Our day starts with groceries. We don’t really need food yet but there are essentials we don’t bring when flying. Sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner, some form of hydrating bodywash and sparkling water were placed on our groceries list and 30 minutes after first stepping into our the apartment, we’re stepping out to the grocery store.
📍Pingo Doce is one of the grocery store chains that popped up in our research as a reliable staple of Portugal. We found one that wasn’t a “mini-supermarket” about 15 minutes walk from the apartment. Just far enough to get a first impression of the city when we’re not hyper focused on getting to our appartement and its glorious shower. (Go back and read day one if you don’t understand why we would be very motivated.)
The concept of mini-supermarket is somewhat baffling. Not the concept of having a tiny store with most grocery essentials and an assortment of random other food stuff and cleaning products. That it would be called both mini and super at the same time. One would think the two opposing descriptors should not be put together yet that’s the translation Google Maps will provide pretty much through Europe to describe these tiny stores with their very narrow anisles and limited products. The dichotomy of being able to find the floor cleaner next to the water bottle and wine, with a rows of cookies and salty snacks and a couple of fruits and vegetables by the entrance. They can be both practical and infuriating by having some but not all one arriving in a new city might need. So if you want to find a quick snack, mini is great. If you have a specific list of things in mind, look for something bigger than that.
Our first 30-minute walk (there and back) to the market in the admittedly very touristy downtown core of Porto left us with an overall good impression of the city. It’s hilly (as expected) but very walkable. It being a warm and sunny day helped for sure. Our short venture in the city streets allowed us to confirm that jaywalking, at least in the downtown area, is a normal activity and is the way of crossing the street. We’re not at a stage where pedestrian lights are useless, but waiting for a pedestrian light is more based on feels. Also, tram tracks are seen as extended sidewalks. When no trams are near, people will just walk on the tracks. Makes sense even if it’s not something we would have expected.
With the essentials home but still tired from the long wait and the short night from the previous day, we elected to stay active (for a given value of active) and find somewhere to sit on a terrace, people watch and have some food. We did try to find somewhere to do that and enjoy the pastel de nata (a creamy pastry that looks like a mini pie) but they seem to be sold in mostly “to-go” places. It being a little past 16:00, we were at the weird time just before coffeeshops close (usually around 17:00) but the restaurants and bars are not yet open (more of a 18:00 thing). Like in any city, we could have found a terrace for expensive and disappointing food and drink on any popular street popular for tourists.
A little Google Map research found the one coffee shop that closes late: 📍Garcia & Marquez Cafe. They offer a cozy spot fairly close to the 📍Miradouro do Passeio das Virtudes, a small park with a view over the Douro river that cleaves the city of Porto in two. The coffee helped get our energy back and Karine got a good overnight oat bowl with rosemary-infused honey as her breakfast for the day (at about 16:30). We sat, relaxed and then made our way to the Miradouro before heading to Castro to grab a six-pack of pastel de nada to devour on our tiny balcony with the basket of local grapes Karine impulse-bought during our essential grocery run earlier today.
We relexed, did some people watching from our balcony and waited for our 20:00 dinner reservation. Our research on restaurant dining habits in Portugal led us to believe that usual dinner time is between 20:00 and 21:00. Walking to our meal confirmed our research, at the very least for the local crowd. In the mostly touristic neighbourhood we are lodged in we saw crowded terraces with people well into their dinners. As we got further out, terraces were emptier and while we were not the first to arrive at 📍Real for dinner, we were definitely not the last. Réal turned out to be fancier than we expected but offered good wine and good food. Nothing to complain about and everything to enjoy.
With our first day done, we were able to confirm the reviews for Porto about hills from complainy people. Porto being built on the estuary of the Douro river, it’s essentially a river valley with a city built on each side. You’re either going up or down the hill. One could say it’s equipped with a plethora of anti-American devices: stairs (because most reviews complaining about the stairs are written by people from the USA).
Tomorrow we’re off to port wine tasting. The wine being named after the city (or is it the other way around?) we could not at least do a couple.