Pieces of Portugal – Part 22 – The Darker Side

After going to the WOW Museum, and a little afternoon cocktail on the terrace, we had another walking tour of Porto. This one was different than the others we had taken. It was all about the darker side of Porto, or the mysterious, even the criminal aspects. Of course it was a twilight tour too, which made it even a bit more intriguing and “dark”.

Part of the tour was to find hidden symbols or saints or animals on the buildings or in the streets.

Here are some of the hidden saints built into the walls of the building. I think there were supposed to be five, but we only saw a couple.

This was an old fire alarm system built into the walls of the church. There was a bell code that would alert the nearby villages of fire dangers. Each town had it’s own code or number of bell rings to alert them.

This statue is a tribute to the crimes of passion in a forbidden romance. The man was a wealthy man who had been a “criminal” for falling in love with a younger peasant woman while still married. They were both arrested and had to spend time in jail. Because he was wealthy, he was allowed to get out of “jail” in about a year, and his tenure was served in a private cell that was pretty elaborate. Unfortunately for the woman, who was poor, she had to endure insufferable conditions in her jail cell below the man’s.

This is supposed to represent Lady Justice, but it was pretty ironic that it was outside the building where nothing but injustices were held.

It was an interesting tour, giving us the darker side of life in Porto. It was something different, but informative and entertaining all the same. Our guide Andre was full of information and stories. Who knows whether or not they were true, but they were fun to hear. 🙂

After our tour through the Medieval streets of Porto, we worked up an appetite, and were looking for a good place to eat and call it a day.

Once again, I didn’t get the name of the restaurant where we ate, and I only got pictures of the food, which was delicious. All I really remember was that we were dining on the water’s edge, and we really liked the food. I know! Silly me. 🙂

Our starters of bread and olives.

Larry ordered the bacalhau or salt cod casserole.

And I ordered pasta do mare.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Live life to the fullest. It’s not the destination that matters, but he journey. Enjoy the ride. ‘Til next time.