Blog One – Oporto

Published by Alastair Reid on September 12, 2018September 12, 2018

Oporto [8-12th September]

Our four nights in Oporto have drawn to a close, and the predominant question is: why have we never been here before ?? 2.5 hours from Edinburgh, with those nice Ryanair people, and the place is teeming with life – locals, students, visitors from all sorts of places – especially at the weekend. Oporto is a spectacular city, built on either side of the River Douro, and there are so many things to see and do here, that we have just scratched the surface.

While we were sitting in the Venezuelan bar, watching the very varied groups of people passing by, I innocently commented that this would definitely be a place to come, if you were a chap perhaps 40 years younger, for a weekend with your mates. I was immediately informed that I was a pervert, to which I took great exception! Even old geezers can appreciate an abundance of beauty, in an academic sort of way.

Since we arrived in Oporto, we’ve walked for miles, mostly uphill in searing heat, spent an inordinate amount of time booking our train tickets into the Douro Valley, had lunch down on the waterside at the old port of Ribeira, taken tram rides, boat trips, decided against a helicopter tour, taken the water taxi across the river, and visited Taylor’s Port Wine Lodge for the tour, and a very relaxed tasting in their rose garden. And that was just yesterday.

Our walk to the Taylor’s Port Wine establishment was circuitous, very hot and very steep. When we got there, I asked for a beer. No sir. Coke? Not possible. Only still water and grape juice, apart from the port. I felt that was taking dedication to the cause too far. However, the overall experience won me over, and we hopefully learned a bit about the complex world of port wine – retaining the information is now the problem.

We finished up our last full day with a visit to the Livraria Lello in Oporto – an amazing old bookshop which JK Rowling allegedly frequented when she lived here. It is a fantastic building, but a complete sell out to commercial greed, as hundreds of visitors pay for the privilege of walking round the interior, dodging the selfish selfie takers on the spiral staircases, and generally getting more annoyed as each minute passes. Earlier in the day, we visited Aveiro, a town which is dubbed Portugal”s Venice. Other than some canals, and the former seaweed boats that bear a passing resemblance to gondolas, it’s nothing like Venice. We had originally intended to stay in Aveiro, but went for a day trip instead – good decision.

Oporto has fabulous old buildings, many with spectacularly tiled exteriors, and many of which are empty. However, there is an upward shift in the air, renovation work is everywhere, cranes proliferate, and business appears to be booming. Beer and wine are almost embarassingly cheap, and food seems very reasonable too. The atmosphere around where we are staying, quite close to the University, is a bit like Lisbon – a mixture of relaxed and edgy – with bright young students abounding, interspersed with fairly psychotic looking men, some with gang style face tattoos and seriously discouraging auras.

Overall though, the lasting impression is of a fabulously varied and interesting city, to which we need to return in the future, to do all the things we didn’t quite get to this time around.

My dozen favourite images from our stay in Oporto are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image.

Image Gallery