It's right next door, and it's even better than you imagine...
Autumn has arrived a long time ago, and winter is slowly but inexorably advancing. Before the postcard that is presented to us, we remember a city we always want to run away to: Porto. That because? For this:
1. FOR THE LIGHT
We can't think of a better reason to flee to Porto. The yellow of the sun runs along the Duero river from sunrise to sunset, tracing a trail from east to west that makes the waters shine throughout the day. The mixture of golds, blue-greens and oranges, as if they had been chosen on purpose by a bohemian artist, are unique from this place on the planet.
Both on the north bank of the Duero, in the Ribeira neighborhood, lively and agitated, with squares open to the river, as on the south bank, more relaxed, where the Vilanova de Gaiga and its hills dotted with wineries; any orientation is good on the banks of the Duero.
If it is the first day you visit it, relax and forget the pressure of taking the best photo . Just enjoy the change of colors as the afternoon progresses, sit in the Praça da Ribeira, focus on the giant soap bubbles that the children play with, and look at the light of Porto reflected on the water and the stone.
two. FOR HIS PAST
Do you know that feeling, when you walk through a place with history, that what has happened there has left your stamp in the atmosphere, on the walls, in the air…?
We talk about that certainty of being where many others have been and where history speaks for itself.
That is what it feels like in Porto. And it's not just for the personality of its architecture or because of the unevenness of its layout. It is something that is noticeable, an imprint that experience has carved in the air and has made it dense and expressive.
From the 1st century B.C. Porto has been an enclave desired by Romans, Germanic, Visigoths, Muslims... Different civilizations have valued its attractiveness, and thanks to this it has accumulated a unique cultural wealth. For something its historic center is UNESCO World Heritage Site.
that unique light
3. FOR ITS RENAISSANCE
We are not referring to the artistic movement, but to Porto's desire to renew and wash your face, not for that losing its picturesque character.
The city is showing respect that has its visitors with the rehabilitation of areas such as Rua das Flores and Ribeira, that for years was a dangerous and dirty area. Thanks to initiatives like Port Alive , the rejuvenation plan launched by the City Council, Porto is a new city, with the same old soul as always.
Four. THROUGH THE TILES.
Porto's historic buildings are a true tribute to the art of ceramics. There are many colors, the most common being blue and white, but all with that special naturalness of the handmade pieces , when machines had not yet replaced good craftsmanship.
The custom of covering the facades with them dates back to the reign of Manuel I of Portugal, who brought them from Seville in the fifteenth century. To see the best preserved, and those that tell episodes from history or religion, come to the gothic cloister of the cathedral I know Porto and to the train station Sao Bento , whose hall is lined with around 20,000 tiles.
Or simply stroll through the old town and pay attention to any of the houses. that your decay Do not be fooled: what may seem old and abandoned, reveals valuable details if the necessary time is dedicated to it.
Love for Porto tiles
5. TO RAISE GLUCOSE
As in Spain, our Iberian neighbors know how to value a good sweet when they have it in front of them (and when they try it). Do not believe that there is no life beyond the ultra-known cream pie . Fortunately or unfortunately, there is much more baking available to anyone who does not count calories.
you can't miss the Confeitaria do Bolhão : the most affluent residents of the area used to have breakfast here, and it is not surprising.
Also the Padeirinha Twelve , whose specialty is bolus do king, our beloved roscón de Reyes!
Rice flour muffins called bolos, queijadas de Sintra (cottage cheese pastries), cloth of lo (moist sponge cake that almost looks like a slightly curdled tortilla), Azeitão cakes, meringues of all kinds and colors, chocolate cakes (even Chocolate Salami ), and what most caught our attention: camel slime , a cream in the style of dulce de leche and that has nothing to envy the Argentine recipe. We warn you: they taste better than they sound!
6. FOR WETTING YOUR FEET IN THE DUERO...
As in other important rivers around the world, in the Duero there is also the tradition of jumping from a bridge -in this case, the Louis I- to the fast advancing waters towards the Atlantic.
Perhaps the idea of diving headfirst from a bridge surrounded by tourists taking photos doesn't seem romantic, but you can always soak your feet in the Duero in any of the Access that the shore offers.
The best time is at sunset of a summer day, when the waters have had time to warm up and appear golden and calm. Even if you don't trust, the current is strong and there is no time to take a photo with the unicorn float without ending up in the River mouth in a flash Even more special is the São João night (from June 23 to 2), when thousands of people cross the bridge and make a pilgrimage to The Douro Foz , at the mouth, where they bathe at dawn.
