Never in my life did I think that I would
ever travel to Portugal, but man am I glad I did. However, getting there was quite an
experience. I flew the budget airline, Ryan Air, and let me put emphasis on the
word BUDGET – the entire cabin clapped when we hit the tarmac – not even
kidding.
Anyway, I was so happy to have the
opportunity to explore Porto – the city of Port wine, sangria, and
codfish.
The first thing I noticed was that Portugal
was definitely unlike any other European country I have visited. The best way I
have found to describe Porto is that it is a “lived-in” city, full of charm and
character of ages past. The lack of
wealth is quite evident, but it was as though the city and the people did not
seem to mind and neither did I. I thoroughly enjoyed meandering along the
picturesque maze of little streets – so many darling little nooks and
crannies. And although a lot of the
buildings are run down, the orange roofs of all the buildings gave the city a
warm amber glow in the sunshine that was truly magnificent.
So on my first full day in Porto, my 2
travel buddies and I thoroughly explored (aka walked) basically the entire city
– it was so fantastic getting to walk around not only in warmer weather but
also with SUNSHINE! I had missed it so much!!
So my favorite activity that day was
visiting the SANDEMAN Port Wine cellar. It was hard to actually decide which
cellar to visit – the entire side across the river was just port wine cellars
and of course the river was lined with boats carrying barrels of Port Wine. So
cool!
For only 5 euros, I received a 30ish min
long tour of the cellar (in French, I might add) and a tasting of 2 port wines
– good deal! First, I must emphasis the
immense size of this cellar – wow. It was a giant building all filled with
wine! The guide was dressed up in the
Sandeman cape and hat – pretty amusing. The tour was rather interesting and she
even showed us vintage port dating back to 1904! They gave us 2 rather good-sized Port wine
tastings – white and red. The white was the Sandeman Porto Apitiv White.
Personally, the white was extremely too sweet and a tad difficult to drink –
perhaps if mixed or pair with something it would be better. The red was the
Sandeman Porto Twany, which is a lighter red porto wine and has the aroma of
vanilla and dried fruits. I much preferred this one to the white. I ultimately settled on purchasing the
Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve Porto – can’t go wrong with a classic.
As I was told that I had to try the
traditional fish of Porto – Bacalhau – aka Codfish, I was determined to find a
restaurant that served this fish. Finally, I found a darling little place that
served several varieties of codfish. As a Southern at heart, I ordered the
codfish prepared with cornmeal and a variety of vegetables with a side of
puréed spinach. And man oh man was it tasty! The lightness of the fish paired
so nicely with the cornmeal texture. Mmmmm. For dessert, we headed to a cool
bakery with old wooden wine box planks for the floor. I ordered a traditional
Portuguese dessert called a Nata, which was kinda like a crème brûlee in the
flavor – but a completely different texture. Nothing extraordinary, but I love
discovering the food of a culture.
 |
| Coffee at Majestic Café |
The next day, we had a coffee at the famous
Majestic Café, which is a restaurant decorated in art nouveau style and has
been open since 1921. Even the chairs
were lovely – gorgeous leather booths and chairs. It was a nice atmosphere. Then we headed to another “top tourist
activity,” visiting the Lello and Irmão bookshop, famous for its exquisite
staircase and ceiling! Plus, it is known that JK Rowling visited this bookshop
quite a bit when she was living and writing some of her Harry Potter books. It
was a beautiful store, filled with tons of charm and the smell of books!
After the bookshop, off to the beach! The
beach of Porto was unlike any beach I have ever visited. Huge rocks and waves,
violent water, and not much sand. It was quite a difference experience – cool,
but different. I greatly enjoyed getting to feel the ocean breeze, smell the
salt water, meander about 5 miles along the coastal boardwalk, and watch groups
of old men gathering to play their weekly card game. Although it was not sunny
at the time we visited the combination of the vivid grey skies with the white
spray of the waves was majestic, plus going to the beach is always a relaxing
and renewing experience! Then by the time we returned to the center of the city
(the beach was about 30 min bus ride away) the sun was out and why not
“profiter du soleil” and drink some sangria! For only 6 euros, we shared a
pitcher of freshly made sangria that even came with ice! It was a perfect cap
to the trip.
