Porto - Day Two

My day began at the Bolhão Market. Like its counterparts in Spain and France Bolhão is a scene of good humoured, bustling animation. I must be turning Portuguese because as soon as I got there I had an expresso coffee and a Porto Blanco, that ultra smooth liquor that starts your day off with a glow. The market stalls sell fresh produce and it was fun walking around and listening to the exchange of banter between the buyers and sellers. From there I went to the Clérigos Church and Tower adjacent to my studio. They took thirty years from 1731 to 1763 to construct by the great Italian architect, Nicolau Nasoni. The church façade is embellished with garlands and elaborate cornices. Inside is an oval shaped Baroque granite and marble nave and a high altar, which rather resembles a wedding cake with Mary at its summit and the tomb of Nasoni below as he asked to be buried there. The Tower is one of Porto's proudest icons. It stands 250 feet high and to get up there you have to ascend 225 steps up a narrow winding stairway. It is crowned with a dome and gives one a commanding view of the city. While I was up there the carillon in its bell tower pealed its melody. I next went to the 18th  century Baroque Saint Francis Church, a marvel with stunning chestnut wood carvings covered in gold leaf. One showed the Tree of Life of Christ with Jesus in a sleeping position and Mary lying in a boat as Our Lady of Good Voyage. In Portugal Mary is the Patron Saint of Navigators. I finished the day by taking the funicular down to the Ribeira Waterfront and strolling alongside Porto's stately Douro river. It was most enjoyable to walk past the hole-in-the-wall bars and the colourful villas and to see the water craft taking the tourists on mini-cruises under the150 feet above the river double-decker Ponte Dom Luis, designed by the formidable Gustave Eiffel in the 1880s.