Porto

* If you’re landing here for the first time, this is the third of several posts describing my first visit to Portugal to decide whether I’d want to move here.
If you want to read this section in order, start here: Chegada a Lisboa para explorar
And here’s the beginning of the whole story: Onde esta história começou

Side note – most cities don’t get the definite article (like “the”), but Porto does. So Lisboa is just Lisboa, but Porto is O Porto. My Portuguese teacher has offered no explanation, just that there seem to be as many exceptions to every rule as there are grammar rules!

My Coimbra post wrapped up with the challenges of making it out of town during a rail strike. We did have to make one connection in Porto, from the long distance train to an urban commuter train, but that was only about a 30 minute delay.

I whined a lot because I was still recovering from covid and ready to get to my next stop and relax, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Finally, we made it to the São Bento station, where google maps said I had like a 7 minute walk… Except I couldn’t take that route, because of some major construction project. And then, after I found my way around that, it was almost entirely uphill 😫

Honestly, the detour only made it like a 10 min walk, but I was tired and whiny and recovering from covid!

But we made it to a tiny little studio apartment right near the Torre dos Clérigos. That turned out to be another important lesson. That’s right in the historic downtown touristy area, which is very much not my vibe.

And that apartment had to be intended for people going downtown for a 1-2 night stay to party, because it was bad.

The neighborhood was cute.

But after I found dinner and relaxed for a bit, I headed for the shower. I don’t take the ridiculous 40 minute showers that I did as a child, but I do wash and condition my hair and wash my whole body (yes, legs and feet included, with a washcloth*!). I haven’t timed myself, but I’d say I generally need about 10, maybe 15 min.

By the time I finished just shampooing my hair, it was clear the drain wasn’t draining correctly.

By the time I finished the fastest shower I could, the whole bathroom floor was under water and it was threatening to flow into the hallway.

Anyway, that was a headache, but I was able to get a partial refund on that place and move to a different spot, just up the hill from the Porto Campanhã station. It was along a major street, not in a cute neighborhood, but it felt a lot more laid back than the touristy area and it was super close to the Metro and train station.

I have a ton of gorgeous photos of scenery, and Mocha in front of the scenery, to add below. But the only other memories that really stand out to me from Porto are the food!

My first morning there, I had breakfast at a cute little cafe where I tried shakshuka for the very first time. OMG, it was SO GOOD!

It’s also worth noting that I was not the only person dining outside at 50ish degrees F in February in Porto. More people were choosing to sit inside, but I wasn’t the only one bringing my dog along with me when I went looking for food!

And then, I had my first francesinha at a cute little restaurant over near the second place I stayed.

The decor was distinctive 😂

And then, there was the basic Portuguese restaurant just down the hill from the second spot, where I went for take-away a few times!

I have to admit, that I came to Porto with the assumption that it would NOT be where I would settle. Based just on weather and beaches, I expected to fall in love with the Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. I wanted to be able to say I’ve been to Porto, but I didn’t really give it a fair chance as a potential place to live.

And so, I spent a lot of time walking to the scenic spots for photos!

These photos are all from Parque das Virtudes:

And these were from a few days later, when we walked along the Douro River for a while, and then crossed Ponte Luis I to the Vila Nova de Gaia side of the river.

The next leg of our journey went much more smoothly. It was an easy walk downhill to the train station, and the strike was over!

* If you also don’t feel clean unless you use a washcloth, plan to bring your own along when you visit Europe. I brought 6 cheap ones, and every place I stayed for more than a couple of days had a washing machine I could use.