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…
Girl, hope you get some “real” Portuguese food which is delicious and generously portioned! i.e. bowl of “sopa”, side plate of salad and heaping dinner plate of meat or fish or sausage (or a combination of them all) with lots of garlic, olive oil…mmmm…my mouth is watering right now! Porco alentejana is my favourite although you might not find that up north.
The gorgeous photos make me miss Portugal!
xo
Hey Biz!
Any particular restaurant you would recommend in Lisbon, where we are now? Last night we had some good Portuguese food. Megan had that porco alentejana, which looked amazing and I decided that I had to try the sardines while in Portugal. It took so much concentration and work to eat that meal, picking all the fish off the tiny bones and avoiding the intestines! I’ve also had a cod dish with potatoes, heaps of onion, and olive oil that was yummy too. And we also tried fried lemon sole that came with French fries and soup. That one was deep fried though, I love the grilled fish. Have tried a couple pastries too which are so yummy! Almost just want to get one of each and try them all but there are so many different kinds!! Did you go to confeitaria Nacional? Apparently the hot chocolate is to die for and amazing pastries too. We are headed there soon! I’m sure you’ll read about it at some point…
Xo Kez