X-rays, Lights, and a Futbol Match

Villa has to have x-rays done on her leg at 30 and 60 days after the surgery to check that it’s healing correctly. We decided to stay in Porto a couple of nights to see a Porto match and more of the city at Christmas. Her x-rays look good, but she has developed a click when she walks on the leg. We believe it’s a meniscus tear. The vet gave us some anti-inflammatories, and we head back in 2 weeks to see what next steps are.

Porto played Casa Pia, a team that isn’t very good. Porto won 2-0. This was my first pro match in Europe.

We walked around Porto the next day. We’d visited Porto last year when we were scouting places to live. We were mainly down by the waterfront then; this visit we walked around the Bolhao area and west of it. The Jardim da Cordoaria is a park with several sculptures. It’s also where a Christmas market sets up. We walked through here during the day with Villa and came back in the evening to check out the market. This sculpture was my favorite.

From there we walked to the Parque das Virtudes. It’s a tiered garden park with nice pathways. We didn’t explore the full park – Villa is still on “light duty” and the hills were pretty steep.

Lightroom has recently added AI removal to its software. This feature is amazing. I can remove people or objects with a click. Here’s an example, the first is a shot of the park without AI and the second is with it applied. It’s like a spot the difference game. 😉 It’s my new favorite feature.

There was a fountain of sorts in the park, though no water was flowing. It was a pretty structure to walk around.

We did not make it in to see the Livraria Lello, a beautiful book store that has become popular world wide. I didn’t realize that there’s a line and tickets to enter the bookstore since it’s become so popular with tourists. They credit the entry fee toward any book sales. It’s staircase inspired the moving staircases in Hogwarts. Maybe there will be fewer people when we come back in January.

We saw the city’s Christmas tree at City Hall at the start of our evening walk. It’s huge, and the lights change color and flicker in time with music. The park next to the hall is lit with lights as well. The effect is dampened somewhat since there is major construction going on down the street, so much of the area is closed off.

The markets were open as we walked by. We bought an custom wood ornament. This was the man’s setup for making the ornaments.

I like the ornament, it’s the first one on our tree!

Almost every town and city we’ve visited in Portugal in December has had streets lit in various themes. They are so pretty to walk down.

The Mercado do Bolhao is a beautiful 2-story market with shops on the first floor and restaurants around the second.