Porto
So Porto. We have some talking to do. Truth be told I didn’t know fully what to expect from Porto. I'd seen some beautiful pictures and thought it'd be nice to go to. If you judge Porto on a first glance, in the rain, when you're overtired and hungover, you'll be disappointed. You have to look past the dilapidated buildings, endless graffiti to find the charm of a city getting it’s act together to show tourists a nicer side. Needless to say I came back like a yo yo and day 2 battled on armed with what will be the best 5€ I will ever spend in my life. An umbrella. Mental note for London. Now, there's one thing you'll never catch a Portugese person doing and that is legs day at the gym. That's because every day is legs day when you're walking up consistently high inclines. Luckily I'd made a friend to walk around with, as well as shoot some night photography with. Many a beautiful photo was taken in Porto.
Key highlights: sitting on a random park bench getting wifi then FaceTime-ing people in to see the view • Port tasting with cheese and biscuits • meeting James and exploring the town • tram ride out to Foz • FRANCESHINA (see below) • roast pork rolls at a local dine out • Not speaking Portuguese • walking across the bridge in the howling rain • cable car ride in said howling rain • Taking lots of photos • picturesque views • being wrong about Porto.
 |
| This was the morning. After this I went down had a Port, came out of the winery and it was all beautiful. |
 |
| Portugese Nonna on the balcony. |
 |
| This picture can be a little deceiving, a lot of the buildings behind here are in a state of disrepair. |
 |
| This was coming to land in Porto. |
 |
| There are some extreme groups that do not want tourism in cities |
 |
| The only Nandos store in Portugal. Like selling ice to the Eskimos otherwise. |
 |
| My Portugal song |
 |
| Tiles on the outside of the house, typical of many Portuguese houses. |
 |
| The best 5 Euro I've ever spent. |
 |
| OK SO. You haven't lived until you've had one of these. The ingredients are as follows. 2 Slices of toasted bread made into a sandwich containing, sausage, steak, bacon and/or ham, covered in a blanket with cheese, then is put into a swimming pool of tomato puree (more like tomato soup). DELICIOUS. |
 |
| James, who will also be in Stockholm with me for Eurovision |
Lisbon
So Lisbon will be on my revisit list. I hurt my knee whilst in Porto- the night before I was to leave for Lisbon. Every cloud has a silver lining however and it was the best excuse not to walk around Lisbon. Fun fact, Lisbon is built on 7 hills. This means to go down usually means you need to up down then up then down again. It's one giant rollecoaster on legs. I decided to make the most of this and catch the tourist busses around town. For €20 I was able to get ferried around town and see WAY more than what I would walking. Possibly somewhat disappointingly Lisbon didn't have as much of a feeling to it. It was also the end of my trip so there was a lack of enthusiasm BUT I will visit there again.Key highlights:
Bus rides saving me walking • not catching a tram because they were full of tourists (I'm from Melbourne, we have trams) • drinking on the street in Bairro Alto, cheese tasting at a market stall... unfinished- more to come :/
 |
| Le View |
 |
| Don't adjust your televisions, they have a bridge like the Golden Gate. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. |
 |
| View from my AirBNB |
 |
| HILLS GODDAMMIT |
Well thats it for this trip! If you want to see more photos, view my Facebook. You don't need to sign up to see these photos with this link:
Click here for Spain
Click here for Portugal
Next stop STOCKHOLM FOR EUROVISION. Stay tuned... the next blog is going to be about all my food experiences so far... :D
No comments:
Post a Comment