Fashion
Our travel story started at the west side of Europe, in beautiful Portugal. With the smell of the sea salt and sweet pasteis de nata, with fado music in the air and the wind that all the way from Cabo da Roca follows Kiki and me everywhere. <3
Also, that was my first airplane ride with Ryanair. We flew from Milan to Porto, Kiki had a birthday and I was so excited. The plan was a road trip from Porto to Faro, there were 4 of us and we had a short period of time to explore and wishlist so so long.
We decided to visit Porto for two days, than with a rent a car go to Lisabon for three days and than drive all the way to Faro for our flight back to Milan. Despite the fact we had a short amount of time we managed to felt Portugal soul and take it with us throurgh life forever.
This is our travel diary from 2010 with the list of 10 beuatiful memories from Porto and that autumn beautiful Spot hostel Porto was our home. I hope this post will help you if Porto is on your bucket list. And if you've already been in Porto share some memories with us so you can inspire others and us for next time.
1. WINE TASTING AT CAVES CROFT
There are so many wine houses in Porto where you can enjoy in Port, a sweet fortified wine from the Douro region. We had a wine cellar tour and wine testing in Croft (founded in 1588) and that was a great experiance. We had one small bag that we used for a "bring home" bag so we put inside about 8 bottles of porto wine with towells and with fragile marks all over the bag and we hoped that the bag will survive our flight back…
And yes, bottles happily survived all the way to our Croatia and we are still keeping one of those for a special ocassion.
2. TAKE A WALK IN RUA SANTA CATARINA
It's the most traditional shopping street in Porto from where you can go shopping or from where you can take a walk all the way to all beautiful buildings with white and blue tiles and where I fell in love with all colorful tiles. <3
There is a Via Catarina Mall and on the top, there are beautiful facades all around you and you have fealing like you are at the streets of Porto. I think that's a great idea for a quick brake or if it's a rainy day.
3. LOOK AT BEUATIFUL TILES
If you are obsseded with white and blue tiles like me, than you can go for a walk to see them on Capela das almas and Carmo and Carmelitas churches.
CAPELA DAS ALMAS (in the photos below) is my favorite building in Porto. The church was built at the beginning of the 18 century,t he exterior walls was covered in 1929 virtually and entirely with blue and white ceramic tiles, representing scenes from the life of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine.
Another beuatiful building (or buildings) are The Carmo and Carmelitas churches. This look like the biggest church in the city but in fact, when you look close you'll see that there are two churches. On the left is Carmelitas Church, built in the 17th century, convent with a simple classical façade with a bell tower On the right side is Carmo Church (Igreja do Carmo) built later in the 18th century.
It's a example of late baroque architecture and on the outside, side wall is completely covered in blue and white tile.
So beautiful, right? <3
4. ENJOY YOUR COFFEE BREAK
For me, the most beautiful place to have a coffee break in Porto is CAFE MAJESTIC. It's opened since 1921 and with amazing interior design it's one of the most beautiful caffe bars I saw so far.
5. PONTE DE DOM LUIS I
Built by Eiffel's partner Théophile Seyrig, you can see the characteristic style of the famous Eiffel tower in this beautiful bridge. Beautiful landamark in Porto from where you can enjoy in the beautiful view and below this article you can check what can you do at PORTO BRIDGE.
6. AVENIDA DOS ALIADOS
Every city has a part which has it's heart. Avenida dos Aliados is the heart of Porto. It's a beautiful boulevard with the City Hall at the top. This is the place where people always meet up for everything and everytime and from where you can watch the world go by.
7. CLERIGOS TOWER
I love places with the beautiful panoramic view. Over the years those places become perfect for #hadokasheart. We climbed to the top of the CLERIGOS TOWER even I am a little bit claustrophobic :) I survived so can you and you'll enjoy in one of the best city views. <3
8. ENJOY IN RIBEIRA
The Douro riverbank and the old quarter Ribeira are probably the most popular attractions in Porto. This site is listed as World Heritage protected by UNESCO and represents the famous postcard image of the city. So beautiful <3 #nofilter
9. GO TO FAROL DE FELGUEIRAS
We went to Farol del felguerias to watch waves break and the sea pound the rocks. It was so fun spending afternoon there and that was first time we touched Atlantic Ocean.
That was at our bucket list. <3
10. FOOD, WINE AND FOOTBALL
Kiki and his friends went to Estadio do Dragao to wach football club Porto - winner of the European Cup/Champions League in 2003 and 2004 season. Previously that day they took me to Estádio do Bessa which is a Boavista's stadium. If you are traveling with someone who loves football those informations can be interesting ;)
While they were at the game I was at Portugal night in our hostel and met people who fall in love with Portugal too. We were enjoying wine, cheese and I discovered Bacalhau à bras. That's famous Portuguese traditional dish made with salt cod, potatoes and eggs. Codfish or bacalhau in Portuguese is not only a traditional dish, it's a national obsession.
And it became mine too. <3
We continued our trip from Porto to Lisabon and next week you'll see where we stopped by. <3
This is our list for the next time so feel free to add what would you recomend us for the next time.
1.TAKE A BOAT CRUISE
In Ribeira you can climb aboard on one of the many typical boats available and take a cruise down the river Douro.
2. READ A BOOK IN Livraria Lello or Lello & Irmão Bookstore
I read that J.K. Rowling’s inspiration to write Harry Potter has begun in Porto.
Do you see similarities between Lello’s bookstore staircase and the one described in Hogwarts? <3
3. #hadokasheart in JARDINS DO PALACIO DE CRISTAL
The most beautiful gardens in Porto and a magnificent view over the Douro River. It'll be perfect for hadokas heart. :)
4. PORTO BRIDGE CLIMB
A great chance to do something a little bit different and interesting way to overcome the fear of heights.
5 Trip to Espinho
Espinho is about 30 minutes ride from Porto. There is one of the most beautiful sand beach in Portugal and considering we love sand beaches this is on our list for next time. <3