After a looonng break I’m finally back blogging! I took some time off from writing while my mom was visiting last week, so now I’m catching up on my last few trips.
While my mom was in town, we spent the first weekend in Porto, Portugal, which I highly recommend if you get the chance to visit! I thought we would be missing out by only staying in Porto and not seeing Lisbon as well (the capital), but after returning, I’m glad that we stayed in one place, and from what I’ve heard from others, Porto is the place to go.
When we first touched down, we headed straight for the water, which in this case was the Douro River. We grabbed some lunch at a cafe right on the river, and just relaxed for a bit until checking into our hotel (it was an early morning of travel!).
Much later in the afternoon, after a much needed nap, we headed back out into the city to shop around. The one thing you should know about Porto before visiting is that the entire city is on a hill – so you’re either walking up or down. This made our trip a bit more tiring than most, but it was good to get some exercise in! We window shopped for a while, since there are lots and lots of cute little shops in Porto, and then we made our way down to the river once more.
Right along the water there was a man singing and playing guitar, and the whole vibe was so beautiful and so relaxing, so we decided to eat dinner right above him, on a stone wall overlooking the river. You could see the town lights from across the river, and occasionally a few boats pass by. This was definitely one of my favorite meals so far, simply because the atmosphere was so unbelievable.
Day two we slept in LATE, which is very unlike us but very much needed. We started out with brunch at Zenith Brunch & Cocktails (which also has a Madrid location!), and I finally got the açaí bowl I’ve been craving since I left the states. I’ve learned that breakfast isn’t a huge thing in Spain (and I’m a big breakfast person), so finding real breakfast and brunch restaurants is a big deal for me.
We spent the morning sight seeing around Porto, first climbing up the Igreja dos Clérigos, walking by the Palácio da Bolsa, and climbing up (more hills) to the Porto Cathedral. Even just walking through the streets, we saw beautiful architecture and blue and white tiled buildings. After lots and lots of walking and climbing, we settled down by the river again for a glass of wine and some bruschetta while we waited for our Port wine tour to begin.
I didn’t know anything about Port wine before this tour (which I probably should have), but I had just been told over and over that if you go to Portugal, you must go to Porto and you must do a wine tasting. Apparently Port wine is extremely sweet and extremely alcoholic. After one sip I knew it wasn’t for me, but it was still cool to tour the different wineries and wine cellars, and learn about the history of Port wine.
Four hours and seven tastings of Port wine later, we desperately needed food and water, so once again we found ourselves at a restaurant on the river, this time on the Gaia side of the river (which is where the wine is made). Here we enjoyed some more breads and cheeses before walking home (and stopping for gelato on the way!).
Day three was time to fly back to Madrid, so before heading to the airport we explored one more part of Porto. We drove out to Foz do Douro, which is where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Since we came here early enough, there was almost no one out yet, so the air was calm and peaceful, and we were able to enjoy the beach for a moment before departing. We could walk out along the boardwalk to the lighthouse, and although the water was really rough, it was so relaxing to be on a beach again.
After another delicious brunch and one more walk through Porto’s shops, we finally headed to the airport. Two to three days was the perfect amount of time to spend in the city, as we were able to see and do everything we wanted without feeling rushed, but without running out of plans either. We then enjoyed an amazing week back in Madrid with lots more sight seeing and LOTS more eating!
I’m so thankful I was able to take this trip, and that I was able to share it with my mom as well. Again, if you get the chance, PLEASE try to visit Porto! It is so beautiful and a nice break from most other fast-paced European cities, you won’t regret it.
I have lots more to catch up on, so I’ll definitely be posting again soon! If you’d like to stay updated when I post new content, you can subscribe down below to receive email notifications. That’s all for now, so thank you for staying in touch and I’ll see you soon!
xx,
Megan
Megan Gilman 
More great pics. Thanks Megan. Say Hi to you Mom for us. Glad you got to spend some time together. We really enjoy following your travels. We have a growing group of Portuguese speaking people here in SW Michigan. Most of them work as engineers for Whirlpool, which has it’s international headquarters here near St. Joe. You’re getting to see some fascinating places and that’s so cool. We love the old cities and old architecture. Prague. Vienna. Budapest. Awesome. We loved the video of your camel ride in Morocco. If only you could find a wealthy sheik with a really cute son, you could become a real princess. JK. 😀 Do you know what we’ve liked best? Your comments about the new friends you’ve made from all these different countries. Young people, everywhere, getting together and getting along and growing in their understanding of each other. It’s like you’ve found a little part of world peace. That’s the kind of world we’ve found and in which we live. There’s nothing better. Take care and enjoy your European adventure.
________________________________
LikeLike