Last Porto call

 

So my final few days dawned on Monday and I got an Uber to Coimbra B station for a relatively short hop to Porto. Just an FYI - Uber seems to be quite widely available and cheap (though in several places I just used local white cabs where they were convenient as you can just wave them down), but not in Cordoba.

Lucy was due to meet me at the station, but discovered that the fairly lengthy walk was going to be made even lenghtier by the major works in the centre of Porto which would have involved a massive detour, even for pedestrians let along cars. It's because they're developing an additional metro line (the Rose line). I got another Uber from Porto Campanha - it couldn't take me the whole way as a number of streets are pedestrianised, which along with the metro works does make traffic in Porto pretty chaotic at times. After a wrong turn (which sadly involved dragging my case back uphill). I met Lucy, dumped my bags in our sweet and very central little rooms and we headed out to explore and find some lunch. We always knew how to find our way back as we were very close to the  landmark of the Torre des Clerigos which can be seen from anywhere in the city.

Lunch was chosen in a hurry and you're always allowed one bad meal choice on holiday, right? So best passed over, but (and I never thought I'd say this) the sangria we had with it was actually very nice. We had a Guru Walk booked for 4pm - in the meantime I foolishly introduced Lucy to Ale-Hop, where she was relieved of a number of euros on all kinds of useful things, before we paused for coffee and ice cream (guess which I had) and then started out for the walk assembly point in front of the city hall. Unfortunately, Lucy fell victim to Porto's unexpected pavement ridges (cobbles as well as trip hazards abound) and literally fell over and twisted her dodgy ankle. We managed to get as far as the walk assembly point, but Pedro the guide advised that judging by the difficulty she was having walking, she should go back to the room along with a bag of ice - so sadly she missed the orientation.

Pedro took our small group around and we took in a number of sights, including churches, a spectacular view across the river to Gaia, the university and the various myths/legends surrounding JK Rowling who lived in Porto having married a local prior to writing the HP novels. Apparently - she would walk to the Majestic Cafe on a regular basis (a very lovely and overpriced fin de siecle style eatery quite some distance from where she apparently lived), passing a library which was the apparent inspiration for a number of elements in Hogwarts and a fountain which gave her the idea for Gryffendor. Said library is now a very lovely bookshop which has a crowd outside it every day to rival platform 9 and a half at Kings' Cross - except you have to pay 7 euros to go in. JKR has distanced herself from all this - rumour has it because she's not been on good terms with her ex 

Lucy managed to get us into a recommended restaurant so I had to leave the walk early - he was running really late - but her ankle was better after an ice pack and elevation so we were able to walk to Flow. The food and wine were superb - it wasn't cheap, but it was worth it. Afterwards we stopped off at a bar around the corner from us called Zapata and sat outside with more wine. It's too cheap and too nice.

The next day, after numerous wrong turns, we walked to the Ribiera area to see the much-lauded San Francisco church - it was completely OTT (apparently has more gold than any other church in Portugal) to the point of bad taste and I really resented having to pay 9 euros to get in. The photos represent some sights along the way (the law courts, and a brushmaker's shop) and elements of the church I found less distasteful, which were actually to be found in a chapel rather than the main church.

We strolled through Ribiera, had a coffee and then walked over the bridge to Gaia, as we had a Taylor's Port tour booked. It was all very lively, with lots of restaurants on the riverfront, and stalls selling various forms of tourist toot but some artisan stuff too. We girded our loins for the hill climb up to Taylor's - the whole port tour business there is very chichi, including a kind of mall called WOW (World of Wine) selling overpriced wine-related products. There was an "experience" completely dedicated to rose wine and port, but we balked at the 25 euro entrance fee. 

Taylors was well done but if you only have a passing interest in port (as I do) then the level of detail in the audio guide and the museum exhibits was a bit too much. The garden (where you can get married) was very pretty and populated by peacocks and a noisy rooster - we finished up there for our tasting, which was quite miserly. By this time we were really hungry and ordered some cheese and crackers to soak up the alcohol (not that there was that much of it!) and that wasn't especially generous either. After a visit to the gift shop, we walked back down the river. Lucy's ankle was getting sore again, so it seemed like a good excuse to have some sangria, but I was sorry that we had missed the market - a light bite there before Taylor's would have been a good idea. We also wished we had taken a boat trip down the river - that's one for next time.

