OZDODOUROIS THEWEALTHY
suburbofPortowhereyou’llfind
PasseioAlegre– the city’s‘glad
stroll’.Sidlingup to the River
Dourobeforeit opensonto the sea, this
languorouspromenadeis wherelocalscome
tobe happy;walkingamongthem,I feel it,
too. Olderfolk haveset up campingchairsin
the shadeof palmtrees,settlingdownto watchover
a pleasantlighttrafficof strollers,joggers,rollerbladers
and cyclists.vI amblenorthwest,watchingsceneryalong
the walkwaybecomeprogressivelymorecoastal;first a
lighthouse,thenwavescrashingat a rockyshore.Couplesdrink
coffeein sea-facingcafés,while,in the stripedshadowsof the
Pergolada Foz, a weekendclothesmarketis gettinggoing.
Linengarmentson a rail dancein the breezecomingoff the
Atlantic,as anothertraderarrangesher handmadejewelleryon
a velvet-drapedtrestletable.Walkingon, I find patchesof sandy
beach,one occupiedby a neon-cladZumbaclass,who bop along
to Latinpop hits withadmirablesynchronicity.
Furthernorth,at Leçada Palmeira,is the Piscinadas Marés,
designedand builtbetween1959 and 1973 by Portuguese
starchitectÁlvaroSiza Vieira.He also designedthe nearbyBoa
NovaTea Housewhich,perchedon a rockyoutcrop,housesa
Michelin-starredrestaurant.Bothbuildingsshareanintimate
connectionwiththe AtlanticOcean,but it’s the pool that locals
treasure,the joy of summervisitspassedfromone generation
to the next.Builtfromexposedconcrete,it has asubduedpalette
echoingthat of the landscape,whileits sharpBrutalistlines
contrastwiththe watereddyingat bothedges.The fiercewind
that whisksat the surfacetodaycouldexplainwhy,on a Sunday,
I havethe sun-warmedsea pool entirelyto myself,my lengths
of frontcrawlobservedonly by a squabbleof curiousseagulls.
This stretchof coast,withthe port townof Matosinhosat its
centre,may servepartlyas Porto’sweekendplayground– but
historicallythe oppositewas true.‘The DouroRiverwas too
siltedto allowbig shipsto comeinto the city itself,so Matosinhos
becamethe workingport of Porto,’says GraçaAlmeida,who
works in its beachside tourist office. Her windows look out onto
Enjoyingtheseaair
onthePasseioAlegre
in FozDo,Porto.
Opposite:Sunday
surfers and sunbathers