Mi Viaje Romántico a Oporto...

The following Thursday, the day before I was due to fly to Porto, I came down with a vicious stomach bug. I’m not really sure where it came from, but I started feeling queasy on Wednesday and by Thursday morning I found myself rushing to and from the toilet with alarming urgency. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say I wasn’t vomiting...

After a frightening dizzy spell where I was convinced I was going to faint, couldn’t see anything but stars and had a ringing sound in my ears, I phoned Elena to tell her I wouldn’t be coming to school. Instead, I retreated back to my bed and spent the whole day drifting in and out of sleep, drinking litres and litres of water to combat my severe dehydration and feeling thoroughly lousy.

On Friday morning, feeling only slightly better, I decided to bite the bullet and go to Portugal anyway. Hoping it wasn’t the wrong decision, I embarked on the long journey to Porto – the meeting place of my dear parents – to begin what I like to think of as a romantic pursuit of my roots (or at least re-tracing my parents’ steps).

Krista, me, Ashly and Mary on the Porto pub-crawl

When I arrived, I still felt fairly dreadful but it was a relief to find the hostel where Mary, Krista and Ashly were awaiting me and ‘freshen up’ (as Americans – with whom I’m spending an increasing amount of time – would say!) after my long journey. That evening, we cooked a cheap and tasty vegetable stir-fry (which was unfortunately rejected almost instantly by my delicate stomach) in the hostel’s kitchen and decided to go on an arranged pub-crawl to acquaint ourselves with Porto’s nightlife. As the cost of the pub-crawl was €12 – with several free drinks included at each bar along the way – I declined to pay on the basis that my body would almost definitely punish me, and instead tagged along as a teetotaller. As usual, we met some really interesting people (including a merry, overexcited Liverpudlian girl who practically jumped up and down on the spot and enveloped me in a bear hug as soon as she found out she was in the presence of a fellow Scouser).

A good night was had by all, but as time crept on and everybody around me slipped further and further away from sobriety, I decided to call it a night before the party reached its final stop which was a nightclub. I slept well, but my stomach still wasn’t itself.

Ashly, Mary, me and Hugh
outside the Taylor's wine cellar which
overlooks the city and river

The next day, Hugh arrived from England and we moved to a different hotel, which described itself as 4* and was supposedly part of the Best Western chain. However, when we stepped inside we felt as though we’d been transported back to another era. The retro fixtures and fittings, loud carpets, worn looking wooden furniture and largely brown colour-scheme were all telltale signs that the hotel had not been renovated since its opening back in the early eighties, when it was probably considered the height of modernity and sophistication. After getting over the initial shock and disbelief (which included a lot of laughing as we discovered more and more retro touches in our room, including old-fashioned light switches and positively Jurassic radio dials built in to the bedside tables) we concluded the dated interior of the hotel was a casualty of Portugal’s declining economy.

In fact, as beautiful as the city was, we noticed the lack of tourists – and lack of people in general – everywhere we went, and couldn’t help thinking that it must be a sign of the times. When we went on a boat cruise on the River Douro, the tour guides casually told us the speaker system was broken and proceeded to do the rounds of the boat, shouting out odd facts in several different languages, about various landmarks we were passing.

The Ribeira, as seen from the boat cruise

Nevertheless, we greatly enjoyed the cheapness of everything , especially the food – though sadly I couldn’t take full advantage of that due to my unsettled stomach. 

On Saturday, we rejoined Mary, Krista and Ashly for some free port wine-tasting at one of Porto’s most renowned wine cellars, Taylor’s. It was in a beautiful setting, overlooking the city and the River Douro, with perfectly manicured gardens, wisteria-framed archways and an impressively grand interior, complete with polished wooden floors, beams and big armchairs. Despite being convinced my taste buds weren’t mature enough to appreciate such things, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the sweet taste of the wines and how the flavours varied so much.

A man of leisure: Hugh enjoying his free
port sample in the
luxurious interior of Taylor's

The next morning, the other girls went home, leaving Hugh and me to enjoy another day of exploring the city (in the torrential rain, of course). Having enjoyed Taylor’s so much the day before, we returned – somewhat sheepishly, as the woman who’d served us our free samples the previous day inevitably recognised us – for some more tasting and a guided tour of the wine cellars to learn about the long and careful process of making port wines.

Me on the impressive staircase inside
Lello & Irmao

The Hogwarts-esque interior of
Lello & Irmao

We also visited a charming bookshop called Lello & Irmao, which has become a tourist attraction since its interior was said to have inspired JK Rowling’s vision of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books. Although not a Potter fan myself, I could see why Rowling found the place inspirational. With its stained glass ceiling, grand staircase and dark wood panelling, it certainly did give me the feeling that I was somewhere more surreal and magical than the ordinary world.

The River Douro by night 

To see out our last night in Portugal in style, we went to a lovely restaurant in the Ribeira area of Porto, overlooking the river. Undeterred by the chilliness and rain, we decided to dine alfresco. Under the shelter of the restaurant’s strategically-placed awnings and umbrellas, and with the warmth of a nearby patio heater, it was the perfect setting for a romantic dinner and a lovely way to round off the weekend.

İHasta luego!