Porto turned out to be a great introduction to Portugal. It is the second largest metropolitan area in Portugal and compared to the towns and small cities we have been visiting feels pretty big.
When we were looking for a place to stay we couldn’t find anything close to the city that we were happy with so we landed in a campground in one of the outer suburbs near the ocean. When we arrived at the metro station we joined 2 Dutch couples and 2 German couples from the campground having a team meeting around the only ticket machine at the stop trying to decipher how to buy round trip tickets, much to the bemusement of the Portuguese who all had an app on their phone. We eventually conquered the ticket machine and were on our way.
One of the first things we noticed is that many of the buildings in town are faced with ceramic tiles. By far the most popular color is blue though other colors are used. My hasty research says that there is no deep meaning behind blue it is a stylistic choice.
Ton handed me a list of places she wanted to see today. The first stop was the market which she told me had just completed renovation last year. The article she had read was optimistic as the market was still undergoing renovation. It looks like they are doing a nice job on it even if they are a little behind schedule.
The next stop was the cathedral which had great views of the city. The exterior of the cathedral didn’t impress us too much and we passed on paying to view the interior.
Porto is extremely hilly the drop from the main town to the river is easily a couple of hundred feet and in a short distance so the climb is steep. Interestingly though the entire hillside as steep as it is, is covered in residences. I’m not sure how many are occupied these days, but the residents must certainly be fit.
Ton wanted to visit the railway station to look at the tile walls there, so we headed over there before lunch. Porto is famous for a sandwich called fransecinha and we decided we would split one for lunch as they are huge. They consist of a slice of mortadella, a sausage, a piece of beef all covered in cheese with an egg on top and placed in a gravy with French fries. When Ton saw one she chickened out and ordered a much healthier plate of grilled sardines. I went for the fransechinha and enjoyed it.
After lunch we decided Porto needed another day, as it was already quite late and we had not even made it to the other side of the river. So after a stop at the main shopping street lined with all of the luxury brands we headed back to the metro station. The trip back was easy and we enjoyed a quiet evening resting up for the hills of Porto tomorrow.
You won’t be leaving there without the word , Opporto, in your travel guide, will you? ……or is that too common an attraction to mention for you gourmet travellors?
I was just researching the best place to taste port when I saw your comment. So if today goes to plan we will be talking about Port wine today.