I arrived in Porto after 9pm, tired, feeling a little off having explored London in the freezing cold earlier in the day. I wasn’t getting this trip off to a good start, but there on my desk in my room were two Pastel de Nata (Portuguese Egg tarts). I ate one and it was the best thing I’d eaten in days, way better than the fancy food in the various airline lounges, the pastry was crisp and the egg custard was creamy. I had no issues getting to sleep, albeit jet lag still can wake you up at weird time no matter how tired you are!
In some places I love to find the local free walking tour to get my bearings, ask for local tips on food and things to do. Porto is a very walkable and compact city so it was a no brainer to do a walking tour here. The guide Sergio was brilliant and full of interesting facts as well as helpful tips on where to eat and where not to eat. It was evident not eating at the tourist trap riverfront was in my best interests, but a few helpful cafe tips went a long way.
Porto and Portugal is an interesting place with an interesting history. It was ruled by a fascist dictatorship just over 50 years ago. On my first trip to Europe in 2001 Portugal wasn’t even a place on any of the tours I was looking at booking. Barcelona was about as far west as they went. Portugal had a massive crime and drug problem, about 1% of the population was addicted to heroine! The centre of Porto was very dangerous and crime riddled. Thety then passed controversial laws in 2001 decriminalizing the possesion of drugs and treating drug use as a health problem. A few years later Porto enticed Ryanair to make Porto a hub making Porto an extremely good value holiday spoit. Just 25 years after passing those drug laws Porto is a tourist hotspot, the centre of the city is now mostly a lot of airBnBs which in many cities would be a huge problem, but these properties were mostly vacant due to the crime. The city is thriving on tourism, which is getting to the over tourism stage, but it feels like the locals prefer that over what they did have. I’m sure its not all perfect though and I found the waterfront area not to my liking at all.
Speaking of overtourism, the Livavria Lello bookshop is a prime example of it. The bookshop became so popular due to just how beautiful it is and it attracted instagrammers and Harry Potter fans. To enter the bookshop you now need a ticket, which is also credit on buying a book or three. It sounds like a great solution to me. I bought the rather expensive Platinum tour, which took me down to the basement floor where they house unique collectables. My guide Clarisse was enthusiatic and knowledgeable, she was extremely passionate and knew her stuff and made the tour a delight. They had bought Amy Winehouse’s collection of books, she was apparently an avid booklover. They had things from Bob Dylan including a love letter he wrote. They had first editions of Harry Potter books, among other prized possessions. It was a haven from the hectic bookshop above, I would have had a negative opinion of the book shop if i’d just visited the crowded shop itself. I spent my credit and grabbed a few classics in lovely small form factor hard cover books and escaped the crowded store. Many reviews online call this a cash grab, but I don’t see it this way. The tickets are credit for books, many people walked out without buying a book which suggests they were there for the instagram photos and nothing more.
No visit to Porto is complete without sampling the Port. Port is one of those trademarked names these days, I think elsewhere its now called fortified wine. They clearly take it very seriously here as well, with a Port Authority overseeing the production of port and defining the rules. There are now four official types of Port: White, Rose, Ruby and Tawny. Rose was officially reconised by the said Port Authority in 2008. They are all very sweet and highly drinkable. I had 7 tastings on my Port tasting tour and then had to walk off the effect in the earl;y evening and sleep the rest of them off overnight, just in time to catch the train to Lisbon.
