Fall Break 3rd Destination: Porto

Our third vacation destination (and arguably our favorite) was Porto, Portugal.

We flew from Carcassonne to Porto with Ryanair which was a quick, cheap and easy flight. Figuring out Porto’s metro system once we arrived was a little less straight-forward, but after an hour or so of navigating the metro we eventually made it to our Airbnb apartment in the beach neighborhood called Matosinhos.

This area is gorgeous. The beaches are beautiful and well-kept, the surf is strong enough to entertain serious surfers but still swimmable. The water is clear and just as warm in late October as the NJ Atlantic temps I’m used to in the summertime.

On our first night in Porto we went out to find a place to dine in our neighborhood. We headed toward the beach and discovered a really cool little restaurant: formerly a surfers’ grab’n-go snack joint, Casa de Pasto Flor da Praia now hosts some really talented chefs while maintaining the laid-back beachy vibe. We had an awesome little dinner with, among other things, The Most Amazing olives and grilled octopus that we know to exist on this earth… Who knew Portugal has the best olives?! They’ve been keeping some secrets from us Americans, or perhaps it is as one of our hosts later explained to us, that the Portuguese just haven’t figured out how to market themselves and showcase what they do best to the rest of the world. Spoiler alert: look below for my list of Portugal’s best-kept secrets exposed.

Two of our assistant friends from Toulouse came and joined us for a couple days in Porto. We enjoyed time together at the beach with swimming, running, and yoga, going out for sightseeing in the city, dining in Matosinhos, and even a cozy movie night at our apartment.

After 3 nights at the first apartment, our friends left Porto and we moved to a different Airbnb place for the next 3 nights. Here we stayed with Olga, a mid-60s Portuguese woman who touched our hearts with her personality and hospitality. She is seriously one of the sweetest women you could ever meet. She doesn’t speak English so we communicated a lot through google translate on her laptop. 🙂

Olga’s daughter Luisa was there to welcome us the day we arrived. She speaks English as Nick said, “like a poet” and had lots of interesting things to discuss with us. We actually chatted for three hours the afternoon we arrived and we are so appreciative for the insights and information she provided us about her homeland. She and her boyfriend offered us a ride via the scenic route into Porto so we could continue our sightseeing. They were so kind and interesting to talk to!

We explored Porto by day and by night and really enjoyed our time there. We ate some amazing pastries, delicious seafood dishes, and even got to enjoy a cold beer or two (in France it’s hard to find inexpensive beer, let alone cold beer). We even got to eat our first non-canned sardines there, which Nick is all about.

Porto is a uniquely beautiful city because of its topography. It’s situated at the mouth of the Douro River and the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is so hilly that no matter where you go or how you turn, there are incredible views either looking up or looking down. You can endlessly discover amazing views in any direction; of the river, bridges, churches, houses, and Porto architecture is super charming.

Of course, one cannot forget that Porto is the home of Port! We got to experience a couple of port cellar tours and tastings. We learned that although in the US we only really know the tawny variety, port actually comes in four varieties: tawny, ruby, rose, and white. They are all delicious. Hard to pick!

Our List of Portugal’s best-kept secrets:
1) olives
2) pastries
3) knives
4) beaches
5) the nicest people

Olives: The Portuguese olives we were automatically served in restaurants were outrageously good. How come we only see Greek & Spanish olives in our American supermarkets?? Where are the Portuguese olives? It seems customary here to serve a bowl of olives to guests when they are seated. The olives are marinated in delicious oil and tasty herbs and boy, I could eat them all day long.

Pastries: We discovered that Portugal also has the best pastries (sorry, France). These little gems called Nata are little custards, kind of like flan-meets-crème-brulée-and-croissants. Pastries are also inexpensive in Portugal and you can make out like a bandit in the bakeries here!!

Knives: Anne, our French host from Toulouse advised us that we could buy some high quality kitchen knives inexpensively when we went to Portugal. We kept our eyes peeled as we looked around, but by day 5 we went on a mission to find them. Just when we were starting to worry that they didn’t really exist, we happened upon a hardware store that had a few knives in a window display. We went inside to inquire and, lo and behold, he sure did have knives for us to choose from; we knew immediately it was SO worth the hunt. We got a set of five knives (the best we’ve ever used) for an incredible €30 and they work like magic!! Yes, magic.

Beaches: The beaches we saw are gorgeous, picturesque, and great for sun-bathers, surfers, swimmers, and beach strollers alike.

People: All of the people we met in Portugal were among the absolute friendliest, kindest, most helpful individuals we’ve met anywhere. In spite of language barriers, they were always willing to meet us more than halfway. It really seemed that people were happy to go out of their way to accommodate and assist us, regardless of our inability to speak their language.

Our host Olga even prepared a special treat to share with us on our last night: homemade quince jelly, Portuguese cheese, and vintage port. It was so yummy and sweet of her to share with us. She even explained her recipe for quince jam and sent us off with a collection of quinces so we could try making it ourselves. God bless her! I didn’t even know what a quince was before Olga. 🙂

Needless to say, Porto is a really cool city and a wonderful place to visit. It is rustic and charming while also offering lots to see and do. It’s an inexpensive place to stay too. Nick and I loved it and would definitely return.