We caught the cable car back along the river (shortest ride ever!) back to the top level so that we could get the metro back into the centre - amazing views though. It was just one stop to San Bento station, which comes recommended as a top sight, and it certainly is:

We also popped into what has to be the most beautiful McDonalds (we didn't linger) for a couple of photos:

The city was absolutely full of graduating students, wearing cloaks and top hats and accessories in colours befitting their faculty - so red for law, yellow for medicine, green for biology for example. This was the end of term, so there were all kinds of strange rituals going on which involved "knighting" each other with coloured walking sticks, which were then used to bash the top hat three times. We walked alongside the swarm of students as they headed up to the university square - we'd already been warned that this was going to be a lively night, and certainly the bars and restaurants were busy, but that evening we managed to find a good place to eat called Valentina's that was inside a funky boutique hotel. We finished up with cocktails in a different bar around the corner - how I love an espresso martini...

The next day (after some considerable effort) we ordered an uber to take us outside the main part of the city to visit the contemporary art gallery Casa Serralves. It had a pretty garden, but unfortunately the very attractive Art Deco villa was closed as it was between exhibitions - and to be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. I quite liked some of the work of Carla Filipe, but she was pretty much the only artist being exhibited (there were a couple of Paula Regos for example, and an Anish Kapoor sculpture in the garden), so if  you weren't enamoured with her work, as Lucy wasn't, you don't have much to compensate. We took a turn around the garden, then ordered an uber back. The young guy driving arranged for his brother in law to take us to the airport the following day - it wasn't any cheaper, but he was a nice guy and it was good not to have to faff about at 7am.

We went for a glass of wine at the Majestic Cafe and had a bit of a mooch around the nearby shops, then lunched at Honest Greens where I had tuna tartare (again!) and Lucy had rare beef. We then had a fairly fruitless quest for street art, which was listed on the map but quite difficult to find, but we did stumble on the cathedral which is high up above the city with great views from the square.

Packing had to be done, though there was one more glass of wine to be had on the way back, and I was happy to discover a likely restaurant we had passed previously and then promptly forgotten exactly where it was. We booked in for the evening to Mind the Glass, where we had some great food and even better wine, sampling various different light reds with the help of a very sweet sommelier who listened carefully to us and brought just what we wanted. 

A final cocktail at Zapata and then we trailed back to the apartment ready to get up very early for the airport next day. It had been pretty noisy the other two nights, but sod's law that this was the worst night of all, with loud conversations outside in the street at 4am and beyond! Our taxi was right on time (as was our flight) and we bid farwell to Porto - too short a trip!

So my Iberian adventure is over - back in a Blighty that's distinctly chilly for May after basking in temperatures of up to at least 30C over the past few weeks. One damp morning in Zaragoza, and the rest of the time glorious blue skies. The cagoule stayed folded up, and the thin sweater and basic black cardi never left the suitcase. 

Regrets? Not many. Mainly not spending 3 nights in Seville and 4 each in Madrid and Porto with Neil and Lucy respectively. Not booking some things ahead - like the Real Alcazar in Seville. Not finding any jazz clubs open apart from one night in Zaragoza. Not being more diligent in learning Spanish. Being stupid enough to try using a recalcitrant ATM a second time only to have 180 euros taken off my card which I never received. I think it was probably disgusting, but I kind of wish I'd tried the Franceshina in Porto.  And at times, this trip felt a bit solitary - maybe I should have reached out to make some new friends here and there, especially if I heard an English voice. having an interesting conversation. I should also have been careful to check the number of festivals and bank holidays going on - at times the volume of people was a bit overwhelming. 

Advice? Spanish trains generally run pretty well on time but don't always have catering on board or easily accessible wifi or even charging sockets. Reservations vary enormously in price but you have to book them for pretty much all trains. If you use Uber, you'll find it in lots of places, and the Metro in Madrid is really good and cheap. Book free walking tours through Guru Walks - you do get people with personality and knowledge, you just tip them at the end. Smaller groups are better obviously, though you do feel obliged to leave a bigger tip if they've given you a 2-hour tour and there's only a handful of people. Avoid restaurants with photos of their food (that's an obvious one, I know, but still true). Leave a small tip - it's not expected, but it is appreciated. Use the fresh orange juice dispensing machines in supermarkets. Do not rely on Google maps. In Seville it got me hopelessly lost several times because it couldn't keep up. 

Best bits? Way too many to list - some are captured in my photos, but it was also lovely to spend time with friends when they joined me. Great wine poured freehand, food maybe not always to my taste (best was maybe surprisingly in Portugal), but I will be seeeking out recipes for tuna tartare. 

I've seen some wonderful art, beautiful architecture and floral abundance - loving the jacaranda blossom. And I struck really lucky with all my accommodation choices - apart from the Portugese places not having lifts, I stayed in some gorgeous rooms and slept really well virtually every night. I had great service and kindness shown to me almost everywhere. And - as always - that joyful feeling of freedom and anticipation stepping out in the sunshine in a new city for the first time, map in hand.