A Cidade do Porto
A city with as much charisma to offer as Porto would be hard to accurately portray in a travel guide, and quite impossible in an article. For some, Porto is synonymous with fantastic futebol, and having won the Portuguese Liga five of the last six years, it would be hard to argue that any other city has a comparable team, but the city has so much more to offer.
Historically speaking, this city laying on the Rio Douro puts the Portu in Portugal, with the other half supplied by Porto’s counterpart, Calé, now known as Vila Nova de Gaia.
Porto is a stunning city, holding true beauty on the inside and out, all while doing a good job of containing one of Portugal’s most prestigious universities without being a full-fledged university city, balancing its good looks, strong business sense, and a vibrant personality. Despite being a metropolitan in every sense, its hurried yet friendly inhabitants still find time to help out tourists and do so with smiles on their faces.
The city lays claim to picturesque views from its bridges such as those from the Ponte Dom Luis which instill feelings of connectedness with the bustling of people down below and feelings of being set apart in awe from above. As most other Portuguese cities, Porto maintains a rustic, yet romantic feel to it, despite also having a rougher area down the mountain towards the river in which kids play soccer and stray cats roam free. Boat rides are offered by various port wine companies all along the Rio and it is here that wines are fermented, stored, and sampled. Nas caves, the port companies offer guided tours of their cellars often followed by a kiss from ruby and her older sisters, rose and tawny, each produced in its own meticulous way, giving rise to each distinct flavour. The area is renowned for being the only place in the world to truly make port wine because of its unique climate. The city also has a strong taste for music, notably being home to the Casa da Música, along with musicians Rui Veloso, Clã, Pedro Abrunhoso and many more. With an abundant number of churches and museums, a great transit system, and its very own beaches, it provides a strong example of what any Portuguese city should look like. As no city is perfect, Porto also has a dark side with Francesinha, a typical dish in which ham, roast beef, sausage, steak, pork, and various other meats are covered in copious amounts of cheese with a sauce, served on a bed of french fries, certainly not for the weak of heart. Portuense also have a large appetite for reading, with nearly as many bookstores as cafes. Livraria Lello is highly acclaimed for its extensive collection of books and perhaps more intriguingly, the architecture in its spiralling staircase and the intricate designs in the walls and ceiling. Porto is a wonderful city well worth visiting with plenty to offer for everyone and I highly recommend you go.
