Allie in Spain (and Ireland): Porto: A Weekend in Portugal

Last weekend, I went to Portugal with a couple of my friends (pictures already on facebook for those of you who stalk). Now, Portugal isn't exactly a popular tourist destination, especially for Americans, and I have to say that this makes me really sad because I LOVED it. I probably never would have gone there if I weren't in Spain and so close, because it's just one of the destinations that gets skipped when Americans come to Europe, but I'm so glad that I went. The culture, the food, the WINE, the weather and the people were all just great.

Ok so, details. Being the cheap college students that we are, we decided to go to Porto, instead of the capital, Lisbon. We had heard good things about both cites and the tickets to Porto were WAY cheaper (about 40 euros round trip). The other great thing about Porto is that it's not a huge tourist hub so the hostels are really cheap and nice. Seriously, the hostel we stayed in was AMAZING. It was really clean, cute, and the staff were very helpful in pointing out things to do. It was right in the city center, with a view of the Palacio de Bolsa, or the stock exchange which is a Neoclassical building constructed in the 19th century. It really couldn't have been better.

Now Porto is the 2nd largest city in Portugal, but it feels very, very small. The city proper has a population of about 220,000, but it has a very extensive urban area of about 1.3 million. It is located on the Douro river, about 5 miles from the ocean. It's historic center is also a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site, and that's where we spent most of our time.

The first day, we arrived at the hostel, after a 50 minute flight (and about as long a metro ride) at about 10:30. After speaking with the manager of the hostel, we headed out to explore the town. First we walked by City Hall and continued to the Oporto Cathedral, which is of the Romanesque style and was constructed in the 12th century. We also entered the Clerigos Church so that we could go up the famous tower, the tallest structure in Porto (and what used to be the tallest structure in Portugal until the Vasco De Gama tower was built in 1998 in Lisbon). It is about 250 feet high and takes a steep climb of 240 stairs to reach the top. The views were amazing though. After that, we continued on to the city's biggest park (name unknown) where there is a huge pavilion and gorgeous views of the river. There was also a short detour in a playground during which we get really weird looks from Portuguese pre-teens.

After this, it was time to get some lunch. We went to a small bodega that our hostel recommended, but ran into problems with the fact that nobody spoke English or Spanish, and could not seem to understand our attempts to turn Spanish into Portuguese. That compounded by the fact that one of my friends doesn't eat pork or fish (she keeps kosher), sort of eradicated that option. We went to another restaurant, which we thought would be fine, and it was, until the bill came. Turns out all the bread they were bringing to the table wasn't actually free. They even charged us for butter. No jokes. You live, you learn. Then we headed back to the hostel to relax for a while. We had a really good mix of people in our hostel, a few from Brazil, one girl from Mexico studying in London and another American studying in Rome who was on spring break. I really enjoyed talking with them, and we spoke a lot of Spanish because it was easier for some of them. We went to dinner later, and turned in early because we know we had a long day ahead of us.

We woke up the next morning and checked out of the hostel. Here's where the story gets interesting. Our flight back to Madrid on Sunday left at 6am, so we had to take a taxi to the airport around 4. That being said, in all of our infinite, cheap, college student-minded wisdom, we decided not to stay in the hostel Saturday night. We never go to bed until at least 2 in the morning anyway (that's if you come home early), so why pay 17 euro to get only an hour of sleep? Flawless logic. Fortunately, the hostel was nice enough to let us keep our stuff there until we left otherwise it probably would have been pretty terrible. So, after that, we headed off to the beach. It was a trip goal to put our feet in the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean. The city bus got us there in about 20 minutes and it was pretty cool. Definitely something I can check off my list. The water was FREEZING though. The American that we stayed with in the hostel said he went swimming...he must've been nuts. Then we went back into town and perused the local market which had a nice selection of fresh fruits (strawberries are finally in season) and we got some lunch. For lunch, I decided to try a Portugese favorite: the Francechina Sandwich, also known as the most artery clogging sandwich known to man. It is a toasted sandwich with a layer of steak and several sausages, covered in cheese and drowned in a spicy sauce. Yum. As per usual, my friends were awed by my food consumption abilities. Then we walked down to the river and explored the boardwalk shops and did a little souvenir shopping. One store we entered was ran by an Indian man, who was clearly enthused about the opportunity to get to practice his English. My friend Michelle, who is actually a completely white, Jewish girl, but has some darker features so sometimes gets people thinking that she's Spanish, was asked if she was actually American. The guy then proceeded to look at me and say "She, I can see, is truly American." Yep.

After that, we headed across the river to the biggest feature on the other side: wineries. Porto is famous for it's Port Wine. There are dozens of wineries lined along the river which offer pretty cheap tastings/tours. We went to Sandeman, which was founded by a Scotsman in 1790. All of the grapes are grown and wines made in the Douro valley, about 35 miles from Porto and then transported there to be stored and aged. All Port wines must age for at least 3 years but most of them age for at least 10. We paid 4 euros to get a tour of the cellars and tasting of 2 wines which were both DELICIOUS. One of them was the white Porto, of which Sandeman only makes one variation, and the other was a Tawney which is a light red. They also make a variety of Rubys. For some reason (maybe because it's so sweet that you just feel like you're drinking juice), I really liked the Port wine. I know that by American standards, it's usually only considered a dessert wine but they suggested lots of other ways to serve it. That was my first wine tasting experience, and I really enjoyed it.

By then it was dark out, and there wasn't much left to do except eat dinner and find ways to fill the night until leaving at 4 in the morning. One of the guys who worked in the hostel, a Brazilian studying in Portugal, took us out to various Porto night life spots and it wasn't hard to stay occupied until 4 in the morning. When we got on the plane, we all passed out (unfortunately only for the 50 minute flight) and were pretty much zombies the whole way back. I think I am still recovering.

So that was Portugal. In other news, things in Madrid are going well. Today, I FINALLY had my interview for my internship and I will be starting when I return from the wedding. I will be working at a company called Fundacion Autor (Author's Foundation) which works with authors, editors, publishers, art galleries, theaters and other cultural businesses to help promote the development of such industries. I'll be working in the Economics and Finance Department. I'm not really sure what to expect, but at this point I'm just happy to be starting since it has taken so long for her to find me a placement. During my interview, my supervisor told me that I'll also get tickets to plays and art shows and the like, so that will be awesome. Classes are going well, and the work load is starting to pick up a little as I have 2 big group projects early next month. My Spanish is getting a lot better, and I'm finally starting to feel like I'm becoming fluent. Other than that, I'm excited to see ya'll this weekend!