Positively Porto!

September 23, 2024

During one of our final weekends in Spain we decided to escape to Porto, Portgual for a long weekend.  After a night (and day) and Leon, Spain to break up the long drive (click here for our post on Leon) we spent 2.5 glorious days in lovely Porto. 

I know it seems like I am gushing over all of the cities we have visited, but while I would like to think I have been constructively critical of some of the places we've been, the truth is I am enamored of these European cities.  The history, the archetecture, the food.  And of course, Porto, Portugal is no exception.  In fact, I would put it near the top of the list. 

When I think of Porto, it reminds me of San Francisco in two aspects - first, it is super hilly and second, it has a cable car system. 

We lucked out majorly on this trip weatherwise. It was supposed to be raining all weekend AND, if that wasn't enough to dampen our spirirts (see what I did there?) there were also RAGING wild fires 8km away from Porto causing the Air Quality Index (AQI) to shoot up to 180+!  It was so bad that people were cancelling their trips and leaving early if they were already there.  We decided to go for it as it was the last weekend we could go before we left Spain.  And we were glad we did as it was bright sunshine the entire weekend and we hardly smelled any smoke at all. 

Our first stop on Day 1 was the World of Discoveries Museum an amazing space with an eatery, a theme ride & exhibits exploring the history of early Portuguese navigators.  I remember learning about explorers like Vasco de Gama and Ferdinand Magellan in elementary school, but it did not register to me at the time that they were Portugese - although I am sure our teachers mentioned that fact, countries like that were not on my radar at that time. :)  \

In any case, it was fun/interesting to (re)discover that they were portuguese and learn about their adventures as well as learn about the differnt types of ships and the roles on those ships via interactive exhitbits and life sized diaramas. 

The highlight of the visit was the boat ride depicting Portuguese maritime exploration and trade over the centuries including their voyages to India, Japan, Timor, China, Brazil, etc.  There was even a simulated storm complete with giant sea serpent. 

After the museum we were famished and after a short walk along the river we found a restaurant in the Infante D. Henrique Square, a highly touristed spot, for some authentic portuguese dishes like Francesinha and Cod.  And what meal would be complete without some tasty gelato for dessert?! 

The team - which included Francesca's mom - was beat by late afternoon so we went back to our AirBnB about 15 minutes outside of the city (with a sweet view - see first photo below) and Francesca and I went out on the town for a date night.  We enjoyed a glass of wine riverside, listened to some live music from some street buskers, checked out a sardine store and had some port cocktails at one of the many Port producers in town. We also sampled some port and ate a bacalhau at Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau.

The following day (Day 2) we began our adventures with a stop at the world famous Livraria Lello, commonly referred to as the Lello Bookshop or, erroneously as the "Harry Potter Bookstore" due to the now debunked rumor that JK Rowling had visited the store and that it inspried her vision of Hogwarts. 

Note: You DEFINITELY need to buy tickets - particularly during high season - in advance.  When we went we arrived right on time for our timeslot and there were A LOT of people already lined up for the following 3 or 4 timeslots. 

They have quite a limited selection of English books, but what they have is a mix of classics - they have a lot of minature editions that seem SUPER hard to read with such small print, but  a convenient size for travel - and popular novels like Harry Potter and other teen fare.  Ryan purchased The Assassin's Blade, one of Sarah Maas' Throne of Glass series while I purchased a nice, but portable hard copy of John Steinbeck's The Pearl. 

Next we walked down to the Rua das Flores, a good street for shopping with brand names and curiosity shops. One of our favorites is the chain store Ale-Hop that has close, toys and various bric-a-brac. Our girls particluarly liked looking for (and purchasing) items there.  

At the end of Rue das Flores are some restaurants and outdoor cafes and we tucked into one to escape the heat, rest our feet and get something eat.  He 3 rhymes in a row!  :)   Note: many eateries in Porto also have limitted hours or practice the siesta custom so you may have to time your meals correctly. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the restaurant to open.

Three street performers on or near the Rua das Flores

That afternoon we spent some time in the wooded shade of the Serralves Museum and Garden. The museum part is the 2nd most visited museum in all of Spain, although we didn't go inside (we're not big museum people) opting insead to get the cheaper Garden Only tickets (free for kids and only 15 Euros for adults).  The garden is massive at about 44 acres and is known for its diverse landscapes, including formal gardens, woodlands, and meadows, and is integrated with the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art. 

We had fun running around and stumbling into sculptures, villas and even a pop up modern art exhibit in the middle of the woods.  There is a "Treetop Walk" as well that features a meandering boardwalk evelvated about 92 feet off the ground.  Not far from there is a pasture with horses and sheep that the kids even got to feed alhough I don't think there were supposed to. :)

After a brief afternoon nap we headed back to the Gaia District for dinner at Han Korean BBQ restaurant.  We met two of Dan's business school friends for dinner.  They both have lived in Portugal for the past 6-7 years.  

Kay Parkinson is from Japan and is married to a Brit.  They had been living in Singapore for years and moved to Porto about 7 years ago so their two children could pursue their futbol (aka soccer) dreams - both now play professionally and their daughter recenlty got called up to the U17 Portugal team.  

Tricia was born in the Philippines, but grew up in Maryland. She moved from Southern California to The Algarve region of Portugal 6 years ago - intially for 1 year, but then ended up staying and getting her citizenship along with her husband and 10 year old son Jax.  Trish is a professional marketing executive, but since 2017 she has been a content creator about living as an expat in Portugal, first in her lifestyle blog entitled No Ugly Duckling and more recently in her Youtube Channel of the same name.  Check it out!

The following day we met with Tricia and Jax again for a coffee at the Vinci Ponte Farro Hotel and then took the Teleferico de Gaia (Gaia cable car) down to the Gaia District where we enjoyed some sushi at Temple D'Oro.  The consensus was that the sushi was "the best" although Dan wasn't as complimentary. 

By late afternoon we said our goodbyes to Tricia and Jax and made our way to Salamanca to break up the long drive home. Click here for our blog on Salamanca.