PORTO 6/25-6/27
We arrived at the train station in Porto right at 7 pm. We planned to watch Portugal play Iran in the World Cup, which started at 7 pm, so we were rushing. The metro station was a little confusing, but we eventually got on and made it to our Airbnb. Our Airbnb was conveniently located 2 minutes from the square to watch the World Cup - Praça Amor de Perdição - so we dropped off our stuff and headed over. Boy was it crowded!! We made it right before the half and just in time for the first goal by Portugal! Ronaldo didn’t even score but the crowd chanted, “Ronaldo! Ronaldo! Ronaldo!” He is beloved here. We got some beer, the Sangres Portuguese brand, and made our way through the crowd, with people scowling at us for pushing through. We went as far as we could without feeling bad and then stopped. We still couldn’t see whatsoever. But the atmosphere was fun. Unfortunately they tied, so we didn’t get to see Ronaldo score (he missed a PK so now Messi isn’t alone). There was cheering at the end because it meant Portugal advanced to the next round! Afterward, we found a tapas place for dinner right down the street from us. It was hard to find a place initially; Porto does not eat as late as Lisbon! Note: all food in Europe is very salty! After tapas, we headed to bed for a long sleep.
The next day, we headed out to breakfast. Porto is hilly and steep like Lisbon and has trolleycars (though not as many). We got eggs for breakfast, another win not having pastries. We then walked to Palácio da Bolsa and Igreja de Sao Francisco (a church). It had a nice view of the river and the town on the other side. We didn’t pay to enter the church or palace.
We went on another free walking tour offered by Sandeman’s. We like doing walking tours to get the inside scoop from the tour guide, but this one was really meh. The tour guide said a whole lot of nothing, so we didn’t learn too much new stuff. We first saw the Torre dos Clérigos. Then we saw two churches attached to each other but built 100 years apart: Church do Carmo and Church dos Carmelitas (oldest on the left). The side wall had beautiful tiles on it like what we saw in Sintra. We then learned that the port wine cellars are across the Douro river in Gaia, not in Porto. A lot of port wine companies have English names because the British helped grow the industry in Portugal. Port wine is made down the Douro River, a bit away from Porto, but was brought to the cellars to cool and age. Our tour guide pointed out Ferreira - a Portuguese port cellar managed by a woman.
After this stop, we walked by a famous bookstore. J.K. Rowling lived in Porto and went to this bookshop often. It’s now visited by so many that there is a huge line and it costs €5. She took some inspiration from Porto for her book, like the uniforms of the university (see picture below, they actually wear cloaks at the University in Porto) and the interesting staircase in the bookstore that from certain angles appears to be moving. Lastly, the founder of the Slytherin house is named after the dictator of Portugal.
Next was the Sao Bento train station, which is considered one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. There are blue and white tiles on the walls that show images of Portugal’s history. The tiles depict a large battle between Portugal and Spain, fighting for Portugal’s independence (Battle of Valdevez). However, Portugal’s independence was actually determined by a joust by two knights and Portugal won.
We then left the tour and walked to the Liberdade Square and down that main street with city hall at the end. We continued walking to Mercado do Bolhao, which was sadly closed for renovation! Not sure why they would renovate during tourist season! We were hungry at this point and went to Cafe Santiago, a famous place to get Francesinha- a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries. So basically a heart attack on a plate! We split it and still didn’t finish. It’s okay...
We then went back to the Airbnb to freshen up. We headed back out to cross the river and do some Port tasting! We crossed the famous Luis I Bridge and had a good view of Porto. We first went to Taylor’s cellar and tried 5 ports. Finally Grace gets sweet wine! Emily hated it. The cellar was very nice though, and we were given a pamphlet to learn about ports. After this, we headed down the waterfront and found a market (like the one in Lisbon but smaller) to hang out at and watch the 7 pm game of Argentina vs. Nigeria (time to watch Messi!). We got some apps - sushi, ham, and fries - trying not to fill up before dinner. We saw Messi score a goal :) but sadly everyone was rooting against him.
We missed the last 10 minutes of the game because we had to walk to dinner. This dinner place was very hard to find, up steep unnamed roads. And once again, we missed sunset!! Our table wasn’t ready yet, so we were given free Porto tonics (a gin and tonic but with a white dry Port instead of gin). We then had a nice dinner, overlooking Porto. This place was really fancy though, too fancy for us, everyone-ordered-the-55 euro-tasting-menu fancy, washcloths-for-paper towels-in-the-bathroom fancy, one-glass-of-Port-for-190 euros fancy, tried-joking-about-it-with-the-waiter-but-he-didn’t-laugh fancy, kept-asking-us-why-we-weren’t-ordering-appetizers fancy...TOO FANCY. We ate (but-the-food-wasn’t-even-that-good fancy), we left, and headed back to the other side of the river.
