i can't believe i am down to my last country :( i started off in porto, the home of port wine! i'm really not huge into porto because i find it to be very sweet, but when in rome, right? the city itself isn't all that large so it was really nice walking around. however, there are a lot of hills so slippery cobblestone + hills = no fun. i should also note that portugese sounds very strange. in spain, they all spoke with lisps...well here everything sounds has a 'shhh' involved somehow. as my friend anan put it, 'retarded spanish'. i can't say that i disagree with that statement haha.
one of my friends anan met up with me in porto. we had met in seville at the oasis hostel (best hostel ever if you ever go there!). we walked around for a bit then headed down to gaia where there are lots of port wine cellars. gaia is technically another town across the river from porto. it is a beautiful area especially because you get a great view of the ribeira district of porto (essentially the waterfront). in terms of tasting, we hit up three cellars: sandeman, taylor and croft. sandeman is probably the most well-known one and the only one that cost money, but it was nice. only 4.50 euro and we got 2 tastings. taylor was personally my favorite. it was on top of a hill and had a great view. croft was great too and free! each of the tours that they give you are similar so by the time we got the cellar three, i pretty much had the spiel memorized. basically, for vintage ports, they need to sit horizontally and you gotta consume them within 24 hours after you decant them. bam.
anan had to leave later that afternoon so i was on my own again. luckily i met some cool belgians who kept me company for a few meals! there's your shoutout, bram!
the next day i wandered around the city following a walking tour from good ol' rick. it was nice although porto is a very hilly city so walking up and down those hills kills you after a while.
my time in porto was short, but i loved it so much! the city was very charming and the people were so friendly. people forewarned me that the portugese speak even less english than the spanish, but i've found the opposite--thank goodness!
the first night i arrived i actually went to a bbq at the hostel owner's house. my hostel is owned by two young brothers and they like socializing/making a few more euros off their guests so they invited us over and grilled up some meat paired with sangria. i was ok with it because i miss bbqing a lot.
one of my friends anan met up with me in porto. we had met in seville at the oasis hostel (best hostel ever if you ever go there!). we walked around for a bit then headed down to gaia where there are lots of port wine cellars. gaia is technically another town across the river from porto. it is a beautiful area especially because you get a great view of the ribeira district of porto (essentially the waterfront). in terms of tasting, we hit up three cellars: sandeman, taylor and croft. sandeman is probably the most well-known one and the only one that cost money, but it was nice. only 4.50 euro and we got 2 tastings. taylor was personally my favorite. it was on top of a hill and had a great view. croft was great too and free! each of the tours that they give you are similar so by the time we got the cellar three, i pretty much had the spiel memorized. basically, for vintage ports, they need to sit horizontally and you gotta consume them within 24 hours after you decant them. bam.
bridge from porto to gaia
view of porto
anan had to leave later that afternoon so i was on my own again. luckily i met some cool belgians who kept me company for a few meals! there's your shoutout, bram!
the next day i wandered around the city following a walking tour from good ol' rick. it was nice although porto is a very hilly city so walking up and down those hills kills you after a while.
view from a church tower
inside of the train station
my time in porto was short, but i loved it so much! the city was very charming and the people were so friendly. people forewarned me that the portugese speak even less english than the spanish, but i've found the opposite--thank goodness!
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