Porto

by Yaoho |

on November 3, 2019

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal, The Ribeira district is a UNESCO world heritage site. The city is small and very walkable. Port wine is named after Porto. And is made in Porto and Douro Valley.

Around Porto

Torre Dos Clérigos (Clérigos Tower)

Igreja do Carmo /Igreja does Carmelitas

Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas (and the narrow house in between the two churches)

Narrow house between two churches

Porto Cathedral

Pasteis de Nata

Estação De São Bento (S. Bento Station)

This was our first stop in Portugal so of couse we have to try the Pasteis de Nata. We tried Manteigaria Bakery and Natas D’Ouro (in Gaia)

Ponte de Dom Luis I

Dom Luis I Bridge crosses the Duoro River and connects Porto with Gaia. The bridge has two decks. Cars can drive the lower deck and the upper deck is for Metro. Pedestrians can walk across either the lower or the upper deck. Of course we did both. The view from the upper deck of the Duoro river and porto is beautiful.

Vila Nova de Gaia

Across the Duoro river is the Gaia. There are many cellers (caves) where Port wine is stored and aged. It’s an easy walk across the Dom Luis Bridge. We also took the cable car and enjoyed the view.

Livraria Lello

The beautiful bookstore – Livraria Lello in Porto. It was very crowded and had a line to get in. Because it is so crowded it was very difficult to browse the bookstore and it felt a bit overrated. To enter the bookstore a ticket of 5 Euro is required. Ticket are sold at the store around the corner from the bookstore. The 5 Euro entrance fee can be used as voucher to buy something from the bookstore. There is a Harry Potter connection to the bookstore making it even more popular. It is said that the author J. K. Rowling when living in Porto, she frequented the bookshop often and took inspiration for both ‘Flourish and Blotts’ as well as the moving staircases of Hogwarts from the lavish architecture inside.

Douro Valley

We took a little detour and drove through Douro Valley on our way to Porto. Douro Valley has many vineyards. Douro Valley is knows for Port wine. It’s a beautiful valley to drive through.