Yesterday I met my sister’s friend, Luke, and he asked me what was the highlight of my visit to Porto. I struggled to come up with one, but I finally said it was just such a delight to experience the cityscape from different viewpoints.
Porto doesn’t impress with any one spectacular thing. There’s no glorious cathedral, as there was in Santiago de Compostela. Or a modern architectural masterpiece like the Guggenheim in Bilbao. Nothing like the Mezquita of Córdoba or the Alacazar in Seville.
But you walk through this city, and you never know what you’re going to find to make you stop and gawk. Sometimes it’s just a street with pretty houses. Or a view you haven’t seen yet of one of the six bridges across the Douro River. Or a small church covered with blue and white tiles depicting biblical scenes.
There are some impressive monumental edifices, like the Clérigos Tower, which you can pretty much see from anywhere in the city (not to mention that the views from the top are spectacular), and the Palácio da Bolsa, which even more beautiful on the inside. But none of these would be a highlight of my visit to Porto as much as any of the myriad streetscapes that I couldn’t resist taking pictures of.
Porto Highlights
The photo at the top of the page, for starters, is a view from across the Douro River. It’s pretty obvious where is the Clérigos Tower in the photo.
I definitely don’t mean to suggest that these humble views were the only highlights of my visit to Porto. (As Luke mentioned, seeing my sister Troy was definitely a distinct pleasure, if not a highlight.) I have over 200 photos and videos in my photo album from Porto, so obviously there were many other things I saw and relished.
Day by Day in Porto, Arouca, and Coimbra
Tuesday, April 8
We arrived before lunchtime, so we met a local guide and had a walking tour starting at the cathedral and working our way down through some of the charming streets to the riverfront, where we had lunch. Then we checked into our hotel, Chic and Basic Gravity.
Later, Mafalda, our trip leader, took us on a short walk around the neighborhood of our hotel, and then took us to a Fado show. This was definitely another highlight!
After the show, Troy came to meet me and we went out to dinner at Coupage, near my hotel. Wonderful meal and great company! Yet another highlight! After dinner we took a little walk and got some great ice cream at Sincelo. One more highlight!
Wednesday, April 9
Today was our day trip to Arouca. First we visited the monastery there. It might be called Arouca Abbey, the Abbey of Saint Bartholomew, The Monastery of Saint Mafalda, or Santa Maria de Arouca. Google search returns all these results.
Founded in the 10th century, the monastery housed both men and women until the 12th century, when it became a home for nuns only.
All the nuns of the monastery were daughters of wealthy or noble families. Many of them had maids who also lived at the monastery.
In the 13th century, Mafalda of Portugal, daughter of King Sancho I, became a nun and abbess of the monastery. In 1226 the pope granted her request to transfer the abbey from the Benedictine order to the Cistercian order. She was beatified in 1792, and though she is not a saint, she is commonly referred to as Saint Mafalda.
After the civil war of the 1830s, the new government ended state sponsorship of male religious institutions. In 1862 the law was applied to women’s institutions as well. They were not shut down, but they were not allowed to accept new members. The last nun at Arouca Monastery died in 1886.
After a sampling of some local sweets, we headed to the Arouca Suspension Bridge. At a length of 516 meters, this is one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in the world.
Check out all my photos from Arouca.
Back in Porto, I and a few of my fellow travelers visited the Lello Bookstore. It’s a very nice bookstore, but I think it’s not really worth the 10 euros they charge to enter. (It’s credited to the purchase of any book.)
We had a group dinner that night at The 41 Bar. This was one of my favorite meals of the tour.
Thursday, April 10
We started the day with a walking tour led by Mafalda of some things we didn’t see on Tuesday. This ended at Cafe Piolho, where we had a conversation with Renato, a student at the University of Porto. He told us about student life and life in general as a young person in Porto.
He also told us how Cafe Piolho, which means “Headlice Cafe,” got its name. During the Salazar years, when people could be arrested for criticizing the government and you never knew who might be listening, this was a student gathering place. All the walls are mirrored, so you can see everyone else in the place. If anyone unfamiliar came in, the regulars would scratch their heads to warn others.
After lunch I went for ice cream with Mafalda. I wanted to take her to Sincelo, since she’s never been there, but it didn’t open until later in the afternoon, so we went to another place. I assured her Sincelo is better, and she said she will definitely go next time she is in Porto.
With a free afternoon, I decided to climb Clérigos Tower and see the church it’s connected to.
Then I walked to the lovely Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. There is no crystal palace there. But there are peacocks and more awesome views.
That night our tour group had our farewell dinner at Costume, and some of us had additional farewell drinks in our hotel bar.
Friday, April 11
This morning I said farewell to the last of my fellow travelers. Troy came to pick me up, and we walked, in the rain, to her apartment, where I stayed for the remainder of my time in Porto.
Sadly, the change of weather was (literally) a damper, but we walked around anyway. Troy took me to Santa Caterina Church
… and then to the Mercado do Bolhão.
Eventually we made our way to São Francisco Church, which was most interesting. It is a Gothic church, built between 1383 and 1425. The structure of the church is essentially unchanged, but in the 18th century, most of the surfaces of the interior of the church, including walls, pillars, side chapels and roof, were covered with Portuguese gilt wood work (talha dourada) in Baroque style. Troy said she finds it peaceful and moving. For me it felt excessively ornate and out of keeping with the Gothic architecture. Still, it is a spectacle. The quality of the details is really something.
There are also a museum and a crypt.
That mostly covers the day on Friday. I seem to recall taking a nap later in the afternoon.
Saturday, April 12
Today we took the metro to Matosinhos, a city just north of Porto along the Atlantic Ocean. I wasn’t actually aware that this was a separate city. It really felt more like a neighborhood on the outskirts of Porto.
The objective in going there was to take a tour of the Pinhais sardine factory. This was fun and informative. Since it was Saturday, no one was working there, and we got to go onto the floor and try our hands at putting ingredients into the cans. At the end, we had a tasting, and I have to say it wasn’t my favorite sardines I’ve ever had.
After that we walked along the beach to the mouth of the Douro River, a neighborhood of Porto called Foz do Douro (which means “mouth of the Douro”), and from there we took a trolley back to the riverfront area of the city, where we had lunch. From there we walked across the lower part of the Dom Luis I Bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia (where I took the picture at the top of this post) and took the teleferico to the upper level of the bridge to walk back across the river.
Back to Troy’s apartment from there, we were both too tired to go out for dinner.
Sunday, April 13
Today was my Coimbra daytrip. Beautiful city, beautiful churches, interesting museum, and beautiful university campus that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Check out all my photos from Coimbra.
Monday, April 14
My last day in Porto started with a visit to the Palácio da Bolsa. This grand edifice was built in the 1840s on the former site of the cloister of São Francisco Church, which was destroyed by fire in 1832. Queen Mary II donated the ruins to the merchants of the Porto, who used it to build the headquarters of the Commercial Association. It is not, and never was, a stock exchange, though that’s the meaning of “bolsa.”
As I mentioned, this building, which I saw on Day One from the outside, is even more impressive on the inside. Though construction was finished by 1850, the interior decoration continued until 1910.
Later we met Luke at Deli Deli, a fun change from standard Portuguese fare of cod (which, by the way, is no longer found in Portuguese waters, but is imported from Norway). And dinner last night was at another great place that didn’t serve cod: Honest Greens.
I said good-bye to Troy this morning, and I’m now on the train to Tomar. I’ll try to squeeze in what I can in the short time I have there. Tomorrow I continue to Lisbon, where I start my next OAT tour.
I hope you enjoyed all the highlights from Porto. Here are all my photos from the past week:
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