The Porto Diaries- day two

Who the fuck is Henry?

We never did figure out “Who the fuck is Henry?”, but we learned A heap of heck about the history of hospitals.  We went to the Museu do Centro Hospitalar do Porto, an 1808 hospital pharmacy that functioned till 1857 without any refitting of the interior, then was turned into a museum.  They made pills, serums, pomades isolated those with tuberculosis.  We watched a short film and I took notes:

“Suffered from strangles, a former sort of disease…”

Here we heard about the History of Isolation and how hospitals came to be.  When tuberculosis came to northern Portugal in the 1800’s, it was a “big drama.” So they built this place high up on the mountain, with a tall wall around it to keep the patients inside.  In North America, we called this type of building “the sanatorium.”

I am not sure how the next notes relate: At that time, there was the theory of purification through fire.  Just as witches were burned to purify the community, when in doubt all would be burnt. “

Weren’t they just making pills and isolating people?  Did they have to burn them as well? Is that the real reason for the high walks? The film concludes with the following statement:

In years to come, we will not know if what we recorded actually happened, or if it was only what we wanted to have happened.

So they wanted to burn them….

Perhaps all the walking is getting to me.  My darling wife Michelle is teaching me about directions. I have confirmed the top of a map is North.  But sometimes, ( and n the UK only) people drive on the other side of the car on the wrong side of the road. And sometimes we need to turn the map upside down.  Don’t take my word for this. I am what is known as an unreliable narrator.

We had another great breakfast and met a couple from the UK.  We then walked across a bridge to Gaia.  We went to the WOW. World of Wine, and walked along the river.  We finally tried the national sandwich, francesinha, which is layers of bread, cheese, ham, beefsteak, sausage, cheese, and what our restaurant called “thick sauce”.  Also Cod croquettes, which were very good, and a giant Gin and Tonic.

We then walked back across the bridge, the lower bridge,  as the upper bridge is about 5-7 stories above us.  Our plan was to to take the funicular up the hill, but the wait was over 40 minutes.  So we began to walk up the steps.

I would estimate the steps were about 200 or more steps.  It was a major undertaking.

We got to the top and took our breath and some panoramic shots. Then we headed down some streets to wind our way back to the apt. 

But first we returned to this view of the city and sunset, and enjoyed another drink.