24 January- A two hour train from Vigo landed us in Porto, Portugal around 10:30pm. We stayed at Alma Porto Hostel just 11 minutes away from the train station. Being that we got in so late it was nice to just go a short ways. When we arrived a French girl checked us in at the front desk and was fascinated by our passports. I'll never forget her reaction, "Wow I've never seen a US passport! They're so beautiful." We were fortunate to have a private room for the first night- it was cheaper than having a bed in a room with 15 other people. However, our private room was perpendicular to the hallway leading to the showers and the door to the bathroom. The door to the shower hallway and the door from our room to the bathroom looked identical and were side by side. Come 3am the doors shook and rattled. I shouted louder than I meant to, "HELLO!?" Somebody was banging on the door! I shook Ben and sent him to investigate. As it turned out somebody had had one too many drinks and had mistaken our bedroom door for the door to the bathroom. Aside from the brief second when I thought we were going to be attacked we enjoyed our one night stay here. (It really was a great, clean, hostel with very friendly staff.) 25 January- We started our day with breakfast and coffee at 10am, then walked to met Rayna and Libby across the famous Puente de Dom Luis I bridge. We spent the majority of the morning meeting up with the girls that caught the early bus from Vigo this morning. We walked across the famous Ponte de Dom Luis I bridge, enjoyed the view from a historical tower, and wandered around the city until we found lunch. Finding good food in Porto proved to be somewhat difficult so we ended up eating in a market at the bottom of a mall. I hate to say it, but to my delight there was a Starbucks in the mall. I ordered an iced coffee and downed the whole thing within minutes. I After lunch we made our way to Livraria Lleno where it is believed that JK Rowling finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The swirling staircases made it easy to see her inspiration! In the evening we rode a gondola down to the riverside and enjoyed some port wine! To end our first day of adventure we turned in at an Air B&B. 26 January- Today was a bit of a lazy day. We walked until we found a cafe where some university students were playing music. Fun Fact: the students wear cape-like uniforms that are nearly identical to those worn by students at Hogwarts. Understandingly so, it is also believed that the Hogwarts uniforms were inspired by those of the university students in Porto. For lunch we ended up back at the market and I indulged in another iced coffee- I couldn't help myself. Shortly after lunch we said goodbye to the girls and headed to our final hostel. Oporto City Hostel was absolutely adorable. They just finished remodeling, so the lobby area was gorgeous. If we ever find ourselves looking for somewhere to stay in Porto we will definitely be staying here again- it was less than 10 minutes from a main shopping road and was full of character. 27 January- Being that it is Sunday and everything is closed on Sundays, we let ourselves sleep in a bit today. We got up and headed for Museu Serralves. With the understanding that we could get in for free before 12pm we turned an hour long walk into 45 minutes by running a third of the way. When we arrived we were sweating and gasping for air. Unfortunately, the museum is only free on the first Sunday of the month- we learned that their policy was just recently changed. Since we were there we paid to get into the park and the extra exhibit inside of the park. I myself am not a huge modern art connoisseur, nor is Ben, so we opted not to pay for the main attraction. The park was beautiful and definitely worth the few euro it cost us, but the extra exhibit was, in my humble opinion, not worth it. There were very few pieces to look at; and, the pieces that were on display were so contemporary and minimalistic that it was not worth seeing. An exhibit in the park consisted of a pitch black room and a huge hole in the ground. We had to sign a waiver before going in and we were warned not to get too close. Although it was very simple, the fear of possibly falling in made the exhibit interesting. We left the museum and walked another hour to the beach where we sat and enjoyed the view from a charming cafe. Our walk wore us out so much that we treated ourselves to a €10 mojito- it was gone within minutes. On our two hour walk back towards Oporto City Hostel we stopped at the Music House to admire the architecture. I would have loved to attend a performance, but we were not dressed appropriately and we were absolutely exhausted. For dinner we went to Brasao where we shared a Francesinha- a dish that originated in Porto and that the Portuguese have become well known for. It was SO GOOD. I also had a very tasty glass (it was more of a bowl) of sangria. I might add that Brasao was recommended by one of Mom's good friends, a local to Portugal, for their traditional dish. I wished we had tried it earlier on so we could go back for dinner a second time! 28 January- At last our journey comes to an end. We had been so fortunate to have beautiful sunny weather until today. So, we had breakfast then made our way to the train station a few hours early. For breakfast we went to Cereal Porto Café where we selected a few different kinds of cereal and toppings. Essentially, you could make your own cereal sundae. It was such a fun concept! Our first weekend away was a success and I can not wait for our next adventure.
1 Comment
Gma Nan
3/3/2019 06:50:48 pm
I love hearing about your adventures! Tell me more!
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AuthorCoffee addict. Chocolate obsessed. I'm ready to explore. Archives
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