Day 5 - Saturday, August 13 - Porto
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Day 5 Stats
Lunch: Hot Dogs at Gazela - $32
Snacks: Ice cream at Neveiros
Dinner: T&C at WOW - $57 for traditional Franchesina
Hotel: Porto River Apartment - $625 for 3 nights - huge 1 bedroom apartment overlooking the Cais da Ribera
Transportation: Porto is small enough that we never needed anything but our feet
Walk: 21,600 steps, 8.3 miles
Things that are overrated: I don't know if this is overrated since we hadn't heard much about it, but WOW (World of Wine) was an odd, empty modern place with a high end shopping mall feel. I had expected repurposed winery buildings showing the history and process of making Port but it was all shops, restaurants, and way too expensive museums.
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Day 5 Itinerary
A.
Porto River Apartment
The main criteria for places to stay on this trip is that they had to have a view and they had to have a balcony. It was great to be able to relax on the balcony before having breakfast in the hotel's restaurant.
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B.
Miradouro da Rua das Aldas
We set out wandering with the general goal of getting to the Cathedral, we come across a colorful little square, Largo da Pena Ventosa, before climbing our way up to Miradouro (viewpoint) da Rua das Aldas which looks out towards the western part of the city. In the panorama below, you can another viewpoint (see "I" below).
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C.
Sé do Porto
The Cathedral has a beautiful gothic cloister filled with azjulejos (traditional blue tiles) and interesting sculpture inside the church itself.
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D.
São Bento Station
The lobby of the train station is filled with huge scenes of Portuguese history made up of tens of thousands of painted tiles.
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E.
Igreja de Santo Ildefonso
The church, covered in azulejos, is located at the end of Rua de Santa Catarina, a main/crowded shopping street which is flanked by two Art Nouveau shop entrances.
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F. & G.
Wandering
We wander by the Clérigos Tower but didn't feel like climbing up the 240 steps to the top so we find some interesting architecture and a little outdoor market instead. We walked by Livraria Lello (made famous as an inspiration for some scenes in Harry Potter books but the line to see a tiny bookstore didn't seem worth it.
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H.
Igreja de Carmo
We head to one more beautiful azulejos covered church.
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I.
Miradouro da Vitória
We continue our loop around the city with a stop at this viewpoint that looks east toward the Cathedral and our route from this morning. We wander through the Mercado Ferreira Borges before taking some time to rest at the Jardim do Infante Dom Henrique. We head down to the riverfront and catch a water taxi across to Vila Nova de Gaia.
J.
Vila Nova de Gaia
This is a completely separate city from Porto (almost as large in population) and is home to the wineries that make Port. The grapes are grown further up the Duoro Valley (see tomorrow's excursion) and the wine is brought here to age. We check out the shopping/museums of the World of Wine (I wouldn't go out of my way to go here again) and have a nice lunch of traditional roast chicken and the cheese and gravy slathered Francesinha sandwich. Walking near the waterfront is a mix of food stalls, street art, and amazing views across the river to Porto.
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