I am not a really much of a sightseer. I like to walk the streets of new places, enjoy the food, shop, even cook – and take the occasional tour. Which is to say, I know there are many great sites I did not visit in Porto (despite excellent, thoughtful recommendations from friends). I overdosed on sightseeing in Morocco. My time in Porto has been very relaxed & enjoyable – and I have walked the city, biked it, and enjoyed the tastes of Porto.
Tomorrow I take a bus to Viano do Castelo, to start walking Camino de Santiago, with 2 very old friends; I have known Scarlett and Pablo since I was 15, when we attended an international school in Wales together for two years. The time in Porto has also been devoted to shifting gears, mentally preparing for the coming week of walking (too late to much physical preparation – fingers crossed that my feet hold up!)
In my meanderings during the two days before Scarlett joined me, I fell in love with the city. I’m staying at a very nice Airbnb, 2 bedroom apartment with a glorious sundrenched patio, easy walking distance from everything. In particular I was delighted to wander in to the train station, which has amazing murals in the foyer (I revisited it on both tours.)
Also just love the views, narrow streets and architecture, which in places is distinctly Moorish.
On Thursday I took another Airbnb experience tour, Tastes of Porto, which was grand. A larger group (8) all from Commonwealth countries. Our guide Miguel took us to very hidden places: fort pastries (OMG Portuguese pastries are delicious, both sweet – e.g. pasteis de nata – and savoury, pictured below.) Then to a famous coffee shop, do yummy – all Brazilian coffee, a tiny restaurant specializing in cured meats, and finally a place that does roast pork – where we had the most delicious (essentially) pulled pork sandwiches I’ve ever tasted. And we had all three kinds of Vinho Verde (who knew they had rose and red as well as white…but truthfully the lighter the better, as these are very young wines.) Miguel was able to tell us about the history of each place, the owners, etc….and I never would have found any of them on my own.
savoury pastries: round cod cake, shrimp empanada, chicken pie
mural of native in Brazilian coffee shop
Horrifying: McDonalds takeover of beautiful restaurant – see image below inside. We did NOT eat here!!!
photo of cured meat restaurant (photo above) founder, epitomising his relationship with pigs!
Friday I went to laundromat – pretty astonishing. Detergent & softener built into the machines, and it took only 50 minutes to get the clothes cleaned and dried. Then Scarlett arrived, we wandered some more, went to one of the restaurants Miguel recommended for supper and shared a bottle of Planalto white wine (recommendation courtesy of Billy Munnolly) – excellent!
This morning we embarked on a Bikes and Bites tour (Airbnb again), which was fabulous. Gorgeous weather, easy biking (though I expect I will feel it tomorrow, not having really biked for probably 10 years) – 9 of us, English speakers except for a couple from Lyon, and a totally cool guide, Jorge, with dreads to his waist and fully tattooed arms.
We walked our bikes down to the Porto side of the river, then rode along the river, stopping for coffee and a pasteis de nata, until we reached the place where the Douro river meets the ocean.
We rode partway back, took a ferry across to Gaia (where all the port houses and markets are), stopped at a riverside café for lovely bites (cod cakes, bread, mussels) and white vinho verde, then continued on to taste port, reeling back across the bridge and walking our bikes up quite the hill to our starting point. Great fresh air, exercise e- and not too much to eat – which is good because tonight we have a reservation at a Portuguese restaurant with a 2 Michelin Star chef!
Next… maybe not too many posts, as I think I will be a mite tired walking
Meg Westley 