“How much of ourselves do we leave behind after departing a place we loved?” – Old Sean
A Line in the Land
Visiting different countries in Europe is always entertaining because a person can very clearly point out the natural geographical boundaries that eventually solidified into modern boarders.
For example, it’s simple to note the Pyrenes mountains keeping Spain away from France and a big moat called the Channel letting the UK maintain distinction from the Continent. And between Spain and Portugal, these natural boundaries manifest as a rugged, rock-plagued grounds of white jagged boulders. Driving through provided splendid mountain views on the way into visiting Porto.
A Impression Visiting Porto
I absolutely adore Porto.
The streets are active, welcoming and unjaded with orange-pink-roofed building at staggered heights granting stupendous and sudden panoramas. The cobblestoned pathways are often narrow and veer suddenly into soft niches filled with odd assortments and sights.
I spent my first night in Porto alongside a young German lady trekking south named Jill. We met at our shared hostel, the Being Porto Hostel (highly recommended) and visited a tiny alcove known as The Wine Barrel near the Parca da Ribeira (even more highly recommended). Afterwards we checked out some of the night overlooks facing the river.
Jill was on a personal pilgrimage, hiking some of the grand routes of Europe gradually heading south. For myself, I had my strange, whirlwind work schedule to adhere to. The following morning, I struck out alone to visit other places in Porto.
Points of Interest in Porto
At dawn, I visited the Gardens of the Crystal Palace. This is a great park made much better by the wide assortment of semi-domesticated birds that call the grounds home. Ducks, an odd, green parakeet, peacocks, pigeons, geese, chickens and their endearingly clumsy offspring compete in mild fray for bread crumbs provided by the local caretakers.
Later, once the city had begun waking up, I headed back into town. I saw Liveria Lello, which is a stunning dream-designed bookshop. I highly recommend arriving early, since there was a line fast-forming by the time I left.
Next, I walked through Rua Das Flores, a fun little trip with music boxes, shopping and a giant cat painting taking up an entire building.
I don’t usually make a point of visiting shops (as I’m impoverished and devoid of style) but I also visited the Don Lopo clothing shop based out of an ancient hospital. The classy shop provides olive oil samples alongside some suits I retain a deep fascination for. One of my main jobs that put me through university was my work at a suit shop in Dallas.
An Opportunity for Overlooks
Heading further upwards, I made it to the iconic Luis I Bridge which offers fantastic views provided you don’t accidently topple into the oncoming train lines.
After crossing the bridge and consuming my sole orange for brunch, it was an easy trip to look at Se do Porto (Porto Cathedral) which is, yes, pretty. However, I’m starting to have trouble expressing the lack of interest I have for all the iconic religious structures in European cities.
Within the Streets
Anyway, after a quick bypass of another stunning Cathedral I nearly skipped, I made it to Douro Azul, Rua de Miragaia. This particular area is everything I really wanted on a city street.
There’s a random warehouse building called Armazem, which is filled with artistic antiques decorated on the outside with colorful sitting chairs plastered to the walls.
Nearby, there’s an ode to adventure museum called the World of Discoveries, which focuses on Portuguese Age of Exploration history. Even though it’s a children’s museum, it’s still quite nice.
I ended up eating a later lunch at an almost-hidden restaurant called Chez Dany, which boasts a mean tuna salad.
Reclining on Shores
Overall, Porto was absolutely crammed with cool and interesting stuff. I was thoughouly happy with my lap throughout the city.
I finished up my day by heading out to the coast, Rua do Passeio Alegre Porto and Homem do Leme Beach, which was positively packed with people.
The beach itself is fun to pick across, with a lot of the ocean churning oddly over barely-covered knuckles of stone. There are also many miniature universes made of tide pools locked on land until the tide reclaims them. T
In the early afternoon, I finally returned to my hostel. I’d seen and done everything I was interested in while visiting Porto, and quickly caught train heading south to Coimbra next.
Coimbra is only about two hours away by train, so I needed to type this fast. Currently, the sun is beginning to reach monumental levels of heat, so I’m dreading getting out of this air-conditioned vehicle.
But heat-wave or no, Coimbra awaits.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written August 4th, 2018
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More than ten years ago, I abandoned my military surplus store backpack for a Farpoint 40 Osprey Travel Pack. I’ve never replaced my bag since. Two years ago, I bought two more Osprey Backpacks for my younger siblings on their first tour outside the country. I have nothing but praise for Osprey Products.