One final experience I have to share about
Porto is the WILD bus ride I took from the hostel to the airport. So our plan was at 6:30 that morning and it
was necessary to take the 4am night bus to the airport – about a 45 minute
ride. If you have ever seen the Harry Potter film with the scene of the wild
bus ride Harry takes I think in the 4th or 5th movie –
this was EXACTLY like that and I think JK Rowling was definitely inspired by
the buses in Porto! This bus driver was going about 100 mph on a one way
street, flying over speed bumps, and one time almost got hit by another car. It
was insane and I have personally never been so happy to get off a bus. Haha
whew!
Up next, my post about Madrid!
 |
| Wonderful pottery shop I found right next to the water called SOL |
 |
| The entire city is peppered with builidings covered in this blue and white tile |
 |
| Porto Boats |
 |
| Darling little park area in main sqaure |
Anyway, I was so happy to have the
opportunity to explore Porto – the city of Port wine, sangria, and
codfish. 
The first thing I noticed was that Portugal
was definitely unlike any other European country I have visited. The best way I
have found to describe Porto is that it is a “lived-in” city, full of charm and
character of ages past. The lack of
wealth is quite evident, but it was as though the city and the people did not
seem to mind and neither did I. I thoroughly enjoyed meandering along the
picturesque maze of little streets – so many darling little nooks and
crannies. And although a lot of the
buildings are run down, the orange roofs of all the buildings gave the city a
warm amber glow in the sunshine that was truly magnificent. 
So on my first full day in Porto, my 2
travel buddies and I thoroughly explored (aka walked) basically the entire city
– it was so fantastic getting to walk around not only in warmer weather but
also with SUNSHINE! I had missed it so much!!
For only 5 euros, I received a 30ish min
long tour of the cellar (in French, I might add) and a tasting of 2 port wines
– good deal! First, I must emphasis the
immense size of this cellar – wow. It was a giant building all filled with
wine! The guide was dressed up in the
Sandeman cape and hat – pretty amusing. The tour was rather interesting and she
even showed us vintage port dating back to 1904! They gave us 2 rather good-sized Port wine
tastings – white and red. The white was the Sandeman Porto Apitiv White.
Personally, the white was extremely too sweet and a tad difficult to drink –
perhaps if mixed or pair with something it would be better. The red was the
Sandeman Porto Twany, which is a lighter red porto wine and has the aroma of
vanilla and dried fruits. I much preferred this one to the white. I ultimately settled on purchasing the
Sandeman’s Founder’s Reserve Porto – can’t go wrong with a classic. 
As I was told that I had to try the
traditional fish of Porto – Bacalhau – aka Codfish, I was determined to find a
restaurant that served this fish. Finally, I found a darling little place that
served several varieties of codfish. As a Southern at heart, I ordered the
codfish prepared with cornmeal and a variety of vegetables with a side of
puréed spinach. And man oh man was it tasty! The lightness of the fish paired
so nicely with the cornmeal texture. Mmmmm. For dessert, we headed to a cool
bakery with old wooden wine box planks for the floor. I ordered a traditional
Portuguese dessert called a Nata, which was kinda like a crème brûlee in the
flavor – but a completely different texture. Nothing extraordinary, but I love
discovering the food of a culture. 
The next day, we had a coffee at the famous
Majestic Café, which is a restaurant decorated in art nouveau style and has
been open since 1921. Even the chairs
were lovely – gorgeous leather booths and chairs. It was a nice atmosphere. Then we headed to another “top tourist
activity,” visiting the Lello and Irmão bookshop, famous for its exquisite
staircase and ceiling! Plus, it is known that JK Rowling visited this bookshop
quite a bit when she was living and writing some of her Harry Potter books. It
was a beautiful store, filled with tons of charm and the smell of books!
After the bookshop, off to the beach! The
beach of Porto was unlike any beach I have ever visited. Huge rocks and waves,
violent water, and not much sand. It was quite a difference experience – cool,
but different. I greatly enjoyed getting to feel the ocean breeze, smell the
salt water, meander about 5 miles along the coastal boardwalk, and watch groups
of old men gathering to play their weekly card game. Although it was not sunny
at the time we visited the combination of the vivid grey skies with the white
spray of the waves was majestic, plus going to the beach is always a relaxing
and renewing experience! Then by the time we returned to the center of the city
(the beach was about 30 min bus ride away) the sun was out and why not
“profiter du soleil” and drink some sangria! For only 6 euros, we shared a
pitcher of freshly made sangria that even came with ice! It was a perfect cap
to the trip. 
Hi Hanna,
ReplyDeleteLove all your beautiful photos. Portugal has some very exceptional sights. I loved the food and the friendly people in Lisbon. Maybe I'll have the chance to visit Porto one day too.