Portugal Workshop - Day 1

We woke up to thunder, lightning and rain, very different to yesterday’s sunshine. After breakfast we walked in the rain to the Sao Bento train station to see the wonderful azulejos (hand painted tiles). It was quite dark in there and many other people had the same idea so it wasn’t easy getting a photo. Then we went to visit Livraria Lello, a beautiful little book shop that is the oldest in Portugal and rates among the top book shops in the world. We had to buy tickets to enter it as it gets so busy. There are fine detailed wooden arches with wooden balustrades, and the ceiling and interiors are decorated in painted plaster work to resemble sculpted wooden surfaces. They also have a good selection of some old books. The shop is said to have inspired JK Rowling to write the Harry Potter series, as she lived in Porto as a young English teacher and visited this store.

All too soon it was time for our taxis to collect us - Gavin north to the airport and home, me south to Aveiro to start my photography workshop. I got to the hotel by 2pm and had time to unpack and relax while I was waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. They were delayed at the airport so by the time they arrived and we went out to take some photos it was almost dark. It was blowing wildly and was very cold. We went to a nearby beach but could not get the preferred composition of our subject due to the huge waves and the red safety warning due to the wind.

Our subject, as pictured here, is a little pagan church on the beach at Miramar. It is known as the Chapel of the Lord of Stone, and is set on a bed of rocks surrounded completely by the beach. Our group is being led by a UK photographer and she is being assisted by a local Portuguese photographer, and he was telling me that this church is not supported by the Catholic church and often pagan worshippers come down to the beach to do black magic here - ooh, spooky! It was a very wild night and there was lightning in the sky so the setting for this pagan church seemed appropriate. Conditions were not the best tonight, but we will be photographing this chapel again tomorrow. The extra is of a street scene in Porto.

We had a light supper in the hotel, and after planning tomorrow and going over all the details, it is now off to bed as we will be up at 5am tomorrow to go get some sunrise shots - hope the weather will be good!