We spent the morning of September 27th in the gardens of our hotel in Guimaraes and then headed to Porto (my favourite city in Portugal) with a stop in Foz do Douro.

20140927_Ecuador_0001 A picture of the back of our hotel (Pousada Santa Marinha).  There were beautiful gardens to explore.

20140927_Ecuador_0002 The pond on the property.

20140927_Ecuador_0003 The stairs leading up to the pond.  

20140927_Ecuador_0004 We stopped at the seaside town of Foz do Douro on our way to Porto.  The town is a former civil parish in the municipality of Porto, Portugal.  Today the waves were huge and it was a great place to hang out.

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A long exposure shot.  

20140927_Ecuador_0006 This is a photograph of the  Feigueiras Lighthouse situated at the edge of the Douro's river mouth and the Atlantic coastline.

20140927_Ecuador_0008 This was our hotel in Porto, the Freizo Palace Hotel which opened in 2009.  The original palace, constructed in the eighteenth century,  has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.  The hotel was located on the banks of the Douro River, named after the famous Wine Region in Portugal.   

20140927_Ecuador_0009 A sunset shot  from the grounds of the hotel.

20140927_Ecuador_0011 Our group hung around the outside bar and photographed for most of the evening. 

20140928_Ecuador_0013 In the early morning, Nancy and I  took a cab into the centre of Porto (about 3 km from our hotel) so we could photograph the sunrise.  This shot was taken shortly after 6 A.M just as the town was waking up.

20140928_Ecuador_0014 Porto is the second largest city in Portugal (after Lisbon) and one of the major urban areas in Southwestern Europe.  It was my favourite place on the trip although I enjoyed all of the towns we visited.    Lisbon was a very close second.

20140928_Ecuador_0016 Nancy and I stood on a bridge taking photos of the city as the light changed. 

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This  shot is a panorama where I stitched together five or six photos.  

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In 2014, Porto was elected the best European destination by the Best European Destinations Agency.    The Cais da Riberia  is in the heart of Porto which forms the designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Riberia literally means waterfront.

20140928_Ecuador_0021 You can see I had lots of fun taking different compositions in the same area.  This is a view of the Iconic Dom Luis I bridge that crosses the Douro River.

20140928_Ecuador_0022 Located on the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres.  Its historical core was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.  The western part of the urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean.  Its settlement dates  back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire.  

20140928_Ecuador_0024 Overlooking the city.  By now the weather was starting to cloud over quickly  and it was looking pretty dreary.  You can see the pastel-hued buildings in various states of renovation and repair.  Nancy and I had fun wandering throughout the narrow streets and alleyways.

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20140928_Ecuador_0026 Coming up next, rain in Porto