Initial impressions of Porto were a bit bewildering. We have been here 3 full days, 2 hours when we arrived and now we have been here ’til almost noon this Sunday. It is fairly normal to form false impressions after seeing only an area or two of a city. We have walked and explored multiple areas now. I have three distinct impressions. There are a couple fairly extensive areas where tourists are over running the streets, shops, exhibitions, etc. Then there are extensive areas of dirty rundown buildings, that could be beautiful, with a few uninteresting shops incorporated into the area. The third type of area has homes in somewhat better shape and a cluster of vibrant businesses that merge into busy streets branching off into type 2 areas.
We lucked out and have an apartment in the third type of area. We are close enough to shopping needs, and as we discovered last night when we walked two blocks and turned right we are on the edge of a golden triangle of restaurants and bars mostly patronized by locals. A sprinkling of galleries is also present. This was the healthiest, most lively scene so far. Encouraging.
An early walk today took us through more of dreary Porto in search of a coffee shop that is raved about. It was nice. I shall not rave. In less than an hour we are going to walk south across the Douro River to see yet another side of Porto. Our objective is to visit one of Porto’s most famous Port Cellars, Cockburn’s. We are giving ourselves extra time in order to bob and weave in search of a friendly and visually pleasant view of Porto, then some most excellent dessert. A side benefit, if timing is good, is that the WOW(World of Wine) museum lies in close proximity to Cockburn’s. WOW has been called the pre-eminent Eno technical museum in the world.
I spent a couple hours poring over paper and internet maps and routes to make sure we would be able to efficiently get from home to Cockburn’s today. Yet, when we set out to Cockburn’s I was confounded by five-point intersections without street name signs. When I switched to Google on my phone I found similar lack of correlation. We ended up walking toward the river in a haphazard way. It took one hour and 45 minutes to get to Cockburn’s. We educated guessed our way home in 45 minutes. I am a self-confessed directional dummy, but, there must be something more – maybe extraterrestrial interference – at work here. On the way home we climbed up a very, very steep hill which mockingly had this statue at the top. But, that is getting ahead of myself. In fact, this whole post is a temporal mess, but that should be good for the brain, a type of puzzle.
We did make it to the other side of the Douro River. We found the south side to be profoundly different than north in one way, but profoundly similar in another. The buildings and the streets appeared to be better kept and cleaner on the south side. I believe that is in large part because that side of the river is home to 16 Port wine houses/wineries. Money is there as Port is the major non-tourist industry in Porto. Another factor is tourist congestion similar to the north side. There is an approximate 8 block stretch of vendors along the river as well as numerous bars and restaurants, as evidenced by one of the pictures below. But, the street along the river is very wide and there were a profound number of people sitting at bars and restaurants. The feel was much more pleasant than the harried undulating mass of tourists on the north side.
Cockburn’s was a wonderful 90-minute experience. Our tour guide was clear and strong voiced. I learned a lot about Port wines, which is weak spot for me, even though I have a history in the wine business. There are 4 pictures of different size Port casks below. Their cellar is home to the largest amount of Port in any one place.
The best was saved for last, a tasting of the Reserve Port, a 20 year Tawny Port and the 2007 vintage Port. All 3 are tremendously good and tremendously different. It was a fine education for Sheila who thought she didn’t like Port. We like to drink wine slowly, smell it, look at it and discuss it. Adding to the experience was striking up a wide-ranging conversation with a couple from Vancouver Island, B.C. Consequently, we were the last of 12 other fellow tourers to still be sitting at our tasting table. Our guide, who had appeared to take delight in answering all of my questions offered us an additional taste, the White Port. We took her up on that and found it to be flavored more like a Sauternes than the Ports we had just tasted, quite pleasurable though. No doubt, to this point, the highlight of Porto for us.
So port, is good? Sounds like a tasting experience you will not forget, and was fun as well, probably couldn’t buy any as it would’t make it home. The adventures of walking seem like a lot of misdirection and google confusion.
Loved the pictures
Love Port! Walking, how much is them? How much is me not learning the lesson I’m supposed to learn? Sometimes this universe is tricky.
In my opinion, Lisbon is even harder to navigate. Everyone there had their heads in their phones and a lot of the streets changed names from one side of the alley to the other. We did not go over the river and after your description of your Cockburn’s tour I sure wish we had. I think it sounded lovely.
Enjoy your last few days in Porto and then onto another huge adventure in Iceland.
xoxo
I don’t doubt Lisbon is more difficult. What I have found in many other countries is that propensity for changing the name of the street, all of the sudden. They certainly have that here, and at times I believe, Google has no clue. Yesterday was truly a bit mystical, as We navigated our way home intuitively and it turned out to be the route I tried to take to the south side. One of the finest wine tours I have had, great guide, great company and great wine. The highlight might have been we were the only ones left, sipping on our white port and the guide and Sheila knocked her glass over while hugging.
Just wanted to make sure why I thought the spilled wine was the high point. It was a tremendously wonderful heartfelt moment that showed human interaction is greater than inanimate objects. Nobody cared about the wine!