Hello friends! I’m writing to you happily but not without a healthy dose of longing (saudade, is that you?) because Aaron and I left our cute little perch in Porto for the northern climes of Braga (it’s definitely hotter than expected). While we are definitely delighted with our new digs in a building that dates to 1513 (!! – don’t worry, they’ve been stylishly updated), I have to admit I already missed Porto. Simply put, I loved Porto. It is such a beautiful place, not only because of its youthful effervescence burbling up with all the different musicians on the streets and the seagulls calling throughout the day, but also because of the way its slightly mysterious as I talked about in my last post. Whatever the case, I think Aaron and I found our favorite Portuguese city (though, never fear! Lisbon is a veeeeery close second). I thought I’d do a brief little recap of all that we say, ate, and did over our last few days in Porto – which is actually quite a lot, but I will admit is for both of our memories ;)
The panorama from the top of the Torre dos clérigos.
On Saturday, we started the day with a panomramic view of the city from the monumental Torre dos Clérigos (with a much more detailed museum exhibit than expected). After that, we visited the divine tinned-fish mecca of Conservas Pinhais & Cia in Matosinhos, a suburb outside of Porto city. We got the recommendation to do the factory tour from our friend Imogen (hi Imogen!) and let me tell you: if you go to Porto, this tour is a not-to-miss. Completely charming and totally delicious, the tour started with a walk through the twentieth-century deco offices of the original company (in use until pre-pandemic), continued with a couple of well-produced and frankly heart-wrenching videos about the fishing industry, followed by a uniformed traverse of the factory floor where the sardines are cleaned and canned, and finished with an absolutely delightful tasting of Pinhais’ signature “Nuri” sardines (our favorite were the spicy ones). It was informative and just an all-around treat.
Suited up and ready to can some sardines at Conservas Pinhais & Cia.
Sardine heaven (the butter was sardine compound butter).
From there, we headed to the Confeitaria de Bolhão, a classic café, for an afternoon sweet treat. We split a piece of chocolate cake and a bolo de berlim, which is essentially an egg dough croissant or doughnut filled with egg custard. I paired mine with a galão, or a milk coffee, and Aaron got an espresso. The confeitaria is just across the street from the Mercado do Bolhão, Porto’s iconic open-air market, with all the classic fruit and vegetable stalls. Though our shopping that afternoon did not include them, we did end up going back on Monday to get the amazing fruit cups filled with freshly cut fruit for €2,50. Walking back from the market, we stopped in the gorgeous and historic São Bento train station, covered in blue and white azulejos before rounding up our evening on the Rua das Flores with dinner at Candido dos Reis. We topped off the night with a night cap at Base Porto.
Some sweetness at Confeitaria de Bolhão.
Mounds of garlic at the Mercado de Bolhão.
Base Porto from above.
On Sunday, we had a slow morning in our lovely apartment before walking around the neighborhood. After coffee and breakfast on our porch, we ended up stopping at the iconic Livraria Lello, which supposedly inspired JK Rowling. We ended up at the Fundaçao Serralves , Porto’s contemporary art museum and park, in the evening, where we saw an amazing exhibit of Alexander Calder and Joan Miró – the wire sculptures were amazing! We ended up getting home later than expected that evening after an okay meal at the Italian place Grazie Mille. Overall, it was a very sweet weekend that just revealed all the amazing things we saw, tasted, and experienced in beautiful Porto. I have more to write (including a mini-tour of Porto’s Jewish quarter), and plan to finish this in another post with lots more historical context and detail. But for now it’s late and I’m off to bed. Até amanhã!
A Calder at the entrance of the Serralves Museum.