April 3, 2006
I met with a friend from the Cathedral for a some quick sight seeing. We met at the local Cathedral. I was very embarrassed… Now I have to paint the picture for you….He is a mild mannered man…very good looking, medium frame but well built…Bluish brownish eyes…and short hair. He pulled up in his nice small sports car…I got in and we greeted…Once in the car….I tried to close the door…I not only tried but it seems like I wrestled with the door forever…until he gently informed me….I have to close the door for you...…I said to myself….what a gentleman…I thought he was going to get off the car to close the door….no…all he had to do was push a button and the door would close…it was a Peugeot…that is the way the doors closed…I felt like an idiot… (if I was trying to make an impression….then I blew it…)
A young and rising star in classical voice in Portugal took time from his busy schedule to take me on a short sight seeing adventure…What a treat! His name is Pedro Telles…He is very handsome and in his mid thirties. He was born and raised in Porto…a northern city of Portugal. He is the choir conductor at the choir at the church, a musical instructor and further voice studying in Austria.
He took me for a ride on the bank of the Douro…to an area of town called Vila Nova de Gaia….On one side of the waterway are many sales outlets for the wine industry. We parked our car there and then walked across the bridge and had lovely lunch on a restaurant-café about 30 yards from the water.
It is a picture perfect day. Not a cloud in the sky and the temperature rose to 75 degrees. We talked for a few hours and then we went over to the Igreja de San Francisco (Church of San Francisco). The Gothic Church of Saint Francis, reached by steps leading up from the waterfront, was built between 1383 and 1410. The vault pillars and columns are lined with gilded woodwork. The church is now a national monument. Services are not%2
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