Porto

Alongside the palaces and historical sights, we decided to take it chill for our last day in Porto. We were fortunate to stay at an Airbnb that was close to the beach, so we packed lightly that morning with nothing more than sunglasses, bathing suits, and our towels. We spent some time in the ocean, captivated by the waves and perfect temperature of the water, and then relaxed for a bit laying on the beach.

On our way to the city center, we stopped by the coffee shop we had visited the previous day to touch base with Raphael. He had recommended a place to get a great Francesinha (Porto’s legendary sandwich) the day before and we had forgotten the location. Kez and I had wanted to make sure we got the insider scoop for each city, so we decided to meet up later and get the true local experience.

We headed south of the city towards Taylor’s, a port wine house, where we were surrounded by gardens, peacocks, vintage cars, and of course, port wine almost as old as we are. For me, drinking the port was reminiscent of my great grandmother, Grammie V, who even at 100 years old, always enjoyed her glass of port. We then walked on the Ponte Luis I Bridge over the Douro River and met up with Raphael who showed us the Casa de Musica, whose sharp lines and geometric architecure stood out amongst Portugal’s regular houses. He then took us to a local spot, Cufra to get a Francesinha sandwich. I’m pretty sure the photos can speak for themselves.

I woke up and wandered into the dining room to two places set for breakfast. Placemat, plate, bowl, knife, 2 different spoons, and 2 different forks, all laid out perfectly. In the kitchen and assortment of food/ drink options were laid out: cereal, milk, bread, tea, coffee, hot chocolate mix, and next to that a tray with a teapot and a couple mugs. It was adorable! Julieta, our host was just so sweet! It was a pretty chill morning catching up on some photos and writing, and then we went to the store with Julieta to pick up a few groceries. The metro was a short walk from there and we caught it into the city center, and began wandering from there in no particular direction. I suggested stopping for a cup of coffee at some point so we walked into the next café we saw.

I had a caramel macchiato that was a little too sweet, but tasty. We just sat and sipped. I think one of my favourite parts of this trip and being on vacation in general is relaxing at different cafés and just people watching and chilling. Before we left, we chatted with Rahpael, the café owner, for a bit and he gave us some suggestions of what to do and a couple restaurants to eat at. I don’t want to bore you with all the details, but because of circumstances, we ended up returning to the cafe two more times, one right after another. By then we were buds with Raphael.

We finally left the café for good that day and made our way to a bookstore, Livraria Lello, which was an inspiration for JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series. We stopped at other beautiful buildings along the way and from down town we took the metro into Metosinhos, a neighboring fishing village, for a seafood dinner (our first traditional Portuguese meal) at Salta o Muro. The restaurant didn’t open till 7:15 and we got there a little early so we walked around for a bit and explored. We were the first ones at the restaurant, but by the time we left it was full and there was a line out the door. We both had the lemon sole; Megan with rice, and I with fried potatoes (aka French fries). The fries were a little soggy, but the fish was yummy. After dinner we followed the coastline home, with full tummies and sand between our toes.

Our day started early, around 6:30am so we could leave for the airport at 7 to get there by 8 for our flight at 10. We both completely passed out on the flight and made it to Porto no problem in about an hour and a half. We had booked our stay in Porto through Airbnb and our host, Julieta, even said she could pick us up at the nearby metro station. Once we got back to her place and got settled, she pulled out a whole bunch of books and maps that she had put together on the city and went through everything with us: what to do and see, even what buses to take and had all the schedules for all those. She was so sweet and very helpful!

It was about a 20 minute walk to the beach from our temporary home and from there we followed the coast towards the city center, stopping for an overpriced lunch along the way. Sometimes meals seem like a decent price, but then I convert the euros to dollars in my head and realize I would never pay that much back home for what I’m getting. We also didn’t know what most of the menu said so I didn’t really know what I was actually ordering. I’m always up for anything though! For my appetizer, I thought I was getting soup…it wasn’t soup. We finished up and went on our way, wandering through beautiful streets of tiled houses. At every turn I fell a little more in love. We made our way back to the water, which had by then turned into the Douro river, and followed it to the city centre. All in all it was at least a couple hours of walking…with many photo stops along the way. By the time we got near the city centre the sun was getting lower and we explored the narrow streets, admiring all the cute buildings with colourful doors, wrought iron balcony railings, and laundry hanging out of windows. After the sun sank below the horizon, we headed back. Day one in Porto was already over.

Our first view of the Portuguese coast.

That “soup” I thought I ordered…