Are you seduced by jumping off this bridge...?
7. … AND TO SEE THE END OF THE DUERO.
We could say that this is where wealthy people from Porto spend their summers, but, despite being true, we would not do it justice. Fox: it is there where the Duero joins the Atlantic Ocean, an old fishing port with spectacular beaches such as Praia do Molhe and where the sea remains refreshing throughout the year (beware, Mediterranean junkies!).
Sunbathe, or have a beer, on the promenade of the Brazil Avenue, or why not? make friends with a local who invites you to a party in his 19th century villa. Of course, if you have recently had your heart broken, stay away from the San Miguel Lighthouse; it is overwhelming to say “enough”.
8. FOR CHANGING COD FOR TUNA.
The undisputed king of Portuguese fish has always been cod. And we do not intend to take the throne away from him, but about the tuna tenderloins of the Adega Sao Nicolau these lines are well deserved.
A product cool , treated with care, that melts in your mouth... and all on the terrace of this restaurant nestled in the Ribera neighborhood, in one of its steep and narrow streets. Don't be surprised if you see a few visiting patients sitting in stone stairs while having a glass of wine: the wait is worth it. From the same owners is the Two Marketers Tavern, another must-see place to try good food from Porto.
The Lighthouse of San Miguel: overwhelming to the point of saying "enough"
9. FOR CHURCHES NOT JUST FOR BELIEVERS
Are you one of those who can't stand visiting religious temples on trips? Tired of a visit to any European city turning into a pilgrimage ? Forget all that! Porto's churches are much more than places of recollection and religion. Not only because of its interior, but because of where they are located.
Perhaps the most famous is Igreja dos Clerigos and its tower, on top of one of the central hills.
Upload your 225 steps , which after the slopes of the city will seem like turkey mucus to you, and enjoy a panorama that it is more than a religious experience. also the cathedral I know Porto crowns one of the hills, and combines the style of Roman, Gothic and Baroque architecture. And in the Igreja do Carmo , one of the most beautiful temples in the city, the tiles shine since 1910.
10. BECAUSE THERE ARE ALSO PARKS!
Yes, in Porto there are not only cobblestones, balconies and tiles. When your calves have been loaded enough, fear not; there are many options to relax and enjoy the green. The Serralves Park It is a bit far from the center, but you will love it, especially if you also like art.
It's about a sculpture park that accompanies a beautiful contemporary museum designed by Siza Vieira , and it has 18 hectares in which you will even see sheep, cows and horses . If you don't feel like going that far, the Garden of Cordoaria , next to one of the University of Porto buildings, will also isolate you from the hustle and bustle of the city.
From there, the **Museum of Photography,** in the old Porto prison, is just a stone's throw away. Super recommended!
In Porto there is also green
eleven. BECAUSE WALKING WAS INVENTED HERE
The loitering and be lost takes on all its meaning in Porto. Spend a few hours up and down hills without really knowing where you are going. Forget street names and coordinates. You will be surprised by the power of orientation that you thought you did not have.
When you least expect it, you will arrive at some point in the city and, looking towards the Duero, immediately you will know where you are. Hear the sound of your footsteps in the alleys, the resounding voices of the neighbors in the inner courtyards, the sound of children playing in a room that overlooks one of the balconies...
And above all, cross paths with locals, buy the bread where they make it, find Craft shops that you weren't looking for...
start with him Se neighborhood and find the most medieval vestiges and the least photographed alleys, which show that decadence can be precious. Don't be afraid of steep stairs. At the end of these sections are, almost always, the most authentic corners.
12. BECAUSE WE WANT A PORTUGUESE BALCONY.
The residents of Porto share a habit that makes the city maintain that air customary and close , almost as if we were in the town of our grandparents. Is about look out onto the balcony.
Perhaps because of the high temperatures that are reached in summer, perhaps because of the humidity that accumulates in houses in winter... the fact is that there is no building whose balconies do not show a few heads. Some talking on the phone, others hanging out the white laundry, others just looking at …
Observing the balconies is also an exercise in sociological study very curious. Depending on the neighborhood you live in, you'll see that the peeking out are young hipsters reading yellowish books in Cedofeita , ladies who have known each neighbor since before they became aware and who now live with tourists in Miragaia or old fishermen who look longingly at the Duero, in the Ribeira neighborhood.
Loitering was invented here
13. FOR MUCH MORE THAN BOOKS
You don't have to be a sick reader to be forced to visit the Lello Bookstore . The only thing necessary is that you be a lover of buildings DAZZLING.
