Before the tour, I headed to the Mercado do Bolhão - the local market! If there is a local market, you will definitely see me there - discovering the local produce of the region, understanding how the produce changes throughout the seasons and also because I ❤️ fruits! I usually buy a lot of fruits to snack on throughout the day.
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| FIGUS! Love figs - especially the fresh ones (Unfortunately the fresh figs are harvested in the summer, I had the dried ones instead - still love them!) |
With the supply of fruits, I headed to Majestic Cafe for breakfast. It is famous because it's Belle Epoque-era cafe with ornate interior - carved wood, mirrors, and chandeliers.
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| Cafe Majestic |
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| Majestic French Toast |
Yes, another thing I discovered about the Portuguese, the desserts and pastries are not sweet. They use less sugar (but A LOT OF SALT!). I had many local pastries throughout Portugal, and none were too sweet - which I absolutely love!
Then I headed to Praça da Liberdade (Liberty Square) to start the tour with my guide (identified by his red t-shirt), Pedro. The tour group was to wait by the statue of King Dom Pedro IV.
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| Praca da Liberdade - The City Hall in view |
What I found out:
- King Dom Pedro IV was King Dom Pedro I in Brazil. He was the first ruler of the Empire of Brazil - and apparently the Brazilians hated him cause he stole from them, amongst other bad things. That is the case with imperialism!
- Porto once was ruled by the Bishop of the Catholic Church. When the new 'Mayor' was in power, he asked for permission from the Bishop to build a city hall. As a form of 'subtle' revenge, he built it right in front of a church.. lol (there is a church directly behind the City Hall).
- J.K Rowling taught English in Porto. She fell in love with the city and extended her stay. It is speculated that there is where she got the idea of the narrow lanes of Diagon Alley and Flourish & Blotts (from the Livraria Lello & Irmão).
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| Narrow lanes (on the way down to the Riberia) |
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| Livraria Lello & Irmao |
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| Twisted staircase - inside the library |
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| Albus? |
- Porto's main railway station, Sao Bento was previously a monastery. It was rebuilt to a station when the monastery caught fire (there is speculation the fire might have been deliberately ignited so that the station could be built). The interior of the vestibule is beautifully adorned with art made with Azulejo (tiles). It is all around the walls of the vestibule.
- On one part of the wall, the art depicts the marriage of John I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt (English). The marriage symbolised a long-standing alliance between Portugal and England - till this day! The Portuguese-English alliance is the world's oldest recorded military alliance, which apparently inspired the formation of NATO. (Good or bad? You decide.)
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| Azulejo art |
- The art was the work of Jorge Colaço, the most important azulejo painter of the time - who was a perfectionist. He was brainwashed by the church that he should not be perfect with the railway station because it isn't a place of worship. Hence, there is one azulejo which was 'misplaced'.
- The city of Porto was protected by walls to prevent invasion from outsiders, especially the Spaniards. When the walls were up, there weren't a single attack from anyone. But the city was growing larger - beyond the confines of the wall, and as the walls were serving no purpose, the walls were removed. When removed - the French attacked! Lol
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The walls |
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| View from the walls - you can walk across the Ponte Dom Luis I (on the upper deck) and you get a lovely view of Porto and Gaia |
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| View of Gaia |
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| Porto on the right and Gaia on the left |
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| Porto Cathedral (Se) |
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| Porto Se |
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| The beautiful azulejo facade of Igreja do Carmo |
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| Inside the church |
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| Igreja Monumento de São Francisco |
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| View of Rio Duoro from the church |
- Portugal has surprisingly exquisite churches. I find them more beautiful than the Italian and Spanish churches! (Let's exclude the Sistine Chapel.)
- The word 'dis-oriented' comes from Latin which means to deviate from the North. This was used during the exploration era of the Portuguese. Based on this, I am disoriented right now! Lol
- Portugal is known for its good leather and produces cheap leather shoes. WHAT?! I didn't know that. Isn't Italy known for its leather? Only 4% of the world's leather footwear come from Portugal, compared to Italy's 15% - WHY DON'T YOU MARKET THAT PORTUGAL?! The moment I heard that, I thought, "Perfect! I needed flats anyways"! However, I went a bit extreme....
- As I said I needed a pair of flats - so after the tour and walking around, I got a pair of these in Porto:
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| Leather loafers |
- Well, then I wanted a pair ballerina flats for work. I got this pair in Braga (more about that in the next post).
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| Ballerina flats |
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| Aren't they fabulous?! |
- Just as I thought NO MORE! I saw a pair in Lisboa (Lisbon).. and I was like, I don't have one in that colour..... and only 13 Euros... why not?! :S That was the last pair I got... phew! I got another 'shoevenir' from Madeira though... more about that later! :S
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| Final pair! Phew.... |
- The tour ended at the Riberia. Before it ended, Pedro, our guide, took us to have the best chocolate cake in all of Porto. It was truly one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever tasted - moist and just the right level of sweetness!
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| Cozinha Doce (somewhere in the narrow lanes on the way down to the Riberia) |
- The shop also sells chocolate mousse. Luckily, there was a Mexican girl in the group who bought that and I managed to try a spoonful from her. (Another reason I love walking tours - a good place to make friends with like-minded people :)). The mousse: so decadent! Sinfully rich! It has a slight coffee-ish flavour. It's so good, it's bad!
After the tour, I chilled at the Virtudes Gardens. There were so many people drinking and watching the sunset whilst there was music playing. I thought there was some sort of festival, but I found out from someone that someone posted on Facebook to have drinks and watch the sunset at the gardens. One post led to another and eventually lead to this. That's the power of social media - I found this really cool.
Contented with my purchase and fully relishing the city. I had dinner at none other than O Caracas (the same place I went to on my first night). So divine, I went back twice!
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| Cozy restaurant. The 'mother' in a red t-shirt and white cap. |
That night, the fish dish is hake fillet with rice and potatoes. The hake fish was amazing! It was marinated to perfection - just the right amount of lemon and salt! The fish was not overdone, and the batter: thin. A fine way to end the day!
My last full day in Porto was delightful. I insist, if time permits, for you to do at least one walking tour with the Porto Walkers! - An inexpensive way to fully discover and enjoy the city: you learn so much, meet so many people and can get tips from the local guide!
Boa noite!
P.S If you have any comments or questions, please leave them in the comments box below :)
