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Two months later (oops), I’m back with Part 4 of our Portugal trip. After one night in Faro, we took another early morning train to Porto! We had been waiting until the last minute to decide when to go to Porto, because it’s famous for being consistently rainy, but we managed to time it so that it was amazingly NOT raining when we arrived! First thing, we got checked in to the cutest Hilton I’ve ever seen. (I managed not to take any other hotel pictures with the real camera besides this one of the room, but I made some little videos that became a reel, so you can see more of what I mean if you follow me on Instagram. ;))
The hotel is the one to the left of the green building…
…directly across from the side of the beautiful Porto Cathedral (Sé Catedral.)
I was enamored with the colorful architectural details before we even left the block.
Once the Hilton concierge got us all set up with a river cruise for the evening since it was amazingly not raining, we were on a mission to find food ASAP. It was a weird time of day (late for lunch but not dinner time yet) so once again, 100% of the restaurants on my list (as recommended by Lonely Planet) were closed….
We finally found a highly populated spot with lovely outdoor dining and were so relieved to sit down for a meal at Restaurante Picota.
Alex predictably ordered seafood, which was definitely apropos for this coastal city that literally translates as “the port.”
I was excited to see Franceshina on the menu and proceeded to order this traditional local dish without reading anything else. (This place wasn’t on my restaurant list, but eating Franceshina in its native Porto WAS on my list of must-do’s!) It’s hard to tell from the photo, but in the middle of those fries is a decadent ham and cheese sandwich covered in tomato/beer sauce. It was absolutely delicious.
Time to head toward the Douro River…
The port was bustling with action!
We had a bit of time to kill before our tour, so we found another super local treat on the must-do list: our first (but not last) pastel de nata! This egg custard tart is uniquely Portuguese and so, so tasty! And we paired it with a bit of port, of course. (How many times can I write “port” in one blog post?! We drank port by the port in Porto, Portugal…. ;))
You’d think we’d had enough to eat by now, but we indulged in one more snack: roasted chestnuts! (Not my fave, to be honest.)
All aboard!
I loved the view from the river even before we went anywhere, ha!
The Six Bridges Tour was lovely! There was recorded audio explaining all kinds of history of all six bridges over the Douro, connecting Porto to Gaia.
Our tour wrapped up JUST in time for the famous Porto rain to get started. After a wet stroll, we ducked into the gorgeous São Bento train station.
The rain let up enough to allow me to keep up the photo-taking while we walked…
…to dinner at Cantina 32—finally a restaurant recommended by my trusty Lonely Planet Guide! We enjoyed this leisurely meal a lot!
Goodnight, Porto!
Don’t worry, we have one more day here. Stay tuned!
Oh! I did manage to continue the streak of one gallery wall set per blog post.
What do we think of this one?
