Arrival in Porto

Sightseeing in Porto – Sat 28th & Sun 29th May 2016

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Leaving Coimbra on an Intercidades (IC) train at 11:33 am I arrived at Porto Campanha station at 12:39 pm, then caught the Metro train to Bolhão station just 100 m from where I am staying at Villa Bolhão right in the centre of Porto.

After checking in to my apartment I set out on foot to explore some of the nearby highlights of Porto. The first place I headed for was Livraria Lello, an ancient bookshop that I had heard so much about. It really was a sight to behold. Curving wooden staircases criss-cross in the middle of wall-to-wall shelves amassed with old copies of novels and plays. No wonder Lello is always on top of “the world’s most beautiful bookshops” lists.

Just across the park from the bookshop is the imposing Clerigos Tower which begs to be climbed, so I paid my €3 and began my trek up the spiralling stairs which became narrower the higher I went. The vista that greeted me when I finally arrived at the top was incredible … piles of pastel buildings, terracotta rooftops, and twisted city streets painted a patchwork picture of Porto below.

Nearby I found the beautiful São Bento Estação the city’s most central station, standing downtown just around the corner from the monumental Avenida dos Aliados. Travellers might come to São Bento for its trains, but they’ll get a history lesson too. This building was once a monastery, but it swapped clerics for conductors in 1900. During the revamp, an artist by the name of Jorge Colaço painted the ornate interior with sky blue panels depicting major events from Portugal’s past. The Portuguese prints are pieced together from 200,000 blue tiles.

Along the way I stumbled upon the Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Igreja do Carmo) which must be one of Porto’s most eye-catching churches, with an extraordinary side wall completely covered in blue and white tile panels. The inside of the church is just as spectacular, being one of the most ornate I have ever come across.

I ended my first day in Porto by dining at a simple restaurant just around the corner from Bolhão. When I saw Francesinha on the menu out the front I was compelled to enter, because the concierge at Lisbon had told me so much about Porto’s specialty dish. Francesinha (meaning Little Frenchie or simply Frenchie in Portuguese) is a Portuguese sandwich, made with bread, wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage like chipolata, steak or roast meat and covered with melted cheese and a hot thick tomato and beer sauce served with french fries. It was simply delicious.

I think I am going to enjoy my four days in Porto!