Pounding the Pavement in Porto, Portugal

While I was sitting on the bench waiting to catch the bus for the 3:50 journey from Sintra to Porto, I started chatting with the one other person, who like me wanted to be early “just in case”. Akira lives outside of Tokyo, and we had a great chat about the places I had recently visited in Japan and travel in general. When we arrived, we exchanged numbers and agreed to meetup in a couple of days and do some wine tasting. It was nice to know I already had a fun friend to experience some of the famous wine with!

From the Campanha bus terminal, I caught a local bus to the center of town where I had booked a small apartment. I was greeted by Manuel who gave me a map and a rundown on all of the fun things to do in the area. This was a huge help since I only had a week and wanted to make the most of it. The place was cute and the location was perfect. I had the top floor of the yellow building with the door just my size and a space in the kitchen just large enough for my yoga mat!

Once settled, I headed out to see a few sites and make my way across the Dom Luis Bridge to Gaia to watch the sunset at Jardim do Morro Park and the former monastery, Serra do Pilar.

The next morning I signed up for a walking tour to learn a bit about the history of the city and see who I would meet. I grabbed a few pictures on the way, and then we stated in the square near the famous Livraria Lello, known to be the bookstore that inspired the library in the Harry Potter movies. Of course, there is a controversy since the creator denies this, but apparently there are too many similarities for it not to be. The tourists definitely believe based on the craziness of the crowds and the need for admission tickets. I did not return to buy into the madness, but there are tons of pics online if you want to have a look inside!

Next, we wandered down several winding cobblestone streets, seeing sights, hearing stories, and checking out viewpoints along the way. One of the main attractions was the famous Sao Bento Train Station, a UNESCO world heritage site and national monument of Portugal, known for having over 20,000 hand painted tiles. Beautiful! The tour was a good overview that gave me ideas of where I could go back for more pictures during better times.

I completed the day with a Francesinha sandwich, the iconic Porto favorite recommended by Manuel at the famous Café Santiago. It is otherwise known as the “heart attack on a plate”, and includes two types of homemade sausage, ham, steak, bologna, and cheese between two layers of bread. It’s then topped with a fried egg and beer gravy and served surrounded by fries for dipping in the gravy. Not my favorite meal ever, but I had to try one, of course accompanied by a glass of the local vinho verde which was great!

The following day, filled with extra energy from the huge sandwich, I got up before sunrise and began my walk to see some of the sights before the streets were crowded. It was awesome to see this bustling city before it awoke! Covering a lot of ground, I made my way through town and across the city to the Parque da Cidade where I took a quick rest at one of the lakes. Soon, I carried on through the park and out to the Atlantic Ocean where I walked along the boardwalk to the mouth of the Douro River. I strolled down the river watching the old rabelo boats (wine transport boats) now used for river tours, and the city tram which follows the shoreline, until I arrived back in town.

My little morning walk lasted from 6:00 AM until 1:30 PM, so by the time I arrived back at the apartment, I was well ready for lunch. I cooked up some shrimp and veggies, before heading back out. This time, I went down the hill back to the river, where I crossed into Gaia where Akira and I had planned to meet for our port wine tasting. On the way, I found this great rabbit by Bordalo II, a Lisbon mixed media artist who creates amazing sculptures out of recycled materials. I saw a couple other pieces of his work in Lisbon, including this giant Lynx which was also also super cool.

The original cellar we planned to try was now closed, so Akira got a recommendation for Taylor’s, which was perfect. We sat out in the garden with the peacocks and a rooster who were having fun pestering each other as we tasted a flight of their best products along with some tasty snacks. At the end, we cracked up trying to take a selfie in the sun realizing that I had become quite red during my long morning of walking!

After the tasting, we took a different route back to the river seeing some new views. It was a gorgeous afternoon!

Once we crossed the river and landed back in Porto, Akira was ready to call it quits, and I decided to wander down the river and back through town. It was Navy week, so that’s why you see some of their ships in the river. Some kids decided it would be fun to entertain everyone on the boardwalk by diving off one of the cranes….it was fun until the police arrived and put a quick stop to the show. Dang, at least I got to see one fancy dive!

I finally ended my walk with a bit of metal played by a panda on the sidewalk. Arriving back at the apartment, I made a quick dinner and crashed with my personal Fitbit record…45,862 steps/20.03 miles/32.235 km. I saw a lot!

I’ll be back soon with the rest of the week! I hope you are enjoying Porto so far!

Hugs and Love,

Michelle