, but I was able to get a more realistic idea of what the city was like and the places I didn't know about it.
We had to settle for watching the beach from the bus, the tide was very strong and it was impressive how the waves crashed against the lighthouse in the distance. An impressive image in my memory that I could not capture, but that makes me want to come back.
As a consolation, I had for company a box of Pastéisde Nata, which kept my spirits up while inside the bus. It was one of the many pastéis that I was able to taste and compare during several days, if you are curious, by clicking on the image you can access the full review of these.
Teniendo esto en cuenta, decidimos realizar el resto de recorrido por la ciudad en un bus turístico. No era el plan más genial, pero dadas las circunstancias era la opción que mejor nos permitiría aprovechar el tiempo en la ciudad. No puedo hablar de precios porque al estar negada a la idea, terminé siendo invitada jajaja y no me enteré de cuánto costaron los tickets, aunque estoy segura que mucho más de lo necesario.
Para estos buses no es buena idea subir con adultos de sueño fácil ni con niños, porque es dinero perdido, puedo asegurar que más de la mitad de nuestro grupo lo utilizó para echarse una larga siesta y no para ver los lugares del recorrido.
Como además seguía lloviendo, tampoco estuve mucho rato en la zona alta desde donde pude haber hecho algunas fotos bonitas, pero sí pude hacerme una idea más real de lo que era la ciudad y de los espacios que desconocía de ella.
Tuvimos que conformarnos con ver la playa desde el bus, la marea estaba muy fuerte y era impresionante cómo se veían chocar las olas contra el faro en la distancia. Una imagen impresionante en mi memoria que no pude capturar, pero que me anima a volver.
Como consuelo, tenía por compañía una caja de Pastéis de Nata, que mantuvieron en alto mi animo mientras estaba dentro del bus. Fue uno de los muchos pasteles que pude probar e ir comparando durante varios días, si tienes curiosidad, clickando la imagen puedes acceder a la reseña completa de estos.
The beautiful thing that rainy days bring us at the end, when it stops, is a beautiful sky, full of dreamy colors that served as a backdrop as we finished our adventure from the train station.
As we waited for our train to Lisbon, I enjoyed this view, trying to figure out what our train was and which direction it was headed.
This trip was a bit rushed, indeed, we didn't choose the best time to go to the city for the first time, it has to be nicer later in the summer, but at least I have a starting point with which to make a comparison with a lot of contrast on my return.
Every experience leaves a learning experience and during this short visit, I took note of many details to keep in mind to return and enjoy the most vivid colors of the city with patience and without winter clothes.
I am going to say goodbye from the mural of the Iglesia del Carmen, which was one of the moments I enjoyed the most during my trip, I hope that the next time I come back I will be able to admire it with a closer look.
Lo bonito que dejan los días de lluvia al final, cuando cesa, es un hermoso cielo, lleno de colores de ensueño que nos sirvieron de fondo al terminar nuestra aventura desde la estación de trenes.
Mientras esperábamos nuestro tren rumbo a Lisboa, disfrutaba de este panorama, intentando comprender cuál era nuestro tren y hacía qué dirección se dirigiría.
Este viaje estuvo un poco atropellado, es verdad que no elegimos el mejor momento para ir por primera vez a la ciudad, tiene que ser mas simpático entrado el verano, pero al menos tengo un punto de partida con el que hacer una comparación con mucho contraste a mi vuelta.
Cada experiencia deja un aprendizaje y durante esta corta visita, tomé nota de muchos detalles a tener en cuenta para regresar y disfrutar los colores más vivos de la ciudad con paciencia y sin ropa de invierno.
Me voy a despedir desde el mural de la Iglesia del Carmen, que fue uno de los momentos que más disfruté durante el recorrido, espero que la próxima ves que la visite pueda contemplarla con más detenimiento.
I'll be attending next #buzzparty2024 meetup 😃
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GIFs: Bloggif
Free Icons from: Iconfinder
Event ticket: acquired through Buzzparty
Photo credits: All of the photos in this post
were taken by me with my iPhone 11 and belong to me.
I super enjoyed reading, as if I was with you on this tour. Too bad it was raining. I hate it when I want to roam around on slippery roads and probably wet trousers. It limits me to wear not so long trousers too. I cannot imagine 200 steps in that slippery and narrow and making you dizzy stairs! Oh my, if that was me, I think I’ll be causing foot traffic because it would take me forever to go up. 😂 And probably roll going down 😂
The mural though is something else! It’s so incredible! I love it!
