Hello from Portugal!
While I didn’t expect this week to be that busy, it clearly ran away from me a bit, as this blog post is a bit late. I’m counting that as a testament to how amazing this country has been! It sounds silly in retrospect, as Porto is obviously a popular tourist destination, but I did not expect to like this city as much as I did. It is small, relatively quiet, yet the more you explore the more you seem to find.
Last Wednesday started slowly, as I had arrived at about 3:00 AM the morning before. But I’ve never been one to sleep in when staying in a hostel, so when I couldn’t fall back asleep, I decided to book an impromptu walking tour to help get acquainted with the area. Porto is known for its free walking tours— I was impressed by how many people showed up at the starting point, the Avenida dos Aliados. We stopped at churches, train stations, bakeries (the pastel de nata were a crowd favorite), and even an oddly extravagant McDonald’s before ending our walk by the Douro River. The highlight for me was the view from the Luís I Bridge, which looks out onto most of Porto, the neighboring Vila Nova de Gaia, and down the winding Douro valley. From afar, the whole city shrinks to a mosaic of orange tiled roofs spreading towards the sea. I liked the view so much, in fact, that I came back later that evening to see the city glow orange and pink in the setting sunlight. There’s an incredibly popular park on the southern side of the bridge, in Gaia, where huge crowds gather to see the sunset with picnic blankets and Port wine. It reminded me of Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco: the hill, the live music (a cover band playing Weezers), the young people haggling for craft beer sold out of coolers. It made me a little nostalgic, to be sure, but more reassured to have found this slice of home in Portugal.
The view from Luis I Bridge as the sun begins to set.
Even though I spent my gap year in Providence, Rhode Island (home to one of the larger Portuguese diasporas in the US), Portuguese food has never been on my radar. I had thought almost nothing of it before stepping onto that airplane from Athens, could not have named even one
I got this francesinha from Cafe Santiago, a neighborhood lunch spot recommended to me by my tour guide.
traditional dish, and might not have really called it a “cuisine” before this trip. But, to my surprise, it’s kind of great. Yes, it’s a HUGE amount of meat — I had a burger where the bun was seasoned with little bacon bits instead of sesame seeds. But I can’t help but appreciate its hearty, greasy warmth. My first real meal was a francesinha: a sandwich on thick white bread filled with a veal steak, bacon, and Portuguese sausage, covered with melted cheese and a fried egg, smothered in gravy, served in a bowl of fries. I think I actually broke a sweat trying to finish it. Other highlights have been cured chorizo and local Estrela cheese from Mercado do Bolhão and a cachorrinho (Portuguese hot dog) from a diner called Gazela (of Anthony Bourdain fame).
For seafood, Porto locals will tell you to go to the nearby seaside town of Matosinhos, where the streets are filled with the smoke of fresh fish being grilled outside. My parents came to visit me this week to help celebrate my birthday (a very special treat) and on Saturday we went to Tito II, a local restaurant where the chef catches the fish himself. We ordered fresh-grilled sardines and traditional seafood stew, filled with whole shrimp, mussels, a crab belly, and partially cooked rice cooked in a rich seafood stock. The highlight of the meal was the whole dourado, so fresh that our waiter came to show us the fish’s teeth and fins before they cooked it. It was salty, crunchy from the skin and open flames, yet melted in your mouth as you chewed. I still think the fish in Greece was fresher, but this local specialty was pretty hard to beat.
The tile bank! The wooden drawers, organized by both color and style, each have a handful of identical tiles to match the ones displayed in front.
Some other highlights of the last week include a walk through the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal where peacocks are just as common as the pigeons, and a walk through a Baroque-style church, complete with Catholic relics and a look into the priest’s quarters. But honestly, nothing compared to just walking through the city. Anyone who has seen pictures of Porto knows the city for its intricate hand-painted tiles: they give each building its own character. I love exploring a place that has devoted so much time and effort to such detailed beauty. At the Museum of Porto, we learned that they keep a bank of the most common tile designs for residents to repair damaged buildings and maintain this history. My mom and I agreed that they should have banks like these everywhere! And, if I’m putting my research hat on, it demonstrates a certain level of commitment to community — at least when it concerns cultural or historic buildings.
On Sunday, I turned 22! This summer has been so surreal and spectacular that planning one special day honestly felt redundant. But I celebrated with one of my favorite things: my dad and I rented bikes and went down the coast toward a small town called Espinho. If you know me, you know I love a good bike ride, and much of that love was born out of riding along the San Francisco Bay with my dad. This ride, although longer and windier, felt almost identical to those trips along the California coast. We stopped at a beautiful seaside chapel and a restaurant along the beach where you could watch families sunbathing and surfing as you ate. In the afternoon, we all went to try some Port wine at one of the famous wineries in Vila Nova de Gaia. I am extremely grateful to have celebrated with loved ones in such a beautiful city. Birthdays are always a time for reflection for me, and reflecting on this summer has been nothing short of profound. I’ve already grown so much both personally and academically, and I’m not even halfway done! I am endlessly grateful for all the people who have made this possible and my support system back home — missing them is the only downside. But I’m excited for all the joy and adventures this next year will bring.
Capela do Senhor da Pedra, a chapel nestled along the coast south of Porto.
My next post will be a dispatch from Coimbra and much more research-focused (I have at least eight interviews here in Portugal!). I’m definitely hoping to return here someday, as five days was not nearly enough. But for now, so long Porto!