My allergies had been bugging me for the past several days, but when I woke up this morning they were really kicking my butt. I decided to take the pills I had picked up in Ireland despite the fact that they make me pretty drowsy. I figured that if I just kept moving I wouldn´t have any problems.
I had a bit of business to take care of and headed to the bus station to buy a ticket for a night bus to Salamanca the next day. This was quite easy and soon I was headed down to the port area for my boat trip. Somehow I made it there without consulting my map.
The second I got on the boat I started to nod off. This is bad I thought. I took some lackluster pictures trying to stay awake, but it just wasn´t working. I moved to the cafe area of the boat and got a coke and a candy bar, thinking that the caffeine would keep me awake. I also wanted to be sure that I didn´t accidentally fall overboard or something terrible like that. It also didn´t help that the whole tour was in Portuguese. I think that there was a part in the beginning where the guide asked if anyone needed English, but I was too half asleep to speak up. The snack helped a bit and I was glad a few minutes later when it started to rain and everyone ran inside that I already had a seat.
I knew in order to stay awake I needed to do something that was interesting. I wasn´t ready to give up and just head back to the hostel. I still wasn´t feeling great though and I was coughing a bit. I ended up at the St. Fancis Cathedral. This baroque cathedral began construction in 1245 but was not compelted until 1410. It was built by Franciscan friars. Most of the current wooden sculptures dated from the 18th century. I´ve probably said this a million times now, but this place was amazing. It was just what I needed to stay awake. The ceiling was all intricate woodwork covered in gold leaf. The place shone. Each chapel was different, but they were all outlined in fat cherubs. The best chapel had a tree growing out of god with the 12 apostles on it. Jesus sat above them all on the top branch. I stood transfixed. The skill, dedication and passion required to construct something like this was mind boggling.
One chapel was dedicated to the three wise men and showed them with their gifts for the baby Jesus. One particularly gruesome alter showed monks (later saints) being massacred by the Moroccans. There was blood and decapitated bodies scattered around. Each alter had a small door. I asked why this was. It turns out that communion is given from different alters at different times of the year. God comes out of the door to bless the bread and wine.
In 1809 Napoleon used the building as a stable. Further damage was inflicted during the Portuguese civil war from 1828 - 1834. Parts of the ceiling were missing and damaged due to this. Eventually the cathedral was restored and is now a UNESCO heritage site.
My entry fee also got me into a small museum and the crypts. The museum wasn´t that great, just some sculptures of saints. They looked out of place in the bare white room. The crypts were pretty interesting. It was much like a modern crypt with names on the walls. The only difference was that on the outer wall the coffin was outlined. Most of the bodies dated from 1830 - 1870. At the end of the hallway was a pit filled with bleached white bones. These were the monks who has served the cathedral over the past several hundred years.
I had forgotten the name of the museum that everyone had suggested to me and stopped at a tourist center that I had not seen before. Here I got and even better map and a list of about 40 museums throughout the city. I didn´t have time for them all and decided to go to two that were close by and free.
After a quick lunch right at the end of siesta, I headed to the Roman and Medieval Museum. Nothing in the small museum was in English. I didn´t have any idea what I was looking at. As I was about to just give up and leave I noticed that an older Irish couple had gotten one of the women at the front desk to explain what everything was. Her English was only so-so, but I did learn a bit.
Basically there were no permanent settlements in Porto prior to the Romans forming a town here. After Rome fell the Portuguese king gave the town to a Bishop. The Bishop built a cathedral and a wall. He used the port to tax boats that came through. This made him rich, very rich. The king didn´t like this and he built a larger city wall and brought in more people. He made it so that he received all of the taxes from the port. It was during the 1500's that Porto took on the street plan that is still mostly seen today.
I headed down the street to the History of Port Museum. Once again my allergies were winning and I didn´t get much out of the place. I think that the unique flavor in port is because the grapes used are planed in rocky soil and must therefore develop deep root systems. Production was also begun by the English.
It was time for me to call it a day. I took a nap as soon as I got back to the hostel, I just couldn´t keep my eyes open. That night I made myself dinner and then took another one of the sleep inducing pills. I felt bad for the other people in the room because of my coughing. However, when most of them came in around 3am drunk and loud I didn´t feel so bad any more.
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