One Month in Porto: Final Thoughts
And one last fancy dinner before we go
One month felt like enough time to form an opinion about a place. Not just the “vacation version,” but the “this is where we buy yogurt and figure out where to get a haircut” version
So, would we come back? At this point it’s not on our return list for another long stay. We were surprised by Porto in both good ways and challenging ways, though. The biggest surprise was that it took us over a week to settle in and feel like we’d made the right decision. In Portimão we were pretty quick to fall into a routine, but Porto made us work for it.
Part of it was the weather. We arrived during an unusually hot stretch, which made climbing Porto’s famous hills feel like even more of a slog. Part of it was our apartment. While it was very modern, with central AC, it wasn’t conducive to relaxing at the end of the day unless we were in different rooms. The couch was a big factor here, and even the chairs at the kitchen bar were pretty hard to sit in for too long. Who knew that a comfy place to sit would be such a big deal? And while our neighborhood was quiet and residential, which normally suits us fine, it wasn’t quite as walkable as we’d imagined.
Once the temperatures eased and we learned our way around the city, everything felt better, and we managed to settle in and really enjoy ourselves.
One remaining challenge was the language.
Portuguese is surprisingly difficult to pick up. In fact, knowing some Spanish made it harder, since they share some words. About halfway through the month, I figured out that if someone didn’t understand my English, I’d try Spanish instead. More often than not, that actually worked better. I’m not sure what that says about my Spanish, my English, or my Portuguese, but it got me through just fine.
Looking back, one thing I wish we’d discovered sooner was Porto’s coastline. That first ocean-front walk was magical. The breeze kept the temperatures comfortable, and it quickly became one of our favorite parts of the city.
When we think back on our month here, these are the things we’ll remember most:
We’ll remember a city that seemed beautiful around every corner, whether we were wandering narrow streets lined with colorful tilework or watching the sun set over the Douro River.
We’ll remember genuinely kind people who were amused and patient with our butchered attempts at Portuguese, always willing to help, and quick with a smile.
We’ll remember that Porto makes excellent wine feel like an everyday luxury. It was crazy to sit down at dinner and order a really good glass of wine for less than what we’d pay for a bottle of water.
And we’ll definitely remember the seafood. Whether it was fish, mussels, sardines, shrimp, or seafood rice, meal after meal reminded us why Portugal has earned its reputation for some of the best seafood in Europe.
We wrapped out time up in Porto with what could have been our best meal of the trip at restaurant Oma. We had the tasting menu with the wine pairing and, other than two items, it was mind blowingly good. I would tell you what these things were, if only the wine pairing hadn’t erased them from my memory almost immediately. Oops!
Ciao Porto!
That's a lot of wine! Looks amazing!