"Just Gotta Go...Oporto"

This is the story of our last stop in Portugal (in Porto,the second-biggest city in the country).

Before arriving in the city we really only knew two things about Porto- 1) that this is where the name for the Oporto chicken franchise comes from, since Oporto is the western name for the city; and 2) that this is the area where Port wine originates from. Unsurprisingly, there's actually a lot more to the charming little city and while we only spent 2 nights there, it was enough to sample the best of Porto.

The city itself is made up of an old downtown quarter, which although looks like it's crumbling in a state of decay is actually really charming; the riverside area of Ribeira where most of the tourist bustle is; and a long river with 6 bridges which apparently the locals are very proud of, and a very touristy thing to do is take a cruise down the river underneath all 6.

Our hostel, Yes Porto, was cheap, clean and modern and best of all it was located right in the centre of town next to the big landmark of Porto- the Clerigos Tower- so it made a perfect base for sightseeing.

Since we wanted to make the most out of our limited time, we joined a free walking tour run by the hostel. We have found these tours are the best way to get to know a city and this one was no exception. For 2.5 hours we got to get some local knowledge, and see some of the sights. One of the best sights was this little tiny church, which from the outside looked very unassuming in the corner of a little courtyard. But once we walked through the door, this is what we saw:

The Santa Clara Church is best described as a golden cave, covered top to bottom in glittering olden wood carvings- a very impressive sight.
All of the churches in Porto were pretty impressive looking (and by this stage, we have seen our fair share of churches). Yet here they were different, and if they weren't covered in gold on the inside, they would be covered in hand painted blue and white tiles on the outside, giving a bit of color to the otherwise monotone landscape of the older downtown district.

In the afternoon we decided we wanted to fit in a Port wine tasting, which were located in a different city just across the river called Gaia. Although Porto is famous for its 6 bridges, unlucky for us we were not close to any of the bridge when we decided we wanted to cross to the other side. Over an hour later of walking (and Mike pushing me along because the walk was mostly uphill), we arrived at one of the 'caves' (cellars) for a tour and tasting. Our hostel had a deal with this particular place called Graham's, and so we simply showed our wristbands and got a free tour of the cellars and a free tasting session with 3 different types of Port. I never really liked Port (mainly because the only time I tasted it was a sip from mum's cup when I was a bit younger and the taste reminded me of cough medicine) but this time it was actually really nice and sweet. The tasting was made even better by the fact the cellar had a big window overlooking Porto and the river, and I couldn't help but thinking mum would have really loved to be there tasting the port wine in such a beautiful place.

Our day ended with a nice slow walk back along the banks of Gaia and over the bridge back to Porto, followed by dinner and pub crawl with our hostel to 4 different bars in the area, conveniently all located on the two streets next to our hostel.

HARRY POTTER IN PORTO
There was one other big part of the culture of Porto that I can't forget to include, and that's the fact that some parts of the city look like they have been taken straight from the pages of Harry Potter. And there's a reason why: JK Rowling actually lived in Porto for several years when she started writing the series. So while we arrived and thought 'this place looks like Harry Potter', the locals actually say 'Harry Potter looks like Porto'.

For a start, there's the capes. Porto is a very big student town,and since university semester is just about to get underway, it was interesting to see just how different student life is over here.We had noticed people in other towns in Portugal all wearing these formal black capes and robes, as if they were all heading to Hogwarts or something. In Porto we finally found out why. Students in Portugal have these very ritualistic forms of initiation to student life: first years have an 'initiation week' where essentially they have to dress up in certain group colours, walk around with a giant wooden spoon and sing songs. The older students (the ones in the capes) follow them and basically make them do whatever they want so that they 'prove' they are ready to join student life. A local in our hostel told us that when he was a student, they would take the first years out to a forest, blindfold them, and then throw eggs at them, all in the fun of initiation to student life. For a year the new students are at the bottom of the ladder, until finally new students come, and then they are allowed to get uniforms themselves and carry on the hazing of the new people. So essentially the cape/robe outfit is a big sense of pride among students, and no matter what time day or night it is, whenever they are out they always wear their capes, meaning the streets are full of 'wizards'.

Then there's the train station. Sao Bento station is really a beautiful train station (I mean it's not hard to be beautiful when the biggest station I know in Australia is the less-than-pretty Central station in Sydney), but the foyer in Sao Bento is covered in 20,000 hand painted tiles. Inside, the tracks look EXACTLY like what I imagined platform 9 and 3/4 was like in Harry Potter...

And if that's not proof enough Jk Rowling basically wrote about Porto, stepping inside the Lello & Irmao bookshop well and truly convinced me. The big curving staircase and wooden ceiling looks like it was taken straight off the set of Harry Potter and placed in Porto. While the signs said everywhere that photos were forbidden, I managed to get a sneaky little one in...

AND THE FOOD DIARY
I've had a realisation: I think about half of this blog is about food. But since travel is about experiencing new culture, and food is one of the biggest parts of culture, I see no shame in that. (For the record, we do still eat fruit and vegetables on an almost daily basis, and when we can we cook rice and stir-frys packed with vegetables, so there's still hope for us yet).. But here's the 'culture' we experienced in Porto:

*Little French Girl
The Franceshina is a sandwich... A sandwich that could probably kill you. It's two slices of bread, filled with ham, meat, and sausage, covered with melted cheese on the outside, lathered in a spicy tomato, beer and secret ingredient sauce, served on chips. I concede, you can call us fatties on this one. But we had heard that this is one of the things Porto is famous for, and it actually has an interesting story behind it- inspired by a French man who came to Portugal, he took the idea of the French 'croquette' to the extreme. He invented it at a time when ladies were pretty reserved, and his theory was that if a lady ate a hot, meaty sandwich, she would need to strip off some layers of clothing, and wash it down with a beer to cool down. And an undressing, drinking lady was apparently more agreeable. Our tour guide told us that since then, ladies were looked down upon if seen eating a Franceshina. Lucky for us that was in the past and so Mike and I went to a place that had apparently won the 'best Franceshina award' for 3 years in a row. And although I'm not normally a huge meat person, it was amazing. The sauce on top with its secret ingredients was the best. We shared one between us which makes it ok, right?

*Portugese BBQ
On our last day before we were about to catch an overnight train (more on that next time), we decided to have a good lunch so we didn't have to buy something at an overpriced cafeteria later. We went to a Portugese BBQ place that had been recommended to us, and never have we seen so much food for the price we paid. For about €8 each, mike got a big steak, egg, a huge plate of rice and another one of chips; I got squid and a big plate of roasted jacket potatoes. It was the first time this trip that we had to walk away without finishing our meals. Seriously, how the Portugese are not the most obese people has me amazed...

*Eclairs
We tracked down a place, Leitaria Da Quinta Do Paco, that had the reputation of the best Eclairs in the city. We indulged in a traditional chocolate one, and a caramel one, and the whipped cream filling and toppings were the best thing I have ever tasted. I am sure I will probably say that again about something else soon, but for now this one wins.

ROUTE UPDATE:
After 12 nights, that's the end of our Portugal trip. Next up, we will go back through San Sebastian in Spain, pop over the border to Biarritz in France, head north and visit a friend in La Rochelle, then on to Paris! And then by mid October, we will be heading to London. Better get the umbrella ready now...