July 8th
Wecome to Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês (Peneda-Gerês National Park) !
Megan and I rented a car and drove toward Peneda-Gerês. They have some very, very crazy roads.
Albufeira da Caniçada
Plaid shorts and a striped shirt. I'm a snazzy dresser!
Here's our Hyundai with such amenities as bike tires and a lawnmower engine. I really don't know how they even made this to have 4 doors.
Ok, so around this point we couldn't find a tourist center or anything. So, we saw another couple on the side of the road looking at a map and decided to ask them where they got a park map. They were Czech and didn't know where they were either. But, on their map was a tourist center. So, they invited us to follow them while they drove at high speeds around cliffs and hairpin turns with blind curves in their Peugeot. After a lot of going around in circles, we finally made it and got what we were looking for. The Czech guy asked us "Where in the US are you from" and we said Chicago. He got real excited and said "I love Married With Children." Excellent.
São Bento da Porta Aberta. This church had all sorts of people at it making pilgrimages and crawling on their knees and other stuff I've only seen on TV. We looked inside (we couldn't go it because I had shorts and Megan wasn't dressed like a lady), we've checked online and we still don't know what is in there that makes people go crazy about it. But, they do... Oh also, the national park trail that apparently starts here, doesn't and no one has ever heard of it.
A church in a holding pen
Wind power
These were massive windmills. Each blade seemed to be a wing off a Boeing 747 or larger.
You know those little Smart bubble cars? Here's their sports coupe.
As some of you may know, there's been some financial issues in Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal tied with the global financial meltdown. This is a protest outside our hotel, Mercure Porto Centro, the the Praça da Batalha (Battle Square), which is usually where old guys and little girls on bikes hang out. The protest is against cuts the government intends to make.
King Pedro IV again on the Avenida dos Aliados
Shopping area near the college
Jardins do Palacio de Cristal (Crystal Palace Gardens)
A sports and concert arena in the park
crazy angular pine tree
Peacock running toward me. With my history of birds in Portugal, I did get a bit nervous.
But, he only wanted food and left as soon as he realized I didn't have any...
View of Porto looking toward the Atlantic Ocean. Pretty much the only "weather" we saw the whole time and it was just low clouds and a much appreciated cool breeze
Porto toward the Douro River valley
A little church in the park
child choking a bird
A hollow tree. If this were in Chicago, someone would live in this tree...
My lady's Renault
Praça Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator Square) and his statue.
Ol' Henry himself
The Stock Exchange Palace. We didn't go into it, but apparently it's pretty amazing and they spared no expense in it's 18 year construction.
My favorite piece of Portuguese art at a restaurant in Porto. Want to see what 5 Euros ($6 US) can get you over here?
Here's my Caldo Verde soup and pint of Super Bock beer
Oh, and my beef platter with rice, salad, and, of course, french fries.
Megan's pork platter and all the fixings. Notice her carafe of wine. Good deal!
An interesting tile shop.
