Porto, also known as Oporto is a seaside town in the north of Portugal. It is proud to be known as “the city of work”. The city dates back to the eighth Century B.C. as a Hellenic village on the left bank of Douro River or the River of Gold as it is translated.

Today, Porto is a working town of half a million people, industrial and modern which has undergone a regeneration programme in the last 25 years and achieved World Heritage status from UNESCO in 1996. It was also selected as European Capital of Culture for 2001.

There are various attractions for visitors as follows:

WINES

Port Wine Cellars are open to visitors and offer guided tours during which Port Wine is freely tasted and its story fully explained. Excellent brands are available such as Vinho Verde of Minho and Esporão of Alentejo Region – the Best Red Wine of Europe in 2001 according to TIME magazine,

GASTRONOMY

Specialities of the area include “Tripas à Moda do Porto”. This is a very tasty dish made of ox and beans. “Sarrabulho” is a kind of thick soup made of a mixture of meats and maize flour, spices and herbs. This dish will be presented to the European Parliament next summer and is a favourite of Nobel Prize winner Portuguese writer José Saramago. And of course no visit to Portugal would be complete without tasting the famous Bacalhau. This is dried salted cod and there are 101 ways of cooking it in olive oil, the base of Mediterranean healthy cooking

BUILDINGS

Some of the buildings worth mentioning in Oporto include the New Infante Bridge, Football Stadiums (used in the current UEFA Euro 2004 Football Tournament), Casa da Música Concert Hall (a Dutch masterpiece by famed Dutch Architect Rem Kolhas and the Ultramodern Surface Metro Railway System.

THINGS TO BUY

These include fine tapestry, of course clothing, glasswork and pottery, ceramics and filigree silverwork, all very original, of high workmanship, and reasonably priced

SUGGESTED THINGS TO DO

There are many famous bridges over the River Douro such as D. Luis built in 1886 and designed by Eiffel, yes, he of the Eiffel Tower. There’s the new Infante that was inaugurated in April 2003. There are regular river cruises and even helicopter rides over the area and surrounds. There are numerous churches with fabulous displays of Baroque art and unique Azulejos (tilework ). If you want to visit the beach and the sea, you can take a stroll along the Seaside Promenade on the Atlantic coast at Foz do Douro. The Stock Exchange Palace is a magnificent Arab Salon and a must among town centre monuments, and the town park is also very beautiful and is by the sea.

If you would like to visit Oporto, contact Alvaro MIGUENS, office@greypowertravels.com or visit http://www.greypowertravels.com

My experiences on a trip to Angel Falls were different to those reported in a Globetrotter e-newsletter a couple of months back. I went in 9/88. The US $ versus Bolivar’s exchange was great. My wife Rosemary and I flew into Canaima. We had a dugout trip to Orchid Island where we spent the night. Metal roof, open sides, toilet facilities were any clear spot you could find in the jungle. It started to rain, they were attempting to roast, what they called chickens, over an open fire, they were on ironwood stakes. Unlike any chickens I have ever seen. Eventually they got them halfway cooked. Not very good. They served an orange juice looking drink. Rosemary drank it like it was going out of style. She refused to drink the water because it had been taken out of the river, full of tannin as you are aware, She didn’t realize that the water in the orange drink was taken out of the river, nor did I tell her. We slept in the hammocks, no mosquito nets. We really weren’t bothered with mosquitoes, I don’t understand why.

The next morning they served something for breakfast, not sure what it was, it looked like corn beef hash but it wasn’t. Rosemary said that was enough for her. So she got in an outboard powered canoe with some Indians and went back down river to Canaima where she stayed in the hotel, the only one at that time. I followed instructions and dressed in shorts, BIG MISTAKE. After going up river about an hour I was getting very sun burnt. They found a piece of canvas to put on my legs. They were already burnt, also my face. Best they could find was some sun screen to put on my face. We got to an island where we got out of the canoe. We had to walk part of the way across it as it was too dangerous for us to go thru the falls in a canoe. The Indians walked ahead found a bulldozer and a trailer and came back across the island where we were still walking and picked us up and took us to where the canoes were waiting. We finally about 1430, arrived at the base camp for Angel Falls. All the people walked thru the jungle to base of the Falls. I was unable to do so as I was hurting and lay in a hammock in similar conditions as the night before. When they came back it was getting dusk. They had some people there fixing the meal it was fairly good, the only thing I ate was some sliced pineapple and dank some of the juice. No alcohol allowed but one German had brought a bottle of brandy along and they all enjoyed it. Oldest was about late 30’s I was at the time, 63. One Italian couple had been married three days, another was married eight days. The next morning they took the canoes up river to a point where I could get a good view of the falls.

We all got out and walked around, I didn’t walk much, I was hurting. We went down river to Orchid Island where they were staying the night. Two other canoes were there and leaving for Canaima. One of our Indians, clothed in a loin cloth, went over to one of the canoes and talked to them. The Indian had lived in New York for some years before coming back to Venezuela. He told me to wait until one canoe departed and then for me to go over to the remaining canoe and they would permit me to go with them. He said the first canoe had the operator in it and he would want to charge me a lot of money to go with the canoe. They stopped at a small falls, which was interesting but I didn’t get out of the canoe. We finally made it back to Canaima and walked the mile or so back to where the hotel and other facilities were. I found Rosemary and they took me to an Indian first aid station. The Indian woman there with rings on all her fingers rubbed, what I later found out was Nivea cream into my legs. Those damn rings HURT. Rosemary went to a village store and bought some Nivea cream. That night Rosemary brought a German young couple, back to our room, whom we had met in Merida the week before and I went to the top of Bolivar Mountain, the highest peak in Venezuela. We went up via a four stage cable car. After we got up there I had to be given oxygen. Let me get back to Canaima. I had something to eat at the open air hotel dining facility. The next noon time we stood in line to get on the Avensa Airline 727. There was a large group of Italian tourists there. One young man walked up to near the head of the line when they started loading. The National Guard officer came along and took him to the back to the end of the line. He wasn’t satisfied and when he thought they weren’t looking he went to head of line. Unfortunately for him they were watching. They took him out of the line, stood along side of him and the last we saw of him he was still standing there when the aircraft took off for Caracas.

I went to the medical facility The Dr. there told me I should read: I went to the medical facility where the doctor there told me

Upon arrival In Caracas I decided to go on to Miami, I was hurting. Upon arrival in Miami after a night sleep we started north to Patrick Air Force Base. You might not know where it is but it supports NASA at Cape Canaveral where the shuttles are launched. I went to the medical facility where the doctor there told me, I had a serious burn on the legs and there was a possibility I would need a skin graft. Well I was fortunate I didn’t need it.