Because that is what Lello's wood, shelves, stairs and ceilings provoke. considerate one of the most beautiful bookstores of the world, is a temple of books and beauty. You will recognize her by the more than likely tail of visitors at the door, and we agree that it would be much more enjoyable with calm, silence and few people.
But this does not detract one iota from the attractiveness of the establishment, which was inaugurated in 1906 Y inspired J.K. Rowling while she imagined the universe of Harry Potter . What do we like the most? The paintings on the neo-Gothic façade and the small busts of writers Portuguese like Queirós, Castelo Branco and Teófilo Braga that adorn the shelves.
14. BY THE WAY
We all get tired of long queues at airports, baggage checks and being made to take off our boots. To get to Portugal, nothing is easier than taking road and blanket. It all depends on where you are traveling from, of course, but it is also an excuse to get to know the landscapes of this peninsula of ours a little better. A couple more days of vacation they deserve it.
Lello, so pretty you won't believe it
fifteen. FOR STORES WE HAVE NOT SEEN
In Porto there are shops that they do not know mass production, whose owners may not know more than the two obligatory words in English, and who will surely not give you a gift ticket with the purchase.
Just what we wanted to find, right? we love the haberdashery, which we could compare with the traditional Spanish grocery stores, those where the same people always go to buy and which offer local product.
Goes through Eat and Chorar por Mais , in the Bolhao Market , founded in 1912 and of which you have to take at least one Sardines Pate or, failing that, canned sardines. Also try the sausage Montesinhos , and visit Birthplace for salt cod. The area of the Street of Miguel Bombarda It is known as the apple of design, with arty and unique places like Cru Y Market 48 .
16. BECAUSE EVEN THE ROOFTOPS ARE BEAUTIFUL.
The topography of the city is special to enjoy some Panoramic views of impression.
The amalgamation of constructions attached to each other, with hardly any space between their facades, offers the observer a sea of tiles from any viewpoint where we stand: a network of ocher and orange roofs flown over by seagulls, with the Duero serving as the horizon. Try it from the viewpoint of the Parish Church of Our Lady of Victory, at the end of R. de São Bento da Vitória. make you want to become a cat
Even the roofs are beautiful
17. BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKE US
So, no more. Because we love to travel, discover mystical ways of life, ancient cultures, gastronomic traditions that include exotic insects... but sometimes we also like feel a bit at home wherever we are.
And so we feel it in Porto for its naturalness, its lack of pretense, its noisy people , his fishy smell, that way in which he accepts to always be in the shadow of Lisbon . Porto, and those who make it what it is, welcomes those who visit it without too many compliments, but with all the warmth that only in the countries of this part of the Earth we know how to demonstrate.
18. FOR THE FRANCESINHAS AND THE GUTS THE WAY OF PORTO.
Porto also has a rich tradition of savory dishes. If you are one of those "wherever you go, do what you see", you cannot miss in your diary of gastronomic experiences the francesinhas and the tripe a la moda do Porto.
The former are cousins of the croque monsieur brought to Portugal by emigrants to France during the 1950s and 1960s, although some say it was a Portuguese cook who, while traveling in France, discovered French sandwiches and decided recreate them when returning to Porto.
“And what did they have, that they missed them so much?”, you may ask. Here is the recipe of the recipes: sliced bread, pork loin or, beef burger, sausages, ham, cheese and fries. We ask you to try it… but also to don't take it every day ! Oporto-style casings, meanwhile, come from the 19th century fifteenth , when Henry the Navigator He went to conquer Ceuta.
The portuenses gave all the meat available in the city to support their king's enterprise. Everything except the guts, which were left to feed the population. That's why they started cooking this dish then… until today. They are the closest thing to callos a la madrileña that we can find outside of Spain. Delicious!
Here the guts are eaten like this
19.**(NO, WE LEAVE THE WINE) **
Ok, it may seem obvious and, perhaps, it is. But we could not leave aside the magnificent Port cellars. And not only to taste wines, but to admire the scenery that the rectangular and flattened constructions form on the hills.
Rooftops where the names of the wineries appear in white letters legible from miles away, whitewashed facades in which those same letters become black, windows and arches looking at the shore... it's almost like a exposition , and it is up to you which of the exhibitors to choose. At Traveler we still haven't forgotten the views from the restaurant wine of the 19th-century Graham's winery, nor the Graham's 30 Year's Old Port.
twenty. BECAUSE IT IS PORTUGAL
So, no more. because everyone we love Portugal , because we don't know anyone who doesn't love it, and because we want to keep loving it. very obrigado , neighbours!
We love Porto and Portugal