Porto, Portugal

May 01, 2019

Porto, Portugal

Hola!

Since my program ended on April 12 and my mom and dad came out to visit, we got to check out some really cool places! On Tuesday morning (4/16), we had our flight from Barcelona to Porto, Portugal! I definitely had some mixed feelings as I said bye to Barcelona (for now) but was excited to keep moving. Once we landed, we checked into our hotel - Flores Village Hotel and Spa - located in a central part of town and on a pedestrian street. From there, we went to lunch at A Sandeira do Porto! I really enjoyed their lunch deal that included a drink, soup, and the Douro sandwich with chicken, goat cheese, and apple.

Next, we walked up to see a few sites in Porto. The first was the Church of Saint Ildefonso - the one that kept showing up on my mom's Instagram feed and encouraged our visit! It was nice with the big staircase leading up to it and the blue tiles (azulejos) on the front. From there, we walked up to the Chapel of Souls with its fabulous azulejo wall. We admired it for a while before trying to get some pictures... it's in front of a fairly busy street and frequently visited so it was a bit of an adventure! We grabbed a quick snack at Majestic Café, a fancy shop in this part of town.

After taking a quick break, we walked up to the Clérigos Tower for a walking tour. We started on it but decided it wasn't the right fit for the three of us. Instead, we did our own! We went over to the Miradouro da Vittoria before continuing down the hill to the Igreja Monumento de São Francisco. We also stopped at the cute corner at Largo da Pena Ventosa. We had a really fun little visitor say hi too! The dog in the picture sat under my leg for a few minutes.

From there, we took a river cruise along the 7 bridges! It was fun to get a view of the city and learn some of the history. We stopped at the Wine Quay Bar to try some wine, enjoy the riverfront, and eat a snack. We were greeted with kind hospitality and good wine! Dinner was at A Despensa where we ordered yummy Italian food!

The next day, we woke up and went to Livraria Lello, a bookstore that inspired J.K. Rowling when she was writing Harry Potter! While we were heading to the line I also saw my friend Paula from high school and CU - it's a small world, and a small city! The bookstore itself was cool but crowded, even right at opening time.

We continued onto the Igreja do Carmo, a church connected to the Carmelitas church with a 1-meter wide house between them! According to this article, "the house was built so that the two churches would not share a common wall and to prevent any relations between the nuns of Igreja dos Carmelitas and the monks of Igreja do Carmo." We went into the Igreja do Carmo and found an ornate purple and gold interior. From there, we walked to Steak n Shake... not for the food, but for its famous tiled facade by Joana Vasconcelos, a Portuguese artist.

Our next stop was the Porto Cathedral (known locally as the Sé). It's an imposing cathedral with a tiled cloister and fortified walls. I ran into another CU friend named Veronica there! Lunch was at Jimão Tapas e Vinhos, and was very good! This place is known for its seafood dishes, so we tried a couple.

During our visit to Porto, we knew we needed to check out the other side of the river too. It's known for its Port Wines, though the grapes are grown a little further from the city. (Here's a brief history of the wine if you're interested in learning more.) Before the tastings though, we visited the Bordalo II half rabbit. He's a Portuguese street artist and has been active all over the world!

We started our wine tasting at Croft, where we had a rosé, ruby, and tawny to start. They also sell chocolate truffles alongside the flights so we got some of those! Taylor's was next - we did a walk-in tour, then tried their white and ruby wines. I really enjoyed the white port for its lighter qualities and sweet taste. It was also really interesting to learn about the history and different types of Port Wine through this tour! Our final tasting before dinner was at Churchill Graham, where we had a reserve, an LBV ("Late Bottled Vintage") and a few others since we purchased some wine from them.