PAREDES DE COURA - Paredes de Coura Festival
THURSDAY 30th July 2009 

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Charly praying all the way down into Porto Airport but we arrive in one piece and are loaded into a mini bus and sped into town accompanied by loud Spanish guitar music. A wander around Porto reveals it to be a beautiful, historic, UNESCO listed city, the gig itself in Paredes de Coura is fantastic, only slightly tarnished by the long journey home with drunken scrambling from Danny. More wandering around town the next day in lovely sunshine through the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal overlooking the Port Wineries with the Agapanthus in full bloom, then a tram journey back to the hotel, on to the airport and more praying from Charly.
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Porto gloames out of the Mediterranean night

 Looking up from where the Avenue da Boavista meets the Rua de 15 de Novembro The Casa da Música, designed by Rem Koolhaas and completed in 2005, reminiscent of the mothership from Buck Rogers Entering the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal, the Pavilhão Rosa Mota
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The other half of our hotel. In the aromatic rose garden, part of the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. The whopping Arrábida Bridge, 70 metres above the river Douro Joe 90 immortalised in stone
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Shot of the day, outside the law courts, Porto King Dom Pedro IV throws back his copy of Viz and rides across the Praça da Liberdade Designed by Théophile Seyrig, a student of Gustav Eiffel, the 1886 Dom Luís Bridge. Breath taking. Veiw from the bridge of the Douro river.
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Barata Feyo's 1968 equestrian statue of Vímara Peres, Count of Portugal Haven't had one of these for a while: Hydrant #53 Porto Fresaco While we're there: Hyrant #54 Porto Cyberman 2CV, painted as a giant mint humbug roasts in the midday sun, Avenue da Boavista.
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Verdant hills is we fly up the A27 towards Paredes de Coura. The stage is set by people who appear to have boil washed their trousers to three quarter length Gaz, your guitaro, ees it alright? Robert Coombes smiles wanly as he casually adjusts the controls of his rippling bank of synthesisers
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Capt. Curtains saves the day once again.

The set list, international sign of the segue in full evidence but not the cheeky verse of 'Sunday Morning' after 'Rebel In You'

Tonight's excellent dinner served at the local school with sparkling red wine and angel delight for pudding

Images © 2009 M. Quinn