After a brief stop at the famous Fiera da Ladra flea market in Alfama, we got on a train to Porto, Portugal which is 310 km – or less than 200 miles – north of Lisbon and is famous for it’s Port wine. When we first booked the trip our plan was to stay in Lisbon for the entire time. But so many people highly recommended that we spend some time in Porto. And now I can see why!
We arrived via train at the famous Sao Bento train station. This train station is on many must-see lists because of it’s interior lobby designed with traditional Portuguese tiles. It is truly lovely – maybe that’s not the right word for it as it’s packed with tourists and locals alike. It is more awe-inspiring.
Walking out of the train station we were again greeted by brilliant blue skies and so many colors. It really is a feast for your senses. John’s comment was “This place has a great vibe”. Mine was more about this place being my motherland! Because everywhere you looked was wine! And Port of course. Much more to come on Port… But wine menus, wine stories, wine cellars, wine tastings. Oh, I’ve come home 🙂
Another thing we saw everywhere we looked was teenagers wearing clothes from Harry Potter. Literally they are all over the streets of Porto! We just thought these were kids come to honor the series – the idea of which was born in Porto. More on the students later.
We headed down the hill toward to famous Cais de Ribeira all the while gawking at the architecture and the colors like silly tourists!
We had just a small amount of time before meeting our host so stopped into the Church of Sao Francisco. Another awe-inspiring structure bearing both gothic and baroque styles. It is quite overwhelming and a LOT to look at.
Back up the hill to meet our sweet Airbnb host who sat us down with a map and marked it all up. If you know me you know I like a marked-up, well-used paper map. Now we had some local recommendations and we were off to see the town.
Our first stop was the riverfront of course. This is the most instragramed area of Porto. When you google Porto this is what you see. Seeing it in person is even better. People walking shoulder to shoulder; little kiosks selling touristy junk; restaurants with views of the river; musicians making money doing what they love. It was quite something!
Starving, we did the tourist thing and sat at a restaurant on the riverfront. And it was a great decision! Sometimes – I feel – doing the touristy thing is necessary. We got to sit and watch the people and the water and the stunning Vila Nova de Gaia across the river. We got to eavesdrop on the stag party going on right next to us and we got to listen and watch an amazing musician right in front of us. And of course the food. We both tried a traditional dish of Porto – the Francesinha. It’s a sandwich with ham, sausage and beef in the middle covered with melted cheese and a sauce made of tomato and beer. Sounds great, doesn’t it?! Hmmm, not so much. The meat was good, the bread was good, the sauce was interesting and the cheese was…icky. Do I recommend it? Everything I read said it’s a must-try. I wish I’d had something else!
Up, up, up some more hills in Porto and then we headed over the top of the famous Luís I Bridge. This bridge famously crosses the Duoro river between Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia where the port wine cellars that gave Porto it’s name are located. This is the bridge where most of those stunning pictures of Porto have been taken! Pedestrians can take the upper or lower part of the bridge and should definitely take the upper part for the incredible views! Just do t be afraid of heights!
We’d come up, up, up the hill to pass the Luis I bridge at the top so we needed to go down, down, down the hill to get to the sweet town of Vila Nova de Gaia. As usual, we took “the road less traveled by” and “that made all the difference”. We ended up on a small dirt path that was restricted to pedestrians due to construction. But we were all by ourselves! And the views from there were incredible. We’d take the road less traveled by more than once on this trip…
At the bottom of the hill…We really wanted to do a port wine tour but I hadn’t had the forethought to make a reservation nor check the closing times so we were out of luck. But we stumbled upon Mercado Beira-Rio – a small market with a dozen or so restaurants and bars within it. And community style seating in the middle. John had his first(!) glass of port and we picked up a bottle of white from the Duoro valley for me.
We took our wine and plastic cups to another Miradouro at the top of the hill – Parque Municipal das Virtudes – opposite the famous Cais de Ribeira to watch another stunning sunset. This is where all of those incredible photos of Porto come from – across the river! Again, the park was filled with people. People with kids; playing music, eating their picnics; drinking their wine. And again, the simplicity of life and the beauty of nature and the gratitude one can’t help but feel there gives way to meaningful conversation and overwhelming feelings of love. When the sun dropped into the water of the Duoro river and the sky became pink everyone in the park clapped 🙂
http://www.adventuretravelinggirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a8e5ebf7-4e37-4234-a314-f1ce72f7d83b-1.mov
It had been a long day and we decided to head back to our apartment. On the way we stumbled upon a musician playing guitar and singing in the street adjacent to the Sao Bento train station. Something about her voice and the harsh way she played the guitar caused us to stop and listen. And I’m so glad we did. Her name is Susana Silva. Her voice had a strong, “see me roar” vibe and her words – because a few songs were in English – spoke to us in a profound way. It is called “B U“. It says, “Be Yourself”, “Love Yourself” – these were the themes. More than anything they reminded us of our prayers for the kids. We walked away hand-in-hand me with a soft smile on my face and John with a tear in his eye.
The peaceful feeling got completely obliterated as we got crazy lost trying to find our way back to the apartment! And remember the crazy kids dressed like Harry Potter? They’d multiplied! There were even more of them and now they were chanting as the walked the streets of Porto. I needed to do some research on this…
Eventually we found our apartment and decided to treat ourselves to a yummy gelato to calm us down before bed 🙂