Dinans on the Road

”CeeCee was right in his raptures over sailing into St. Peter Port. The harbor, with the town traipsing straight up and steeply to the sky, must be one of the most beautiful in the world.” (Quote from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society)

Well, things didn’t work out like planned. The winds did not abate enough to allow safe tendering, so said our captain and the harbor pilot (who managed to board our ship, but just, we gather).

At this point, I can’t even say it came as a surprise. But this was definitely a disappointment.

Ever since we read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, we’ve wanted to someday see the Channel Islands, Guernsey in particular. In preparation for the trip, we both reread the book, and loved it just as much the second time around.

But it was not to be. We got a glimpse of Guernsey. Just close enough to seem like it was in our grasp. But not. Can’t say it struck me as the most beautiful port in the world, but I would like to have walked through it.

Fort protecting the port (1) and St. Peter Port, Bailiwick of Guernsey (2) and (3)

Instead, our captain said we would head south for a bit then he would take us close to shore so we could see St. Malo. Then we’d sail by Jersey, eventually going near Cherbourg. After all, we had an unexpected day at sea to fill and only 120 miles before we reach Le Havre, our next port.

Well, our sailing route fell short of the described plan. We did sail in the direction of St. Malo, but never saw it. We did sail by Jersey, close enough to make it out.

Cherbourg? Who knows if it is still a possible sighting.

An odd day. At least it was sunny and the seas were calm, at long last.

“If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium.” Remember that movie from our youth? Well, that’s about how we were feeling. This was Sunday, therefore we must be in Porto.

It was both more and less than we were expecting. 

The less part: Now here’s an admission. A while back, we saw an episode of House Hunters International on HGTV involving Porto. It looked colorful and romantically rustic and charming. We had to see it someday. Well, while we liked Porto, we saw some pretty uncharming rustic. Our rose-colored glasses weren’t quite up to the trick of making this our escapist idea of a romantic getaway spot.

The more part: We definitely weren’t expecting the faded glamour of the old downtown. It must have been something in its late 18th and early 19th century (pre-48-year dictatorship) heyday. It is quite lovely in a rather low-key, rough-around-the-edges way.

We took a bus into the upper city, the main section of this very hilly town. We only had a couple hours to spend and planned to follow the Rick Steves upper Porto walk, with a couple elements of his lower Porto walk added in.

We started at Clerigos Church and Tower.

From there, we walked down the Rua das Flores a ways.

We admired this rather elegant tearoom. But we also saw an organ grinder who had a 5- or 6-year old “assistant “ who took over at times, plus an unexplained, tethered chicken on a stool.

3D tiles, which we saw on a number of buildings.

Then we went back uphill to the Sao Bento Train Station, renowned for its interior tilework.

We walked back up into the upper town, to the Praca da Liberdade, which is surrounded by lovely old buildings.

We took an espresso break (well, Jerry at least had an espresso) at a sidewalk cafe and did some serious people watching.

Then we went further uphill on the Rua da Fabrica, visiting a very nice Portuguese craft store and admiring the tiles on the buildings. We also got to see a number of the old-fashioned trams that beetle through the city.

We eventually landed in the Praca de Gomes Teixeira, with its pretty, tiled Carmo Church and its centerpiece Fountain of Lions. (Many of you who are familiar with my photography may have noted that I will almost never pass up an opportunity to capture a lion “on film.” Being an August Leo, I have long had a soft spot in my heart for lions, small scale to large—in pictures that is. I don’t collect them; I just photograph them. One of my favorites hangs in my office.)

Once again, so little time, so much to see. At least we managed to dip our toes into the essence of Porto.

We returned to our ship for a 4:30pm sail out. Our captain warned us we would have a very bumpy exit from the port. Waves were breaking over the breakwater, and the surf was running high. (The port, Leixoes, is actually a surfing center.)

We were instructed to sit for the first 15 minutes of our departure (or be somewhere where there was something to hold onto) and told we would be given a 2-minute warning when it was time to prepare. Yikes, that’s a new one on me!  The captain went on to explain we’d be having heavy seas AGAIN most of the way to our next port, Guernsey, which was 655 miles and 36 hours away. Some of you are aware I am actually a very nervous sailor and am very prone to seasickness. After days of turbulence, this was an announcement meant to make my blood run cold, as they say. However, the matter-of-factness of it kept me pretty calm—not happy, mind you, but resigned to my fate.

