Where are we going this year?
That’s how this journey began …

After Madrid last year, we made a statement:
– A weekend just for friends, once per year!

The choices were: Edinburgh or Prague, but Portugal spoke louder and we chose the city of Porto.
And so it was…

Where we stayed at Porto

We stayed at the Gallery Hostel, Rua Miguel Bombarda. This is a street full of art galleries, alternative shops and friendly cafes.
It is also a few minutes walk from the ‘Aliados’, not far from ‘Ribeira’, near the river. One of the highlights of this area is the street art and historical buildings covered in beautiful tiles.
It also has a “ commerce center that is not a shopping”, the CCBombarda which offers affordable restaurants and creative shops.
The Gallery Hostel is excellent. The rooms are nice, clean, spacious and so are the bathrooms. It has a very nice social area and breakfast is included. They also make dinner for 10 € with drinks included. Staff is very welcoming.

What we did in Porto
On the first night we went to cruel restaurant as recommendation of a friend. “Life can be cruel, eat and forget” is the motto of this place whose food is simply divine … For starters we tasted carpaccio of beef with pesto and electric flower – the flower numbs the tongue for a few seconds but intensifies the taste. We also tasted a hallucinatory risotto with mushrooms and tuna flakes that came to the table “hallucinated” (ie moving) – this was the night’s best dish! For dessert we had ‘Baba de camelo’ (camel drooling foam, typical dessert from Portugal) with caramelized apple and almonds – perfect. After that we danced to the radio tunes, suggestion of another friend. It is located in the Praça Dona Filipa de Lencastre, and used to be a cabaret. It has an area to chat and a dance floor where one can dance the ‘serious’ music of our time (90’s). However, we also heard many newer themes… We were glad to see with people of all ages, relaxed and frontal, always in style – just like Porto knows better.

On Saturday we spent the day walking downtown, we went to Rua das Flores (where we watched the entrance of a bride in the Church of Mercy), went to the Ribeira and crossed the bridge D. Luis to Gaia.

The days were incredibly beautiful, full of sun and when Porto shines we can feel it inside.

On Sunday we went to the House of Music, the Serralves Foundation and ended up with a phenomenal view of the city at the Crystal Palace.

Porto is a beautiful city, full of life and different cultures in search of the authenticity this city has.

We try to take the tram to the mouth, it was so beautiful in its vintage style but was crowded with tourists and ended up quitting.
We went to Foz later, where we dined at the restaurant caffeine, great food in an intimate and refined atmosphere.
The night ended at the Casa do Livro, a space full of books and timeless music.

Other things we did in Porto …
Laugh out loud with this music that our taxi driver played for us …
Perceived that the lyrics of the songs we know best are those that our children sing …
Discovered our ability to feel “young” and “old” in the same weekend..
Rediscovered that life is short and friendship is priceless …