Porto, Portugal

The view of old town Porto (Ribiera) from across the Douro River

Up the hill in the city center, Avenida dos Aliados (Avenue of the Allies), which commemorates Porto's (and Portugal's) alliance with the British in the 1300's. At the "top" (Eastern) end is City Hall.

Myself and Stefan meeting up on Avenida dos Aliados

The Ribiera district (and the hillside just above it) is a maze of twisted narrow streets.  It's also a UNESCO world heritage site.

Portugal is FILLED with buildings that are tiled.  Here's Cormo church with an awesome blue and white tile its side. Some tell a story, others are just patterned.

Cormo church again, this time, I'm trying the color accent feature of the camera that Brian taught me.

Clerigos Tower

The "wedding cake"  Clerigos altar.  The church is in an oval shape.

For all it's beauty, at least a quarter of the buildings in the town look decayed and abandoned.  During the 1980's, the central part of Porto lost 100,000 residents.

Down along the Ribiera.  It's all touristy now.  How great would it have been to witness this when it was an actual working port!

Brian being Brian

Houses along the Ribiera

Luis I Bridge, connecting the north and south banks of Porto.  Trams up top, cars down low, pedestrians can use either.

View of the Ribiera from the lower span of Luis I Bridge

On the south bank is the town of Gaia.....and a GONDOLA!

Gaia is known for the "lodges" (warehouses/caves) where the port wine from up the Douro river is brought to sit and age.  These buildings are where you come to taste port wine.

Porto at sunset....

Porto, looking upriver

Sardinia

With Hans and Teresa in town, I decided a weekend trip was in order and Sardinia (Italian region #17 of 20 for me) was chosen.

First stop, Nora, on the coast south of Cagliari.  This archeological site was settled by the Phonecians.

There are towers all across the Sardinian coast.  Here's one at the southern tip of Sant Antioco, which itself is an island off the southwestern coast of Sardinia.

In the interior of Sardinia, one comes across these beautiful sites.  Not sure if they are natural or manmade.

Su Nuraghe di Barumini.  These stone structures found throughout Sardinia are dated to 25,000 years ago.  Their purpose is unknown.

The one here at Barumini is the largest of the known Sardinian nuraghes and is on the UNESCO world heritage list.

We actually arrived AFTER closing, but since the gate was unlocked, Brian (right) led the B&E charge.

Being in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea means that its been under the influence of many different foreign powers.  One of them, the Romans, of course, built a bath here at Fordogianus

The water at the fountain was scalding, so it was better to find a place in the nearby river in which to soak our feet.

3 hour lunch above a reservoir in Sardinia.  La dolce vita.

The colorful town of Bosa on the west coast of Sardinia.

The 40km drive between Bosa and Sardinia is stunning.  We pulled out over at this spot for the sunset.

Sheep!  Bonus!

Brian was determined to catch and hug a sheep.

However, with their sure-footedness, their capture was never really a possibility.

Watching the sun go down in these last few photos...amazing.  And don't we look like a J. Crew catalog?