Impressions of Porto

23/05/13 flying to the sun

After many months of bad weather, I was happy that finally this day had arrived, so that I and my fellow companions had the opportunity to go and spend a few days in the southern sun.

At exactly 7.30 AM, our transportation arrived in front of our doorstep, to take the four of us to the airport in Brussels. In the beginning I was a bit anxious if we were going to make it on time, but the driver was very talkative as well as very inventive in choosing his way … to tell you the truth, I have never seen so much of my neighbouring villages and cities like this morning. This needs to be inspected more when I come back home, but first … onwards to some sunshine!!!

We arrived on time in the airport and after saying our thanks to the driver, we followed the usual procedure of checking in, going through customs and of course … drinking a cup of coffee while waiting for our departure, which surprisingly enough was quite on time … Yeaaahhh!!!

2 hours later, we landed safely at Francisco Sá Carneiro airport and the four of us were already in a great mood when we saw that the sun was shining … our first goal was already accomplished … ah, the simple things in life can be so good!

Lucky for us, we didn’t had to wait too long for our luggage to arrive and in no-time we were on our way to the metro station.

My best friend Tania pointed out to me that it was going to be a bit complicated to find the right zone into the city and she was right … but before I even saw the right station I was looking for, a friendly Portuguese was already there to help us out … unfortunately he didn’t speak any English, but with a little bit of sign language, everything went very smoothly and in the end, saying thanks is the same in every language!

We only had to wait a couple of minutes before boarding the train and than we had a more than relaxing ride into the city. The first views while we headed towards the city, were more than fine and I immediately fell in love with the characteristic houses.

Once we changed trains in Trindade metro station, it was only a few minutes before we arrived at São Bento train station, our goal for today.

Our hotel was situated at Praça da Batalha, which was only minutes away from this train station and I must say … thank you Google street view for making sure that we arrived in our hotel in mere minutes. It only took one steep road up to the square and there it was, red orangy as ever!

Checking into our rooms was going smoothly as well, only I made the mistake of asking a room with a king size bed for my parents and they ended up with the smallest of rooms I had ever seen, it was just so small, it took one step from the bed to the door to the bathroom. Talking about a bad start of our holiday, but luckily the woman behind the reception was so kind to change them into another room which had a nice view of the square and more importantly … you could take a breath as well!

We all quickly changed into another set of clothes and summer shoes and than our holiday really started.

It was already way past noon, so the four of us started to get really hungry and all the small pastry shops in the neighbourhood weren’t helping either. It goes without saying, that we couldn’t ignore their calling and we settled at one of them, ending up with some sweet, delicious and stomach-filling things.

With our stomachs more than filled, we were ready to behave like real tourists and wanted nothing more than to explore this old city. Because our hotel is situated at the upper part of the city, we slowly made our way down to the lower part, which is called Ribeira. The first thing we noticed besides the narrow streets, is the tranquillity of the whole place. Everything seems to go much slower than it does in our part of the country, me like this very much!

As soon as we reach the Ribeira area, we can’t but notice the iron bridge, Dom Luis 1. This is quite an amazing structure if you ask me and we immediately have the urge to cross it so that we get an equally amazing view on the typical Portuguese houses across the river Douro.

Now that we are in Vila Nova de Gaia, we are in the centre of the many port caves and it goes without saying … the sun is shining, the many terraces are luring at us and after a small walk besides the river and the typical port boats, we give up our inner fight and find a nice place to sit down at Sandeman.

Because we are with four people, it seems that it is the ideal combination to order all the different port wines, being white, ruby, tawny and rose. The search for the best port wine has begun so to speak!

We try not only Sandeman, but also Ferreira and than it is time to move on, because it seems that I am not the only one who is getting a little bit wobbly on my feet.

Once again we cross the metal arch bridge while the sun is setting. Walking alongside the river is quite an ordeal for me because there is more wind now and the sun is almost gone, but still we manage to wander off to yet another few narrow streets at the waterfront area only to end up there again after an hour or so.

Just like many of the other tourists, we try to look for something to eat and it doesn’t take long to find something to our liking. 3 of us go for fish, but now that I am in Porto, I want to try as much of the local dishes as possible and my first try is the local dish called "Francesinha". It is served together with some French fries, which are dipped in the sauce. I must say that it isn’t the worst thing, but to be honest, I have eaten better!  It is an acquired taste so to speak.

A nice meal and a few drinks later, we aren’t really in the mood anymore to walk all the way up to our hotel and lucky for us, they invented the funicular.

