Porto is another tick in the box; no one has ever had anything but great things to stay about their time there. Having arrived by train, we negotiated an excellent, cheap metro system to find our hotel, a Mr & Mrs Smith recommendation, Tipografia Do Conto, which is one of those shuttered, polished concrete buildings which are wonderful to stay in, not so sure to live in, though! The staff cannot be more helpful, a genuine love of the city has us with a map of what to see, where to avoid and a list of recommended restaurants, cafes, wine bars… truly, they could not do enough.
The grey weather is moving away and we set off on foot to discover. Much is made of Rome being built on seven hills but, Porto, is one everlasting hill! The Douro river runs through Porto and another mile to the sea. 6 bridges span the high sides, a little like Newcastle upon Tyne, from Porto to Gaia. The riverside is a seething mass, we are struck by, as are the locals, just how many Americans are visiting. The other significant tourist nation to visit is Brazilians, as you’d expect as Portuguese is their national language, too. If you’ve not visited Lisbon/Porto, you need to know that most old buildings are adorned by tiled exteriors and cobbled streets are everywhere. It’s very higgledy-piggledy! In the evening, we headed for a recommended wine bar. It’s doesn’t matter what you know about wine, in Portugal, you are a wine virgin. They have over 200 indigenous varietals so you are drinking suggestions without reference, or, of it tasting as the aroma suggests. We then had dinner at Tapas e Destapas, a hotel recommendation. What a gem, great food, wine and fun, all suggested by the maitre D’, the wife of the chef. One of the side dishes was migas, a way of reconstituting stale bread, which has a bread and butter pud consistency.
Day 2, yes, we do stay in one place for more than a day, had us stepping out to use the other side of the map we’d been given. We found our way to the market, what a place, so many great stalls, all al fresco, well organised, wide ailsed and buzzing?
There’s the usual swanky street of labels, street performers and tour guides holding up flags to usher their throng. We had a look into the Majestic cafe where JK Rowling admitted to writing some of Harry Potter. Now, you can only get in by queuing and, are unlikely to get the space to write a postcard! We took one of the high level bridges, shared with the metro trains which emerge from tunnels, like moles. Gaia is altogether more chilled, not so busy and a great view of Porto. We visited The Magical World of Portuguese Can! A homage to the sardine tin which have become more ornate over the years and, with colour blocking, look like art! There are even cans with the year of your birth, assuming you’ve not made it to 74, there’s a can for you!
Heading back over the river into Porto, a little leg weary, it has to be said, we finally made it to one of the most famous bakers of pasteis de nata, the Portuguese do wonderful things with custard! Next stop was Lello book shop, which claims many things, the most beautiful bookshop and where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, for instance. Unlike the Majestic Cafe, she denied it was the case yet, they still charge €5 to enter and there’s a Disneyesque queueing system to get in. It is ornate but, they are selling Lello “stuff” more than books.
We set off for dinner, a wine/tapas bar on the riverside, Wine, Quay Bar, say that after a few! Angelka was purring with her TalentVs Memorias, from Quinta Seara D’Ordens, her favourite white wine discovery of the year, more of that later. However, the tapas were minuscule and disappointing so, we set off into the throng to find something. We almost gave up before falling in to a best alternative who gave us a quiet table upstairs, a delightful Peruvian waitress and a very serious cocktail maker. In the end, a delightful hour rather than something that didn’t look too encouraging.