Our next stop was in Porto, though we actually docked across the river in Gaia. That bridge in the background — the lower one! — was one of the ways we went from one bank to the other.
The city itself is lovely, as this view of the park may indicate. The trees have that funny growth as the result of a disease that almost killed them at one time.
Another interesting tidbit about Porto is that this is where author J.K. Rowling was living when she developed the idea for the Harry Potter series. In fact, at the left is the very café where she sat and wrote, drawing inspiration from a staircase in the café (it’s almost impossible to get in to see it, given how long the lines are!), as well as from other things she saw around the area.
The Sandeman wine cellars are also in Porto; they are world-renowned for their port wines. Their logo is of a man in a flat-brimmed hat (Zorro, anyone?) and wearing a long black cape like the ones the university students have been required to wear for generations. The tour guides for Sandeman also wear the same outfit.
Four of our group left the Sandeman cellars and went directly to the Aveleda winery in the vicinity. The winery is located in some of the most beautiful gardens I think I’ve ever seen, and I’m quite sure all of our group would have remained there for much longer, if we’d been allowed. We also had a very informative wine-tasting lesson there, so the entire experience was wonderful.
Leaving Porto and Gaia meant going through another of the several locks we encountered, this time in broad daylight and descending. 