This funny thing takes you all the way up to the upper part of the city in just mere minutes. What an invention.

Because we aren’t too tired yet (which is kind of our own fault since we didn’t want to walk up the many stairs) and my father is still craving for a dessert, we end up in a small pastry shop near our hotel. We opt for one last glass of port wine and together with a whole selection of sweet things, I get the feeling that my sugar level has finally reached his highest point! My god, who invents all these delicious things!?

It is almost after midnight when we find our way back to the hotel and after a well deserved shower, I lay my body to rest … it was quite an interesting day, but my head is spinning and I am not sure that this is a good thing!!!

24/05/13 Porto city and beyond

Although it was early in the morning, I was thanking someone high above that my headache was over, I was ready for another day!
After a sturdy breakfast, we were ready to “hit” the city.

Because she had been to this city a couple of years ago, Tania gave me some pointers and one of them was to explore the place by using a hop on / hop off bus, which sounded more than interesting to me.

We were in luck, our hotel was selling tickets and with a bus stop in front of our hotel it was like winning the lottery.

It was still early though and we had to wait quite a while till the first bus would arrive … there goes my hope of ever winning that damn thing, but what better way to make use of lost time with a small walk to the local market.

In just mere minutes we arrived at Mercado do Bolhão. The entrance looked magnificent, but once inside, it looked like we were too early. How is that possible? There were only a handful of people and the same story goes for the selling booths. Most of them were closed, just a few were open, talking about a strange thing. Because the local women only speak Portuguese and we don’t, it was hard to ask what was going on here … but as soon as we walked a little further inside the building, we saw the many scaffoldings and everything fell in place.

Half an hour or a bit later we were back outside again and after walking back to the hotel in a very slow pace and doing a little bit of window shopping in the process, we just had to wait for another few minutes before our bus adventure could finally begin.

After receiving our headsets and finding a more than suitable place to sit down, we were ready to do some speed sightseeing.

The sightseeing hop on / hop off bus has 2 lines, a red one and a blue one. We decided upon doing the red one today because it also went outside the city.  My fellow travel companions really wanted to go to the sea and this was the way to get there.

We first did the “grand tour” and passed through numerous old buildings like Câmara Municipal do Porto and many others. As soon as we passed Monumento aos Heróis da Guerra Peninsular or in plain English, the monument to the heroes of the Peninsular War it was one long drive towards the sea coast.

Along the way it was still pretty windy and chilly, so we decided to go back to the city and hoped that during the day, the weather would change.
We got off in the neighbourhood of Ingreja Torre dos Clérigos and hoped to reach the most famous cathedral a.k.a. the Sé Cathedral. We followed a few tourist groups and after a walk of a few minutes we ended up at a small viewing point with a great view on the cathedral.

Now it was just a matter of getting there. We followed numerous little streets downhill just to end up at the São Bento station again. It looks like everything begins and ends here in the neighbourhood of our hotel … or is it just me thinking that!?

The sun is already way up high now and we started to become real thirsty. The bad thing that happens when you stop at a local bakery, is that you get the opportunity to try out some more local delicacies!

With our tummies filled, we took a quick look inside the São Bento train station with its famous tile panels. Boy, they knew what they were doing in the old days, it was quite pretty to say the least.

We still wanted to go and have a look at the cathedral and now that we are finally close to this place, we don’t want to miss out on it. We only have to go up the street and pass a funny statue and than there it is … the Sé Cathedral! The view from here is magnificent and after a group has left the cathedral, we try our luck as well, but what a bummer … they closed the doors. Oh well, there’s always another day!

Our next mission of course is still the ocean and we walk all the way down again and try to catch the next bus towards the coast.

Although we have to wait for a few minutes, we don’t complain … the sun is shining and the temperatures are really to my liking!  As soon as the bus arrives, we are lucky to have the upper deck all to ourselves and even if it is just for half an hour … me like this very much!

We hitch a ride all the way up to the coast, passing the cheese castle, which sadly enough is closed and we get off at the next stop. Apparently this is the most photographed place of Foz do Douro, or so I have been told.

The sun is shining, but the wind is surely the winner here at the coast. Although I am apparently the only one, I am really getting cold just standing out here and I am only here for what … five minutes!!!????  Where is that damn bus if you need it!!!???

Instead of waiting till it comes back again … we decided upon a coastal walk and boy, it feels like heaven … I slowly start to get warm again and as soon as we are out of the windy area the hot temperatures are back … thank the Lord, that’s more like it!!!

