Ok first, I’m in love with this city of Porto! I truly feel like I did the first time I visited Pittsburgh - I’m home. And yet there is also something very exotic about it. Portuguese is very foreign to me - I know very few words or phrases. To my untrained ear, it sounds part Spanish, part French and part Arabic - all blended together to form sounds I don’t know or understand. However, even with the language barrier, I feel like I could stay here and be quite happy - thankfully most Portuguese people also speak English very well. Of course, there are those who don’t, but I’ve found that a lot of people speak multiple languages. For example, at the corner restaurant where I’ve gotten breakfast, the hostess has spoken Portuguese, English, Spanish, German, and French quite fluently with those who have stopped in. I’ve listened to her switch languages swiftly and easily. I’m truly in awe of her ability.
Today, my goal was to stop at some of the places I’d seen on my TukTuk tour from yesterday. Since we’d covered a lot of ground and I only had this morning and part of the afternoon, I knew I wouldn’t get everywhere. I made some priorities and was able to see all but one and even stumbled on a few that weren’t on my list. Today, my tour was all about the local churches, one convent, and the Bishop’s Palace. At 3:30pm I met a group to do a food and wine tour and had the best time I’ve had on my entire trip. There were only three of us plus the host and we somehow bonded immediately. Angelina is from Australia, working in Berlin and Cesar is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil but just moved to Porto. Francisco, the host is from Lisbon, living here in Porto - but he lived in Amsterdam for, I think, 7 years. After the tour was over Angelina, Cesar, and I continued our own tour for a couple of hours and had some great fun together.
Here are the pictures of where I went and the foods we ate:
Breakfast included fresh squeezed orange juice (so good!), coffee, scrambled eggs, sausages, toast, and a small side salad of lettuce, tomatoes and carrots - for 6.50 euros.
First church, Church of St Ildefonso - it looks a little abandoned on the outside, with missing window panes and some tiles on the outside, but the inside does not reflect that at all, although some of the canvas of the paintings are sagging. You’ll notice that I take a lot of ceiling photos, but it’s because the ceilings are nearly always so beautiful.
Second Church was actually the cloistered convent of Saint Clara of Assisi - the last nun died in 1900 and the convent was then used primarily by the government for offices and the sanctuary was left untouched. In 2015 - over 100 years later - they began uncovering the sanctuary and noticing the beauty underneath all the dust and decay. It underwent a massive cleaning and restoration in 2019. I watched a movie of them doing the work - every inch was uncovered and restored using toothpicks and q-tips. AMAZING!
The exterior looks so unassuming, but then…
Third Church - the Cathedral of Porto and the Bishop’s Palace
The Bishop’s Palace - when you see the pictures of the inside you’ll see why it’s called the Bishop’s Palace and not just a residence. I’m finding it very hard to leave judgment aside and not make comment about what I think of this place.
Fourth church - Church of Santo Antonio dos Congregados
Fifth church - Cathedral dos Clerigos and the Clerigos tower.
The tower:
Sixth Church - Our Lady of Souls
The last church is the only one I didn’t get to go in - they were just starting services. But I have a picture of the outside of the church - it is actually two churches which are next to each other - The Carmo Church (the one with the Portuguese tile on the side facade) and the Carmelitas Church. When they were built the nuns and the monks had to be separated. So, they built a tiny narrow house between them and one of the priests lived there. You can see it between the two churches with a white framed window.
There’s one more important church here in Porto that I’d like to see - Monument of St. Francis - built in the 14th Century in the Gothic Style but with one of the most lavish Baroque Interiors of any church in Europe. I might try to see it tomorrow night.
My food tour: It began with a shredded pork sandwich - quite similar in preparation and taste of the pork I’ve had and now try to cook from Puerto Rico. And a glass of a rose - green wine. A green wine is one that the fermentation is stopped just days after it begins and quickly bottled, so it has a very bright flavor, but not a lot of depth. It is very popular in Porto as a local wine. Porto, of course, is known for its Port Wine, but locals don’t drink it much. Port wine is a fortified wine that tends to be sweet.
Our next stop we had two cured ham meats, a cod cake, a fried sardine, two types of bread, olives and olive oil and two glasses of green wine - a red and a white. The wines were served in ceramic cups which keeps the wine at a consistent temperature longer. I was not very fond of the red - green wine.
Our next stop was in the market district where we got to try some canned fish - sardines, mackerel, tuna, and a pate of fish roe, sardines, and potato on toast. The shop is a family run business and they prepare these canned fish from the start of the process all the way to the end product.
We stopped for a cup of coffee and then dessert: the famous Pastel de Nata (the custard cup on top) and an almond cookie similar to a macaron.
After our host left, Angelina, Cesar and I spent some more time together. We talked about absolutely EVERYTHING in just a few hours together. And I feel like I’ve made some wonderful new friends.
Tomorrow I’m up early for a trip to the Duomo Valley and more wine tasting!
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