Some photographs from my other phone...

One aspect of being away has been my continual frustration with EE and roaming. For some inexplicable reason, my contract, although set to allow EU roaming refuses to give me the access. As a consequence I am only now able to upload some of the pictures.

They will be out of sequence, obviously, but I hope they will jog memories for Shirley and myself and be of interest to others who might take a look.

 One of our last comments at night, "See you, deck 6, at 9:30am" You could guarantee we would happen across one another here, a really good spot to meet, chat, have coffee and then go into a lecture in the theatre.

The combination of the superstructure of the stern of the ship against the futuristic terminal building at Matosinhos. It is a centre for marine conservation with two of the floors set aside as laboratories and research rooms. As I wandered around I noticed groups of students discussing aspects of their studies.

In this area, the production of mussels for sale is a major source of finance and there were large numbers of mussel bed platforms especially in Vigo. Here, there was a project looking into the sustainability of three mussel types which would stand the changing water temperatures as the climate changed.

Matosinhos is an interesting place and shouldn't be overlooked. The buildings there are like many of the places in Porto, dark granite and often covered in beautiful tiles. If I was younger then the walk along the sea front to Porto would have been a really enjoyable one, albeit rather wet. I would have been joining many who were making the pilgrimage to Santiago, following one of the main routes from Portugal to Spain.

I couldn't go too far unfortunately. We were due to depart within the hour so I did a very quick wander to the nearest points to the harbour entrance.

 

It doesn't matter where in you are in the world, "dumpster-diving" happens everywhere. This seagull was completely unperturbed by my presence, in fact the look was one of, "and...?" I left him to it as he rooted around in the McDonald cartons.

An example of the dark, granite building materials used in this part of the world. Below is an example of how they cover the surface with ceramic tiles, often hand-painted to revel biblical stories or ones reflecting past industries. Why do they coat their buildings? To improve wear it appears as well as portray stories which were then read and interpreted by those who were illiterate.

Two main pieces of sculpture dominate this part of Porto, the group of women waiting for their men to return and the recent addition of the supersized fishing net which moves in the wind. At night, the fishing net glows and shimmers. Sadly we had already left before we could witness this.