It is quite fun walking along the coastline and it seems that we aren’t the only ones enjoying the warmth, lots of local fishermen are out here and I even try a little conversation with one of the fishermen asking for their catch of the day … luckily my pointing helps as well and soon one of them proudly shows all the small fishes … live can be easy if you try!

We are almost back at the Ponte Da Arrábida and have to wait for just a few minutes before we can catch the next bus … is this timing or what!!??

Before we know it, we are back across the river Douro and the port caves are calling us once again. We get off at the bus stop and this time around we opt for a nice Vallegre port wine. I give the Vista Alegre Dry White a go and I am not lying … this one is extremely yummy!

A bit woozy in the head, but still doing fine, we go up the streets and try to find the Offley cellars. It is almost 6 PM, but we manage to get inside and the friendly guy behind the counter even allows us to go along with the last guided tour … love him so much!!!

It’s a very quick guided tour with an explanation of the different kinds of port wines, the production and so on, and before we know it, we are already at the end of the tour and are allowed to sample three different kinds of port wines … I thought it was just going to be 1 sip in every glass, but noooooo … there was more than enough to go around!

We even tried a rose one, this one being even better than the others … we sort of closed the joint, bought ourselves a couple of bottles and felt very happy when we left the “building”!

Through lots of small cobbled streets we ended up again at the beginning and tried to look for a good place to have something to eat … after so many drinks, this was after all the best thing to do!

This time around I went for another typical Portuguese dish called Bacalhau com Natas. It’s basically cod fish cut in small pieces, previously boiled potatoes, cream on top and parmesan cheese to top it all of. This goes into an oven and to me it tasted just fine! Really worth repeating, that’s for sure!
It was already pretty dark and after yet another few glasses of white wine it was saver to go back to the hotel with the funicular. We had one last night cap in one of the small thingies near our hotel and although it was once again a nice port wine, I have no clue of the brand whatsoever, but after all who cares … it was a perfect ending of a more than beautiful day!

25/05/13 Discovery of Vila Nova De Gaia and much, much more

Once again we woke up early and we were more than ready to start yet another day in this city.

Knowing that our bus wasn’t going to arrive another hour or so, we slowly started to walk to another bus stop. Almost arriving at the spot, we noticed an antique market and that of course asked for a more closer look. It was still early, so we had more than enough time.

Because of the good weather, we decided to walk some more, after all, there are enough bus stops to go around. Crossing the famous Carmelite Church we ended up a little further down the road in a small park called “Jardim do Carregal”, known for its statue of Abel Salazar, who was a famous physician, researcher, writer and many more and here I was thinking of one of the characters of a the Harry Potter novel. Me and my thoughts ???
We only had to wait for a couple of minutes before we could catch our next bus towards the Crystal Palace, where we arrived like …. 10 minutes later!

Had we known it was that close, we surely walked all the way, but hey, we still had some valid tickets, so why not using them!

Crystal palace is said to be one of the most beautiful gardens which overlook the Douro river and they aren’t wrong. It is truly beautiful with lots of different levels and in the same time you have had a good exercise. No matter how you look at it, it’s a win-win situation!

Our initial thought was to cross the garden and get out at the other entrance at the lower streets, but sadly enough there were some maintenance works going on and although we tried many roads, every time it lead us back to the same entrance. After a few tries we gave up the “fight” and went on with our sightseeing tour through Porto.

Now that we were at the other end of the city, we slowly followed our way back to the river, even at one given time following a group of people who were demonstrating for one thing or another. It was fun being one of the locals, but sadly enough we didn’t understand a word of what they were saying and English wasn’t something they mastered as well, so we quickly said “adieu” and hoped to reach the river soon.

We still had some tickets for a six bridges cruise and lucky us, as soon as we reached the boats we could go on board. The first one we cross is the Dom Luis 1 bridge and than it looks like we are in some sort of competition with all the other tour boats to see who is first at the Arrábida bridge … sadly enough we loose. A few others are way in front. From here we make an u-turn and once again we cross the famous iron arch bridge. Than it is onwards in one straight line underneath the other bridges being the Infante bridge, D. Maria Pia bridge and S. João bridge of which the two last ones are solely for trains. The last one we reach in under 10 minutes is known as the Freixo bridge and although we get an amazing view of the houses along the water, to me it looks like we hit some kind of speed record, but as soon as we are back in the city centre area, the boat goes straight to Gaia instead of Porto. It seems we have one big group on board and they are late for a cellar visit. We make use of the opportunity and get out as well.

