A short train ride from Braga and we were in the lovely city of Porto spanning the hillsides cascading down to the Douro River. And its loveliness is officially recognized by UNESCO as Ribeira, a large part of the original city situated along the river front and adjoining hillside, has been given World Heritage status.
On the south side of the Douro River in the area of Vila Nova de Gaia. You can see the Ribeira part of Porto in the background across the river left of the bridge, that was designed by Gustave Eiffel, yes, the famous French fellow.
But before venturing off to Porto, we needed one last powdered pastry powered breakfast at our favorite cafe in Braga. Ada doubling down on her favorite and holding some sort of fruity beverage.
Exiting the old part of Braga via the city gate to get to the train station which was just outside of the old city and a short walk from where we stayed.
The blue tile work on the building to the left of me and the gate was stunning and we would come across more of it as we traveled thru Porto and Lisbon.
Yaaayy - a quick train ride to Porto and we stepped off into a throng of multiple tour groups getting the details of the station. Porto was bustling and definitely touristy in many parts but not in a bad way at all. The station was beautiful and decorated in that pale blue tile mosaic that I mentioned in the final Braga image.
Ada in our doorway with the Douro River in the background and Vila de Gaia across the river.
Our B and B/hotel was situated in Ribeira on the banks of the Douro River. The train station was located about a half mile from the river but all of Porto is on a hill, so navigating the cobblestone sidewalk with Ada's rolly suitcase was a bit of an adventure but it was a relatively short walk to get to our place. I booked all our places kind of randomly. So it was interesting to see what we got when we arrived! This was in an area that used to be all the apartments and such for the dock workers. They were going to wipe it all out a while back and build a promenade along the river like they did in Lisbon, but the people of Porto were not having that so this rather blast from the past area of Porto remains in tact and has become a very popular area - as we would fully experience in our two night there .... LOTS of restaurants and beer gardens and LOTS of people drinking LOTS of beer and fully enjoying all the live music, vendors, and other forms of entertainment situated along the river area.
Bunk beds and quite small but functional and clean and in a very interesting location. We spent little time in our hotels so it was just fine. It did require quite a walk up into Porto proper every morning as we were at ground zero regarding elevation.
Out on our "balcony" which was a sidewalk servicing the apartments and restaurants above the quay where most of the bars, restaurants, vendors and such were located.
The sidewalk and river quay below. The green doors opened into our room.
Walking up from our riverside apartment into the city, with another lovely cathedral in the background.
Another street scene. It had toasted up a bit since Braga and the sun was out for the remainder of our trip.
Another fit and another cathedral! This one had the blue mosaic covering the east wall.
So this was random. We were walking about and saw this long line portioned into time slots. It was a long line so obviously something quite popular and maybe something I did not want to miss out on! So after a bit of inquiring, we found out this was the bookstore where Miss Rowling worked for a while when she was living in Portugal and became the inspiration for whatever alley, where the wizard children go to by things, in the Harry Potter series.
Another cafe kind of situated at the "top" of Porto, where the hillside plateaus a bit. It was in a large square of, believe it or not, a cathedral!
And the Porto McDonalds, or at least the one that gets some mentions in the tourist scrolls. It used to be the Imperial Cafe and is located centrally along one of the main Porto squares. McDonalds kept the original architecture and it makes for an interesting McDonalds experience. I look angry, but I'm not - just my resting bitch face.
Slick - bit more impressive than an M.
Fancy inside.
And the infamous francesinha. It is one of the dishes that visitors are typically asked if they have tried it yet. It is various layered meats enclosed in dough covered in melted cheese and a paprikaish sauce and topped with an egg. It was fine but a lot. Ada had a mini version and I think the face was because she had just had a drink of her fizzy beverage.
The food scene was an interesting situation. I would have loved to have tried more seafood and definitely the giant grilled sardines. I enjoy regular old sardines in a can so I can only imagine how good fresh grilled ones would be. Unfortunately, imagine is all I did do to my strange "certain types of fish" allergy that leaves me very ill. I might have been able to eat more but I did not want to take the chance and end up spending a day curled up on the bathroom floor. So, we did try lots of pastries!! But I had to steer clear of the fish.
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