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Published: August 27th 2017
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Sorry for belated updates! I’m back in the US, moved to a new city (Baltimore), and about to start a grad school program. In the interim, let me fill you in on my travels from June onward . . .
About 21 months earlier, I’d flown into Porto to begin my Spain program. I hadn’t been outside continental Europe since that day. I thought it was fitting to leave the continent (temporarily, to go to England and Wales) through Porto as well. The flights are generally the cheapest in the area, the airport is well-connected transportation-wise, and most importantly I love Porto (regular readers will probably know this by now).
I think in total I visited Porto 4 times, although one was just an overnight hostel stay without much tourism. Each time, I stayed in a different central neighborhood. And yet, every area struck me as full of charm and character. Even if a neighborhood seems slightly drab, there probably is still a quirky piece of street art on a wall, a Portuguese lady yelling down to passers-by she knows, or as I discovered, even a ramen shop. Despite all my visits, I still haven’t
been to the beach or in any of the museums. It’s a fabulous city for simply walking around.
I’ve visited a lot of places in my life, and the vast majority have something great going for them. But there’s something about Porto that makes me love it more than almost any other place. Disclaimer: I also like Lisbon (although it was too big) and Braga (although it rained most of my trip) so it may be Portugal in general that I love. The quality of life is good (except for the economy these days), people seem friendly, the weather is potentially slightly better than northwest Spain ( = pretty excellent), it’s hilly, green, along the sea, it has retained a lot of history and yet knows how to modernize in a person-conscious way. If only they wanted to give me a visa . . .
This visit, I was just in Porto about a day. I had no grand plans there because in the midst of my moving my life between continents and planning a couple of months of travel, Porto was the place I was most familiar with. I basically just wandered the
whole afternoon. And let me emphasize again that I walked. The whole way. I didn’t need a bus or metro, although I could have taken those. For cheap. And there are plenty of benches with views or people-watching for free, or outdoor terraces with cafes if you want a drink and a snack and a break.
It was a beautiful day to come across a festival in the Crystal Palace Gardens (Jardins do Palácio de Cristal). There were huge swing sets for 2-3 people set up overlooking the city below, as well as very tame peacocks roaming around. There was a public safety education booth for kids set up, including a fire truck that occasionally blared its siren. Those peacocks heard the siren and started wailing back. It was pretty entertaining.
I continued over to the hillside-terraced gardens. I really had no idea what to expect from the park. Actually, on the Google map, it doesn’t show the park in its entirety. You can basically crisscross the hillside between Rua de Dom Manuel II almost all the way down to Rua da Restauração. Some of the vegetation was a bit overgrown, but
there were a few spectacularly pretty rose gardens (Casa do Roseiral). You can walk lower and lower and get better views of the river and city below, depending on where you are (Garden of Feelings). I definitely recommend checking the park out. It could be a great spot for a picnic lunch, sunbathing, tourist photos, or a romantic outing.
For my “big” farewell dinner, I had promised my Ourense bestie/roomie that I’d finally go to the vegetarian buffet that she loved. I typically do my own food in hostels when traveling alone, but she was so obsessed with the place, I thought I’d go. It was called Da Terra, and it’s closer to the touristy area of Porto. It was really worth it. The food is really imaginative, beautiful, and delicious. It looked like you’d get it in a super-classy restaurant, but I think it was around 12 or 14 euros. Sangria washed it down pretty nicely.
It was nearing sunset as I walked back to my hostel. I passed by the Cathedral/top of Ribeira neighborhood and peered at the colorful sky behind them. I took in the beauty of the city again. Ahhh.
I'll be back someday.
The next day I flew from Porto to Manchester to visit some friends there. More on that in the next post.
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