We want to see as much of Vila Nova de Gaia as possible, but first we need some food in our stomach.

That seems to be tougher than expected. We wanted to eat something light and found ourselves a small diner near the waterfront which serves sandwiches, but as soon as we order, the waiter tells us they are out of it. Can you believe it … how can you be out of food???

This is just too weird to be true, but sadly enough it is. Still hungry we find something across the street, but they only have typical Portuguese dishes. We all go for the Franceshina and this time around it’s much more edible. The sauce is thicker and spicier … it is simply YUMMY!

Now that our stomachs are filled, we opt for visiting another port cellar, after all … it’s already way in the afternoon and we still haven’t tried a glass of Port today … shame on us!

We have some free entry tickets for Ramos Pintos and after we visited the small museum of the founder, we arrive at the cellars.  First there is a short movie and than the most important thing of the tour is there … the tasting!

Although the port isn’t that bad, I found the others more to my liking … but hey, there is still some time left to taste some more!

First we go for some more sightseeing though. We only have to wait a couple of minutes before our hop on hop off bus arrives and it takes us all the way into the backstreets of the city.

As soon as we arrive at the Monestary of Serra do Pilar, we get off to have a closer look. Unfortunately they turned the monestary into a museum of some sort and because we don’t want to spend a lot of time inside, we opt for skipping the museum and instead we absorb the beautiful views from this area.

Getting out of here turns out to be tougher than initially thought. After a long wait of almost an hour, we finally notice our bus again. It seems that there are some problems with the routes because of the upcoming running race tomorrow. Quite unexpected to tell you the truth, but now that we are on the bus … we are smart enough to be on it till we are back in Porto again.

As soon as we arrive at the city centre, we notice the many city workers as well as the many detours we have to face. At long last we get off again at the Sé area and because the weather is quite nice, we take another set of small streets towards the water where we found a nice terrace and the enjoyment of a glass of port.

The sun was already setting when we began our walk up the stairs all the way towards the Batalha area. Today we planned of having dinner close to the hotel. We noticed a small place where locals come to eat some BBQ food and it looked quite delicious, so we gave it a try and it was actually quite good. We didn’t have to wait all that long and the meat was very tender, what more can you ask for.

A night cap perhaps, but we had that as well and it was already way after midnight when I found my pillow again

26/05/13 flying home again

Sadly enough we are heading towards rainy Belgium again. Our little break is almost over and there is still so much to see and do. First thing on our agenda is the Sé cathedral. I still haven’t had a chance to have a look inside and now is as good as time as any other.

A few days ago, it was closed, but today we are in luck. The church is open, but for such an important place of interest, the inside is quite dull and black, unlike the other churches we have seen the last couple of days. The only thing really interesting are the stained glass windows, go figure!

As quick as we arrived, the quicker we left again. We didn’t have much time to spare anyway, so on our way down the river, we did some souvenir hunting as well and than the last thing on our mind was finding that right bottle of port wine.

We crossed the river again and found a nice little shop at Gaia which sells all kinds of port wine. Because we still hadn’t had a clue about what to buy, the poor fellow decided to poor us a few glasses of other brands like Kopke, Calem, Taylor’s, Burmester … at this rate we were never going to make a choice … there are just sooooo many wines and they all taste good … OMG the hardship!

At long last we crossed the arch bridge for the very last time, as well as that funny transportation thingy called funicular dos Guindais.  Once our souvenirs and liquids are safely secured into our bags it is time to say goodbye to the Batalha area.

In no time really we arrived at the airport again. 4 days seem to have gone by so very fast, but isn’t this always the case when you are on holiday.
We still have to wait a little while for our flight, so in the meantime we grab a bite to eat and after one last cup of tea it is time to go back home.

About 2 hours later we are back in Brussels again and it finally hits us … our “break from daily hassle” is finally over.

Our driver from the travel agency is waiting for us and it is just so funny to see your name on a piece of cardboard. Not something I am used to actually.

It turns out that she is from Portugal as well, but living over 20 years in Belgium. I don’t need to tell anyone that the ride back home was full with stories of the things we saw, ate and the things we missed out on. So there you have it, there is always a reason to go back again.

Although I forgot her name, she was a very pleasant person to talk to and before we even knew it, we were in my hometown again. I have to admit, the trip was short, but the memories will last for a very long time!