“Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.”

Paulo Coelho

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and just a few hours north of Lisbon. Since COVID, many US expats have settled in this city, and I can see why. It has a cheaper cost of living than the US, the charm of a European city, and a laid back lifestyle.

We started with a driving tour around the city, from the football stadium to the mansions to the large city park. It’s a big city that doesn’t feel big. Then we headed into the center and started our walking tour. There were quaint shops and buildings with beautifully bright tiled exteriors. New buildings were mixed in with historical ones, but unlike Lisbon, this city had “ambience”. We started our day with rain, but Porto didn’t disappoint us and we were rewarded with a glorious sunny afternoon.

The train station is said to be one of the busiest stations that has more patrons entering and exiting without ever riding a train. Many tourists come to admire the beautiful interior. The Sao Bento Station was built between 1900 and 1916. As much as I tried to capture the beauty of the 20,000 plus tiles that adorn the great entry, I couldn’t quite capture the detail and beauty. You’ll just have to visit Porto to see it for yourself. The ceiling is as beautiful as the tiles, so don’t forget to look up if you go.

Next we headed to Flower Street. I decided to share my pictures from the afternoon when the sun was shining. The vibrant tiled buildings came alive in the sun, and there were so many shops and cafes. If you look down some of the side streets, you may be surprised by a beautiful mural on the side of a building.

Porto has a lot of hills. If you come, be prepared and have shoes with good “grip” as the cobblestones can become a bit slippery when wet. I had to laugh when the tour guide pointed out Igreja da Misericordia, the church of mercy or compassion. It’s a personal joke in my family about one of my grandmothers. It was either misericordia or porca misera coming out of her mouth when something was troubling her. Nonna was here in Porto with me!

We went for a Douro River cruise, but with the rain, it was a waste of time. I saw much nicer views on my 2.5 mile walk back to the hotel along the river.

The highlight of the day was when we crossed the river to Gaia and headed to W. & J. Graham’s, one of the finest producers of port. Port is not grown in Porto as some may think, but the grapes are shipped here and the port is aged in hundreds of barrels and casks in this building. I learned so much about port. It’s funny, I never liked it when I was younger, but as you get older your tastes change. Maybe it’s just the Tawny ports I don’t really care for, but the Ruby and Vintage ports were fabulous. I bought a bottle of each to bring home. A few things I learned on the tour:

• Vintage ports are determined by a group in Porto. An 18-month sample of the port is sent for a blind taste test. If it meets the high standards of a vintage, the producer is notified, and they immediately bottle it. Vintage port ages in the bottle, not in a barrel like other ports. Once you open a bottle of vintage port, it should be consumed within 24-hours.
• Ports are not like other wines that have a year. They have an age. You’ll see 10-year old port, 20-year old port, etc. The age is the average age of the vintage in the port you are drinking. They mix various vintages to get the right combination.
• There is no single varietal of grape in a port. There are about 80 different types of grapes that are used to produce port.
• There are many different types of port, including a white port that should be consumed chilled. At the store they gave me a temperature guide for some ports (in Celsius)- Six Grapes 16C, Malvedos 16C, and Tawny at 12C.

What started out as a dreary day, ended up being glorious, and it wasn’t just the port! On my way back to the hotel, I got to see the beautiful bridges and landscape of the city.

Next we head to Spain. We’ll be setting our clocks ahead an hour as we cross the border, and in Europe we’ll set them back an hour on Saturday night. Next stop is Santiago de Compostela.

Ciao 💕