Hello everyone! The (20M) study abroad student here, and this weekend, I went to Porto! I had pretty high expectations for Porto, and I can say that it didn’t disappoint. I’ll admit that I got very lazy when it came to researching Porto because I was a bit busy with essays, so this was actually the first weekend trip that I had totally winged. It was a bit stressful, but everyone went well in the end! As always, mile counts listed below as a reference for the amount of ground covered.
Day 1: Porto
In the morning, I went up to the Porto Cathedral, which has a lovely balcony with some great views of the city. One thing about Porto is that it feels older and more aged than Lisbon (which feels shiny and new by comparison), with its mossy roofs and overgrown foliage popping out of the cracks of the building that I had noticed from this vantage point. From there, I wandered the winding and narrow streets below the Cathedral, with some lovely, colorful buildings and rustic street lamps before heading back up towards the plaza around the Fonte dos Leoes, which is a beautiful, turquoise colored fountain, surrounded by an imposing university building on one side and a pretty church on the corner on another side. After grabbing some breakfast, I went to the Carmen Convent, which was the aforementioned church, since I heard that it had good reviews, even if I wasn’t originally planning on visiting. It’s cute, with a lovely little altar with Jesus wearing a sun-inspired headpiece (which is something that is strangely popular in Portugal, and especially Porto for some reason) surrounded by gold ornaments, but in comparison to the churches I’ll visit the next day, it was a bit quaint, to say the least. There are some cool displays, a somewhat interesting hidden room, and a decent but limited view from the roof–there was a pro-Palestine protest happening outside, so that occupied much of my view of the plaza.
From there, I wandered outwards, stumbling upon these gorgeous terraced gardens (Parque de Virtudades) that weren’t even mentioned in any guide that I had read, which was a surprise because it’s a fascinating park. Tons of amazing views of the city alongside the river, of course, but some great views of the homes on the sides of the hills and the overgrown vegetation cascading down the ancient-looking steps and walls. It was a nice place to catch my breath and relax a bit before heading down to the busy waterfront of Porto, which was pretty but became much more beautiful when I crossed over to Gaia, the neighborhood on the other side of Porto, which just gave these stunning views of the hilly historical center, especially since some of the largest buildings are perched atop the hill, easily visible from the riverfront. When the setting sun peeked out from behind the clouds for just a handful of minutes, it painted all the buildings with this golden light that highlighted their warm colors, from the creamy yellow walls to the oranges of the rooftops. I attempted to rush up to the Moorish Gardens to see if I could get some cool pictures while the sun was out but by the time I hiked up to the top, the clouds had once again obscured it. But that doesn’t mean that the view from on top wasn’t amazing, from the bend in the river covered in dense swathes of multicolored building that jutted out to the lights on the bridge and homes reflecting on the Douro River as the sky darkened. After heading back to my hostel taking a small break to wait out the pouring rain, I decided to get some dessert and explore Porto at night, which was beautifully lit and lent itself to some great pictures of the aforementioned churches, fountains, and plazas that I had wandered throughout the day, not to mention the lively nightlife atmosphere.
Mile Count: 15.2