That was yesterday. It was indeed a rock-and-roll night, until about 3:00am. It has been a sea day today, one in which we have had to hang on to someone or something, but quite mild in comparison to what we’ve experienced the past few days.

Just as I was about to publish this post, the captain announced we are slowing our pace toward Guernsey. The forecasted 25-knot winds and 40-knot gusts would make our tendering into port unsafe. Since the winds are expected to abate by 10:00am, our whole schedule is being shifted ahead 2 hours. My, there’s just no end to the excitement on board. Good news: This means we can have a lazier start to our day, and we can still see Guernsey (something we are looking forward to).

We once had a trip when it rained 20 out of 24 days, forever known as the Rain Trip. I think there’s a good likelihood this trip will go down in the annals as the Rough Seas Trip.

On Saturday, we spent a long but fairly slow-paced day seeing some of the key monuments and historical sites of Lisbon. (Note: Don’t be completely misled by “slow-paced.” We still got in 11,000 steps for the day.)

Morning, sailing up the Tagus River to Lisbon.

We spent the bulk of our morning in the Belem district. First, we stopped to see the Belem Tower, built in 1514 to commemorate Vasco da Gama’s expedition. It also served as defense of the Tagus River and is now designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our next stop was nearby at the UNESCO site of the Jeronimos Monastery. It is a massive Gothic structure, with a beautiful cloister.

Also in the area is the Monument to the Discoveries, which notes Portugal’s role in the Age of Discovery.

We walked from the monastery to the Coach Museum. It was interesting to see old royal coaches and to imagine a different age.

Next up was a visit to the Alfama district. I’ve heard of it many times and was eager to see it. It is a labyrinth of narrow, steep, cobbled streets. Up, up we went, curving and climbing.  (If you live in this area, you have a handy, built-in stairclimber. No need for gym memberships.) We had lunch and wandered around to look at shops and tiled houses and all the fado clubs. Wrong time of day for fado, of course, so we just tried to absorb the fado vibe.

A map of the Alfama, in tile of course.

Our final stop was the National Tile Museum, or Museu do Azulejo. It has a revered collection of the famed Portuguese azulejos. I have to admit that for years and years, for me, Portugal has been synonymous with glazed tiles. So, though Jerry was ready to call it a day, I had to see the collection. Did it live up to my expectations? Not really, yet I’m still glad I got to see it. There were some beautiful tiles to be seen. But  getting to see all the houses and shops covered in tiles everywhere one looked was, in truth, probably more impactful.

So, how is it possible we could spend a full day trekking about and feel like we saw next to nothing? That is somewhat the nature of the beast when cruising, I’m afraid. But at least we now have some sense of Lisbon. I’m sure there’s more should we come back this way again.

 

 

 

 

On Friday, we spent several hours walking through the old portion of the city of Cadiz. What an attractive city it is, and it’s filled with wonderful old architecture.

Here is a hazy view from the ship of the city, with its gold-domed cathedral .

Cadiz has been a prominent port since Phoenician times, and one of the telltale signs of that is the over 100 watchtowers sprinkled around the town. Here is a house (now apartments) near the port with watchtowers. Following is Torre Tavira, the highest point in the old city. Ship owners used these to look for their fleets.

We spent some time exploring the Mercado Central, filled with incredible seafood and produce. Lots of artichokes, though it’s late in the season for them we were told.

We also walked by the striking Church of San Antonio.

---

We visited the Cadiz Cathedral, which is quite massive.

Probably the most interesting sights were the streets of what are called palace houses, with their interesting windows and balconies.

Going to sign off for now. We’re bouncing around like a cork in heavy seas, and I find I am hitting keys unexpectedly and having some trouble concentrating. Life at sea!

(Post-post note: We started our walk in heavy rain, but as you can see from the pictures, sun eventually broke out. Yahoo! Also, we survived 10 straight hours of heavy turbulence and are now sailing up the river to Lisbon. Blissfully calm.)

---