Our first flight from Dublin to get to Porto was a real treat. If you haven't ever flown RyanAir let me give you a little idea of what its like. Basically they fly between like every European airport for around 15-75 dollars. You are allowed one bag..not a bag and a personal item..one bag. They measure and weigh your bag at the gate too so you really can't bring anything. Also the seats are plastic and they sell lottery tickets on the plane. This pic sums it up..if I had to guess those were probably the directions to the next city or something...
Anyway when we finally made it to Porto it was amazing...well actually we got lost getting to the hostel. Some how many small details of this trip were left for me to plan..which really wasn't the best idea, I'm more of a big picture girl. We did eventually find it even without the address. The first night in Porto we went to a 'really authentic' restaurant that our hostel guy suggested. It was delicious however the authentic meant they spoke only Portuguese and had no English menu..this is when I realized that Portuguese and Spanish weren't as close as people had promised they would be. Regardless my meal was a FULL plate of meat..steaks, chicken and sausage. I was in heaven.
This next day we walked all around Porto. The city was beautiful, but pretty small so one day there was perfect. The side streets were all cobblestone and the buildings were colorful and there were gorgeous churches EVERYWHERE! We saw a market that I am pretty sure was purely stolen goods..regardless super cool. The River Douro runs through Porto and to cross the river there is a huge bridge that has the most amazing views. After we crossed this bridge we realized that to get down from the top of the hill (where the bridge ended) you had to ride a huge ski lift thing..I'm sure it has a real name that I don't remember. After that we went wine tasting! so classy. Well actually not very classy because we realized that the first two glasses everywhere were free (there are tons of wineries in Porto). Naturally we took the free glasses and then on to the next one..Jay-Z style. I learned that Port Wine is distilled with brandy and this is why wine tasting was enough to get all three of us drunk. so much class.
After we had our fill of Brandy laced wine, we walked more around the city. At the hostel we had picked up a map of obscure attractions, so we checked out a lot of those. We saw some really cool shops and graffiti walls and then ended the night by watching the sunset on the riviera. Very romantic. For dinner that night we all decided to try a traditional dish that had been recommended by every local..the Francesinha. Never again. This sandwich is thick bread filled with cheese, steak, ham and sausage..toasted..over a bed of fries..and smothered in a beer and wine sauce. We all had about three bites, it was a little much for our poor tummies to handle.
We left the next morning VERY early..did I mention the deals we got on these 6am flights? Our cab driver was amazing the trip was supposed to take 30min and it took like 10! Also he had how to relate to American women on lock-down we talked about Oprah and Michelle Obama the whole time.
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