3 years ago I moved from Lisbon, my hometown, to Porto, a beautifull city in the North of Portugal. It grows near the Douro river, on his arrival to the Atlantic sea. At the other side of the Douro River is the city of Gaia, both connected by several bridges, the most beautifull of which is the Bridge D. Luis.
In this picture you can see, at the left side, Porto, a burgoise city headed by the Cathedral, and at the right side Gaia, with the beautifull Monastery of Serra do Pilar.
In the 1800s, long before this bridge was built, the connection between both sides of his river was made by several boats, all berth toghether, so that people would jump from one to another, and another, and another, until they reached the other side of the river. When the french invasions arrived to the north of Portugal, several people tried to escape through this "boad bridge", and the boats drowned. Several people died.
One of them, they say, was Luisa Todi, the most well known portuguese opera singer, that sang in the court of Gatherine the Great, in Russia, and earned beautifull, expesive and soberb jewels as gifts from that queen. All of them drowned with her, and no one ever found them... Some say they are still in the bottom of the Douro River...
Bulhão Market - the most beautifull and tipical fresh market in Porto, full of colors and people speaking with the funny closed and round accent from the region.Fresh fish, beautifull flowers, colorfull fruits... spices, seeds, live birds, cickens and rabbits, everything can be found here.
A bakery right accross the street of the Bulhão Market main gate.
The roofs of the Bulhão Market, just a detail of its marvelous architecture.
One of the Bulhão Market citizens, one of those that know everybody and roams nowhere in the middle of the market.
This is a view of the neibourghood of the Porto Catheral.
Porto by night, from the roof top of the Porto Palace hotel.