On our last day, we headed to the Palace of the Crystal Gardens. Again...closed! Lame! It was a pretty park to walk around in though with great views. We then walked to a photography museum which is inside an old jail. Odd, but it was cool. Lastly we saw the Clérigos Church.
We’re now sitting on the waterfront, basking in the sun, before our flight to Ireland: our final destination!
To Be Continued,
Grace & Emily
We arrived at the train station in Porto right at 7 pm. We planned to watch Portugal play Iran in the World Cup, which started at 7 pm, so we were rushing. The metro station was a little confusing, but we eventually got on and made it to our Airbnb. Our Airbnb was conveniently located 2 minutes from the square to watch the World Cup - Praça Amor de Perdição - so we dropped off our stuff and headed over. Boy was it crowded!! We made it right before the half and just in time for the first goal by Portugal! Ronaldo didn’t even score but the crowd chanted, “Ronaldo! Ronaldo! Ronaldo!” He is beloved here. We got some beer, the Sangres Portuguese brand, and made our way through the crowd, with people scowling at us for pushing through. We went as far as we could without feeling bad and then stopped. We still couldn’t see whatsoever. But the atmosphere was fun. Unfortunately they tied, so we didn’t get to see Ronaldo score (he missed a PK so now Messi isn’t alone). There was cheering at the end because it meant Portugal advanced to the next round! Afterward, we found a tapas place for dinner right down the street from us. It was hard to find a place initially; Porto does not eat as late as Lisbon! Note: all food in Europe is very salty! After tapas, we headed to bed for a long sleep.
Very crowded for the World Cup!
The next day, we headed out to breakfast. Porto is hilly and steep like Lisbon and has trolleycars (though not as many). We got eggs for breakfast, another win not having pastries. We then walked to Palácio da Bolsa and Igreja de Sao Francisco (a church). It had a nice view of the river and the town on the other side. We didn’t pay to enter the church or palace.
We went on another free walking tour offered by Sandeman’s. We like doing walking tours to get the inside scoop from the tour guide, but this one was really meh. The tour guide said a whole lot of nothing, so we didn’t learn too much new stuff. We first saw the Torre dos Clérigos. Then we saw two churches attached to each other but built 100 years apart: Church do Carmo and Church dos Carmelitas (oldest on the left). The side wall had beautiful tiles on it like what we saw in Sintra. We then learned that the port wine cellars are across the Douro river in Gaia, not in Porto. A lot of port wine companies have English names because the British helped grow the industry in Portugal. Port wine is made down the Douro River, a bit away from Porto, but was brought to the cellars to cool and age. Our tour guide pointed out Ferreira - a Portuguese port cellar managed by a woman.
Houses that remind us of SF!
2 churches right next to each other
Tiles all around the city
Clérigos Tower
After this stop, we walked by a famous bookstore. J.K. Rowling lived in Porto and went to this bookshop often. It’s now visited by so many that there is a huge line and it costs €5. She took some inspiration from Porto for her book, like the uniforms of the university (see picture below, they actually wear cloaks at the University in Porto) and the interesting staircase in the bookstore that from certain angles appears to be moving. Lastly, the founder of the Slytherin house is named after the dictator of Portugal.
Next was the Sao Bento train station, which is considered one of the most beautiful train stations in the world. There are blue and white tiles on the walls that show images of Portugal’s history. The tiles depict a large battle between Portugal and Spain, fighting for Portugal’s independence (Battle of Valdevez). However, Portugal’s independence was actually determined by a joust by two knights and Portugal won.
We then left the tour and walked to the Liberdade Square and down that main street with city hall at the end. We continued walking to Mercado do Bolhao, which was sadly closed for renovation! Not sure why they would renovate during tourist season! We were hungry at this point and went to Cafe Santiago, a famous place to get Francesinha- a Portuguese sandwich originally from Porto, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries. So basically a heart attack on a plate! We split it and still didn’t finish. It’s okay...
Portuguese sandwich
We then went back to the Airbnb to freshen up. We headed back out to cross the river and do some Port tasting! We crossed the famous Luis I Bridge and had a good view of Porto. We first went to Taylor’s cellar and tried 5 ports. Finally Grace gets sweet wine! Emily hated it. The cellar was very nice though, and we were given a pamphlet to learn about ports. After this, we headed down the waterfront and found a market (like the one in Lisbon but smaller) to hang out at and watch the 7 pm game of Argentina vs. Nigeria (time to watch Messi!). We got some apps - sushi, ham, and fries - trying not to fill up before dinner. We saw Messi score a goal :) but sadly everyone was rooting against him.
On our last day, we headed to the Palace of the Crystal Gardens. Again...closed! Lame! It was a pretty park to walk around in though with great views. We then walked to a photography museum which is inside an old jail. Odd, but it was cool. Lastly we saw the Clérigos Church.
View from the park
We’re now sitting on the waterfront, basking in the sun, before our flight to Ireland: our final destination!
To Be Continued,
Grace & Emily
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