Postcards from Porto
We arrived at Porto’s Campanha station at 3pm and, after checking into our AirBnB, set off to explore some of Porto’s most famous sights. We began at Igreja do Carmo, a beautiful church with a completely tiled wall on its left-hand side. Then it was onto Livraria Lello, a beautiful bookshop made famous by the Harry Potter franchise. Our sightseeing on arrival day finished at Estação de São Bento, a gorgeous train station with an interior bedecked from wall to ceiling with, you guessed it, more beautiful tiles.
Porto was, like Lisbon, awash with beautiful tiled buildings and steep hills but there was something different about the city, despite the aesthetic similarities between the two. On our first afternoon we were hooked. Porto’s ambiance is relaxed, traditional and authentic. Lisbon is all these things too but Porto, as the smaller city, is a little more compact and manageable to explore on foot in a few days, which lends itself to a laid-back atmosphere. Despite their differences, the people are warm and welcoming in both cities.
This station is stunning. This may seem like an unusual landmark to add to your sightseeing tour but São Bento station is really quite breathtaking. In the late evening sun, the shadows cast across the diamond-tiled floors adds a dramatic light story to the station.
We finished our evening with a fantastic dinner at Tascö. The food and cocktails here were really fantastic. We began with their take on steak tartare that came in homemade taco shells (we would have happily eaten about three of these each). For our main meal we shared seabass with fresh vegetables, truffle cauliflower cheese puree and a small side of chorizo rice. We chose the refreshing tangerine, yuzo, grapefruit and citrus crumble for dessert. Moreover, the staff were absolutely wonderful, so friendly and informative. Tascö was one of our food highlights across the whole trip, so we would definitely recommend booking a table here.
We began our first full day with brunch at Protest Kitchen, whose slogan is ‘average vibe, ordinary food, drinkable coffee’. As you can probably tell, it is the opposite of these mediocre descriptions.
We spent the rest of our day exploring the incredible park and museum of Serralves. This is a truly remarkable place and one we believe everyone should visit when in Porto. Serralves is home to a modern art gallery, art deco house and extensive park which features a treetop walk, lake and allotment gardens.
We began our visit at the gallery. It is full of art from largely unknown (but very talented) Portuguese and international artists. There was an interesting exhibition that dealt with contemporary issues and themes such as climate change, globalisation, and politics. We were particularly drawn to the first installation – Hope Hippo – which was of a hippopotamus sat amongst strewn newspapers with a live figure perched on its back reading a newspaper and sporadically blowing a whistle. This is a counter-memorial and performance art piece by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla. The work subverts the idea of the historical monument, especially those of ‘great men’ sat atop horses in classical statues. In the place of equestrian models, Allora and Calzadilla use their etymological cousin, the hippopotamus, or ‘river horse’. In contrast to the elevated, permanent materials of classical sculpture like marble and bronze, this monument has been created from mud. Hope Hippo incites a debate on the relationship between civilisation and barbarism. The figure that sits upon the hippo is a human ‘whistle-blower’, literally and figuratively. They read the global news and blow their whistle, sounding the alarms of injustice.
In every room clusters of flowers in different stages of decay were scattered around the floor. These quite striking sculptures were made from hand moulded wax. Another interesting piece featured an old petrol pump petrified in stone, a comment on the modern use and reliance on fossil fuels. We were also interested in the installation that commented on food distribution, rationing and insecurity by the multidisciplinary artist Carla Filipe. Traditional Portuguese sweets and food, like bacalhau, were suspended from the ceiling, creating a sensory jungle you could walk through.
After the museum we headed to the art deco house. The art deco mansion looks like something from Wes Anderson’s imagination, something intensified by its coral pink façade and mint exterior details. The Serralves Villa was built in the 1930s and belonged to Count Carlos Alberto Cabral who used it as a private residence. It has stayed in its original art deco magnificence since its conception and now hosts great art exhibitions. During our visit there was a fantastic exhibition on the relationship between Joan Miró’s and Alexander Calder’s artworks. Outside the villa is one of Calder’s most famous and iconic sculptures: Horizontal.
There is a third museum in the park – the House of Cinema – and this is a small but interesting museum dedicated to Portuguese filmmakers. We watched the first few scenes of Abraham’s Valley, a 1993 drama film directed by Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira.
We spent the rest of our visit wandering the 18 hectares of parkland, which is full of formal gardens, woodlands, lakes and even a farm where we were quite taken with the resident roosters and hens.
We finished the day with dinner at Bartolomeu Bistro, a chic restaurant serving typical Portuguese dishes with a French touch.
June is a special month for Portuguese cities, it is a month of celebrations for Las Fiestas de los Santos Populares. Multicoloured garlands, paper lanterns, flags and decorations festoon the balconies and add a vibrant festivity to the city’s streets. This festival atmosphere is certainly apparent on the streets of Porto and the decorations around Largo da Pena Ventosa were particularly striking. Near this square is a splendid miradouro on Rua das Aldas.
After exploring the garland-laden streets we headed for breakfast. We had a really interesting conversation about London, Porto locals, independent businesses and European weather with the man running Fariña, a bakery that serves the most delicious sourdough croissants.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing, making use of the pool at our accommodation.
We had a late dinner at Generosa, a ‘hole in the wall’ pizzeria. This place is a gem. We sat on the street, people watched and shared their marinara and cipolla pizzas. If you have ever been to Porto, or Lisbon for that matter, you will know that trams, buses, cars and scooters share the narrow, cobbled roads. There are very few one way streets, just a country full of fearless drivers. Generosa is situated on a street corner and the start of our meal was punctuated by the piercing horn blares of a bus driver who refused to make the turn because a car was parked slightly outside the lines. Of course, he could make the turn but clearly acting on principle, he let everyone on the street know the car was parked illegally. After about half an hour he eventually decided to make the turn…the bus stuck a few cars behind him made the turn without so much as a second glance. Apparently, according to staff, this happens every single night. I am sure the neighbours would be rather frustrated at this daily horn affair, but it added some humour to our evening meal and sometimes you feel moments like that add to the personal stories of a holiday.
On our last day we headed to the river, enjoying the sights of Cais da Ribeira de Gaia and Ponte Luís I. We crossed the Douro River and went up to the miradouro of Serra do Pilar to take in the sweeping views of Porto and watch the rabelo boats cruise the river. They’re reminiscent of Viking boats but these boats are far from a gimmick, their function is central to the history of Porto. Rabelo boats used to carry barrels of Port wine from the Douro Valley vineyards to Porto wine cellars.
After taking in the river, we walked over the top of Ponte Luís I and stopped for a glass of wine at Rooftop Flores to absorb more beautiful views of Porto’s rooftops. This tranquil rooftop bar, full of clementine trees, offers a particularly striking view of Porto Cathedral. This was a real high note to our final day.
Muito obrigado/a Portugal, until next time.