I am very pleased to know that you found the reading enjoyable and especially thank you very much for taking the time to read this post in detail, truly.
No doubt it was quite an adventure to move in those conditions, every time I went out I had to think very well the outfit and footwear hahaha.
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Love your photography 📸 😍. These arts and architectures are truly amazing.
Thank you, I try my best! it is a magical city ❤️
Lots of love ❤️
Our only day spent in Porto last year was... rainy ⛈😂
What an interesting experience, I can imagine the sound inside that venue, it must be magical the singer's voice in your company.
On the other hand, I love the huge books in Madrid, you had to take those cops around to show them that they have to watch out for those who litter around.
Hahaha, that's it!!! 😂
The sound in churches is always great, sometimes there is too much reverberation but in a smaller one like this it was perfectñy good! 😇
Let's pretend I didn't get the wrong answer xD What I meant to say here is that it turned out that everyone has to spend a rainy day in Porto, otherwise it's as if you hadn't been there.
Very rainy city. We were there last december and it was also very rainy. It was a little annoying, but still a beautiful place to visit. Lots of stairs hahaha!
hahaha leo El team gordo y me provoca responder en español jaja.
It really was a lot of stairs, I just didn't have that in mind hahaha. Honestly it was after my visit that everyone told me how much it rains haha, so it's an experience that you have to live.
Thanks for spending some time reading the post, my best regards!
I was there last week and had great weather every day ( sorry to gloat 😊) apart from one morning when it drizzled a little
OMG so envy!! hahaha Now it's getting better and better to go for a visit to many places. Today we had a very hot day here, I think that what I need to do is to organize my free time better.
Fotos preciosas con el océano al fondo; y una exposición de Kandinsky 😍. A pesar de la lluvia Oporto está preciosa. Saludos @ninaeatshere
Síii tuve suerte de ver la expo, siempre interesante. Muchas gracias, el mar siempre es inspirador.
Bonito el tranvia que veo en el post, pero no me cargan muchas imagenes, solo pude ver algunas =( , pero las que pude ver, se nota que es un lugar curioso, me llamaron la atencion los mosaicos en estas fachadas.
Gracias por compartirlo, debe ser algo de la conexión porque he revisado cada imagen y creo que está todo correto, seguiré revisando. Un saludo!
Yo veo bien tu post, el tuyo está bien, por lo menos yo lo veo bien.
El mío está mal hahaha, por móvil por peakD no se ve 😂 y creo que me respondiste aquí en tu post a mi comentario lo que está conectado a ese post mío de Madrid 😁
Vaya lioooo, es que no se puede estar interactuando a estas horas. Gracias por confirmar que ves bien el post, tiene que ser cosa de los nodos. Y perdona la confusión de comentarios, me parece que te debo compensar con una trenza de Almudevar xD
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waooo so superb pics and i love rain great post dear thanks for sharing.....
I also like the rain a lot, but I guess I rather enjoy it from home, being sheltered and with a cup of coffee hahaha.
Bonitas fotos me encantan.
¡Hola! Muchas gracias, ha sido todo un reto pero algo se logró. Un saludo!
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Hi guys! thank you very much, it's great to see these nice messages from the team supporting our blogs, a big hug to all of you.
Great post! The rainy days in Porto seem to have presented some challenges, but you managed to make the most of your visit despite the weather.
That's right! one must try to find the bright side and enjoy what the ride brings in, some pictures have been very worthwhile =)
Rain adds charm to Porto's cobblestone streets. Enjoy the cozy cafes and vibrant atmosphere despite the weather! 🌧️☕
Many thanks, that was a good choice, although to be honest it was very difficult to fulfill, cause everybody thought the same thing and the cafes and bars were crowded, even the fast food places. Hahaha a lot of things came together in the end, but it was fun.
Porto looks beautiful, I can only imagine how much better it must be when it's sunny, especially when looking at the views from the top of that very scary staircase! I have a fear of heights and confined spaces, but it always is worth pushing that fear aside when one gets to see such sights!
What a pity it rained when on that bus trip as well. Just like you, I would not want to miss seeing anything along the way. Road, bus or train trips really is the best way to see the country!
I would love to have a Portuguese cream custard tart as a companion.
Yeah! Honestly I've been wanting to walk more around the city and especially along the coast, I hope to have the chance to come back someday, with a better weather.
Thank you very much for visiting the blog, if it were in my power, I would send you a Pastel de Nata right now for you to enjoy it, for now I send you good vibes and a warm virtual salute!
!ALIVE
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