Do You Want Some Porto with that Whine?
I currently live in Normandy, France where the stereotype is that it always rains, but that's not true. It always looks like it's going to rain, and if it actually does it's for a minor part of the day. I felt that I was emotionally equipped for rain, but Portugal in the winter makes Normandy look like a tropical destination. Before leaving, I looked at the average weather forecast for February and it was 50% rain. Glass half full: 50% sunshine! You know the expression "When it rains it pours"-- that's Portuguese rain in a nutshell. If it rains, it never gives up. Every establishment you enter has an umbrella rack by the entrance. Outside of every tourist attraction there are random men selling umbrellas to all the weather-ignorers who will have no choice but to crack and buy one.
I'm painting a very dreary picture of Portugal winter for you, but don't let it detter you! Grab a pair of rain boots, an impermeable jacket and an umbrella and walk right into that picture, because believe me it's worth it!
Porto is a small, hilly, port (if the name wasn't self-explanatory) city. Everything is very walkable, in the sense of being close to one another, but it (and Portugal as a whole) really makes you think I am not in shape, because those hills are endless. You walk up, and down, and up again, and down again-- forever.
Sadly, I only had one day in Porto and honestly I would like a redo with it because I am absolutely certain that this city is me in brick form, but I was soaking up too much rain to be able to soak up the atmosphere.
The apartment we stayed in had created an app for its travellers and it is so user-friendly that we used it more than actual Google Maps. They had created many walking tours for their guests and we decided to go on the historic tour. It was easily doable in a day and if I had an extra day I would use one of the available itineraries in a heartbeat.
Sightseeing
We started off the day right: Cafe Majestic with delicious Pasteis de Nata and a beautiful interiour. A greeter in a tuxedo opened the door for us, making me think dude, you haven't seen that I'm wearing a sweater with a dog on it yet...you might change your mind. But as soon as I walked in and saw the many cameras and guidebooks on the patron's coffee tables, I understood why I was accepted at this fancy place. This being our first day in Portugal and being used to French prices, I didn't consider this place too overpriced (13€). Having now visited many more Portuguese coffee shops, the prices now seem ridiculous. With coffee sugar fuel in our systems, we are ready to face the rain (or so I naively thought).
I lasted 5 minutes in the rain, I'm a wimp, aaaand before you know it, time to hide from the rain-again. We visited Livraria Lello & Irmão, a bookstore that J.K Rowling would frequent when she taught in Porto, so of course I had to go! I love to read and I love getting lost in bookstores. As magical as this bookstore is, you don't get lost between the pages of riveting tales but between the tourists who just need to get a picture on the staircase, on the narrow passageways, maybe even inside a book for I know. But it is magical, I can see some magical inspiration coming from here, Jo Rowling. You need to buy tickets to enter the bookstore, but if you buy a book, the ticket fee is credited back to you (a great system!) Unfortunately, books are heavy and not exactly in the recipe for travelling light, so I just have these pictures as proof of my visit.
I have a confession. We completely chickened out from the rain, went back to our apartment around 3pm and spent the rest of the day hiding in bed. Don't make the same mistake that I did. Don't try to dress cute as a tourist while it's raining! Embrace your touristy-ness and just go. Instead, I was miserable in my squeaky shoes and soggy jeans, and miserable in bed because the book I brought with me sucked. I should've bought something at the awesome bookstore.
Before running away from the rain, we did do some historic sightseeing. We visited Igreja de Sao Francisco where no pictures were allowed, but to quote our Airbnb host "it looks meh on the outside and then whoa on the inside." It's a gold crusted church with someone clearly showing off their wealth. It's beautiful and definitely worth the visit!
Next we went on the Dom Luis I bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel. So kinda like the Eiffel bridge instead of the Eiffel tower. Thoughts: I almost got blown off, I was cold, I was wet. On the other side of the bridge are all of the Porto wine cellars which I should have visited instead of staying in bed. We all know how alcohol warms us up.
Food
I always judge my experience in a city by the food I ate. I love food, so good food will infinitely increase my love for a city-- that's just the way it is. Flor do Congregados was the perfect introduction to Portuguese food. It smelled like a relaxing weekend at the cottage, with an in-house fireplace and stone-covered walls. As you can see in the picture below, the meal isn't dressed in a fancy outfit with random sauce splatters and small portions, it's a whole damn, delicious fish. We ate and ate until we ourselves grew gills. For dessert I had Portuguese cheese with pumpkin jam and I can still taste it as I think about it. Portuguese food is everything that I love in a meal: big portion and fish (is that too much to ask for? I'm looking at you fancy, foodie places!)
On our second night, we had the restaurant hunt curse: this curse when none of the food you want to eat is available (restaurants are closed, they're booked, they don't exist etc.) It happened to be mardi gras, but that gras (fat) element was avoiding my stomach, since many places were closed for the holiday. We were so desperate for food that we even considered eating a Francesinha, a Porto specialty sandwich that layers ham, sausage, steak and cheese to create the complete opposite of being a vegetarian. This of course, was also closed. If you ever want to test your relationship with a significant other, go on a restaurant hunt when your stomach is at the stages of eating itself. This can make or break a relationship. Fortunately our relationship survived and so did my sanity thanks to the belgian fries at Chiparia, where we chilled, filled up on fries for 3 euro and regretted not getting multiple sangrias. We then ate at a place called Baixa Burger, where they actually had a vegetarian option. They called it a "falafel" which it wasn't at all, but it was crunchy, flavourful and mouthwatering. Falafel or not, it was fantastic.
Overall, Porto is a must-visit. Beautiful architecture, the home of Porto wine, rich history. Porto, I am coming back for you, even if just for the food (but for everything else too!)