Porto

     The journey began with a brief stop at the market, fish, vegetables, fruits, flowers and much much more. It's all under one roof with hundreds of individual stalls and vendors. An incredible variety of seafood with everything from barnacles (very expensive) to octopus. Our guide introduced us to the choices.
    Who has been to a salt museum? Well.....I have. It was our second stop and very informative. Salt gathering has been very important in Porto all the way back to Roman times. "Pans" are flooded with sea water which contains 28 grains of salt per liter. When the water evaporates the salt remains. Our word 'salary' comes from the Roman practice of paying soldiers with salt. There's your bit of trivia for the day. It was a very salty experience and well worth the time.
    Again my hopes of seeing a castle were dashed when it turned out to be an ancient fortress on a hill; Montemor o Velho. Regardless of my expectations it was worth seeing.  Building began in 1088 though there had been a Moorish fort there built in 900. An interesting feature is the Madonna in the chapel.
    The large statue of Mary behind the altar shows her obviously pregnant. ( See picture) She's known as the Madonna of Expectation. 😊 As time went on and Catholics became less comfortable with Mary's humanity most such statues were removed; either buried or enclosed in walls. Because they were consecrated they couldn't destroy them. Occasionally one will be discovered in a wall during renovation.
    "Lunch" was in the town with the same name as the castle.  It was seven course meal with roast duck as the entree. This is NOT a Weight Watchers trip.
     At the outskirts of Porto we stopped at an English estate established in 1711. The current family, a couple in their 70s, goes back several generations. The grounds are planted with trees from around the world including a sequoia which is 150 feet tall, Almost as tall is an 'elephant foot' tree from Australia. After showing us around the grounds, called gardens in Europe, we were invited into their 'manor' house and seated in the dinning room. There we were served a glass of port from their vineyard.  After the port they showed us around the house which they are keeping as it was generations ago. 

     We're in hotel right downtown Porto, a city of 300,000 and Portugal's second largest. More exploring tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al

The market.

Salt pans.

Pregnant Mary

Fortress walls.

In the estate house.