Vila Nova de Gaia
A week ago Friday, we took a trip down to Vila Nova de Gaia, the city that lies across the Douro River from Porto. While Porto is often associated with Port wine, it’s actually the port from which it used to be shipped. The famous Port Houses are in Vila Nova de Gaia. Our reason for spending a half-day there has nothing to do with Port though. Ann needed a haircut.
There are a hundred things you’ve never thought of when making a move overseas, even though you’ve thought of, and answered, a million and one things. One of those things for us was how was Ann going to find a hairdresser, without making a wild guess and taking 2-3 tries before finding someone decent? Well, Ann resorted to asking Ana, the point person in Porto for Ei! who has been helping us since our trip in January. Ana recommended her hairdresser, which meant we had to go into Vila Nova de Gaia. Ana even offered to meet us there to translate even though she was on vacation. Ana is so nice. We could’t pass up that opportunity. Plus, it was a perfect excuse for me to take a day off from work and have a 3-day weekend.
I knew the appointment would take an hour or two, so I had big plans for running around town, maybe finding some coffee to buy, or to run by a Port House for a lesson in Port wine. Well, things didn’t work out that way. The beauty salon was in the heart of old Vila Nova de Gaia and let’s just say that once we turned into the neighborhood, it became a maze. We of course arrived early and drove right past it. After looping around once, passing countless intersections that forced us farther and farther away (one was an intersection of 6 streets, with no circles or stop signs [that I could see] and multiple one-way roads), lo and behold, there was a vacant parking space right in front of the shop. We grabbed it. Sure we were 30 minutes early, but we decided it was better to walk around a bit instead of pressing our luck.
We’d passed a fruit store, so we walked back and loaded up on some fresh (and delicious!) fruit. We wandered a bit more and Ana texted us - she was there, so we headed back. Ana said that Lu Lu (the hairdresser) told her, “I just saw a really cute couple walking down the street holding hands.” Ana replied, “I bet that was Ann and Dan.” She was right.
From our walk I realized this was a very interesting neighborhood and, not wanting to give up our prime parking spot, I decided I wasn’t going to drive around, but would explore the neighborhood with my point-and-shoot. It was, so to speak, my first real photography work since arriving in Portugal. Ann got a haircut, I got to do what I love most doing. Now, I have to tell you, the better images will be presented in another blog post; this one is to just give you a feel for the area.
As I said, the streets in this part of town are narrow and cars are parked everywhere.
On google maps I saw a cemetery nearby that I thought I’d make my way to, and wound up crossing a rail line into the city. The city you see in the far distance is Porto.
I had an hour or so to myself and it was nice to just wander an area with no rush, no place to go. I obviously was not going to be able to do my normal landscape photography, but that didn’t matter. There were lots of photographic opportunities to be had . . . if I just paid attention.
At one point I came across a “castle.” It was apparently the ruin of an old family castle. I first sighted what appeared to be a fountain at the end of a road, which I naturally took. As I walked into a field to look at the fountain, I saw a small tower, which I photographed. Although I didn’t climb it (I didn’t know if it was private property or not), I’m sure it offered a great view of Gaia and Porto.
I noticed a castle wall to one side, so I walked down the street away from my destination and spent some time photographing the wall and one keep that was still standing.
Fortunately, it was near a pedestrian walk-way over the railroad tracks (you can see it in the photo of the tracks), so I was able to get a bit of elevation to photograph the tower itself.
As I continued down the road past the castle walls (it was only about 1/10th preserved) I came across the location that became the source of the upcoming post on photography. I don’t want to give much away, but let’s just say I spent quite a bit of time there and the day turned into my first real day of photography in Portugal.
Eventually, I made my way down to the cemetery, which didn’t offer much, image wise. Still, it was a pleasant and beautiful place to walk through. From the exit of the cemetery, I could see a viewpoint of Porto that was on the far side of a very large circle. But since I’d spent so much time photographing at the previous location, my watch told me it had been 50 minutes since I’d left and I had 10 minutes to walk back uphill to pick up Ann. So I headed up hill.
When I walked in, Ann was sitting in a chair with wet hair and Lu Lu had scissors in her hand. Ana said, “We’re not ready yet!” “Half an hour?” “Yes. Now go.” So I left, heading uphill.
From the shop I headed up a street Ann and I had walked earlier, which led to a church with (I’m sure) a stunning viewpoint of the city - from inside the steeple, which was closed. So I walked around it and into the neighborhood behind. It was a lovely neighborhood full of color and complex roof geometries.
Many of the places were old and I had no shortage of textures and colors to choose from.
So I took my time, photographing whatever caught my eye and wandering in-between.
It wasn’t long before my watch told me it had been 25 minutes since Ana told me to get lost, so I started heading back.
By the time I arrived, Ann and Ana were standing outside the salon and Ann looked lovely (ok, she always does). We took Ana out for some coffee (no rush on her part, her husband had brought the kids for their hair cuts), and when we got back, we pulled out so she could park in our spot.
It turned out to be a really lovely day in Vila Nova de Gaia even though I pretty much accomplished nothing I’d thought I’d get done! Sometimes, those are the best days.