Day 7: Picturesque Porto

Our day in Porto started at the train station, with its gorgeous tiled arrival hall depicting idealized scenes from Portugal’s history. 

Loved these "modern" train panels reflecting the era when the train station was built.

One of the numerous murals in the Porto train station.

Even with timed tickets, a crowd had already formed our next stop to get in the moment it opened. Livraria Lello bookstore opened in 1906, and is the self-proclaimed “most beautiful bookstore in the world.” It was definitely beautiful, with the architecture looking like something out of Harry Potter. Indeed, I learned JK Rowling was teaching English and living in Porto when she came up with the idea for the Harry Potter books, so it’s not so coincidental after all. They charged admission just to see the inside, but counted it towards a purchase, so I carefully selected their printing of “The Little Prince” (in English)--a beautiful story that would also be relatively light in my purse the rest of the day.  

The outside of Livraria Lello (the line to get in queues across the street).

Inside Livraria Lello

The staircase in Livraria Lello

Livraria Lello's whimsical architecture

After getting our fill of the inside, we stopped for pastries at a nearby cafe before beginning the day’s walking tour ala Rick Steves. An early stop was the Chapel of Souls, most famous for its blue and white tile mural on the outside walls.

We stopped here for breakfast

Was struck by the vibrant color of this fountain's griffins.

Side wall of Chapel of Souls

Porto's town hall (and an amusing queue of people insisting on not having anyone else in their photos)

Then the big climb of the day came from Torre dos Clérigos, a church built by the Brotherhood of the Clerics. At 225 narrowly winding stairs, its tower had a commanding view of the city–and some very impatient tourists behind us once we got to the top. Coincidentally, we left the tower just as the church started an organ recital in their chapel, providing a live musical accompaniment to the pink and frilly baroque decor.

Torre dos Clérigos

Chapel in Torre dos Clérigos, just before the organ recital

Normally I try to eat at local places when I travel, but we had to make an exception for lunch at McDonald’s Imperial. The chain took over a grand coffeehouse from the 1930s and kept the decor when it opened in the 1990s, so it’s the fanciest McDonald’s I’ve ever visited. They had a fairly conventional menu, but I opted for something we don’t have on the menu back home: soup.

Entrance to Imperial McDonald's

Interior of Imperial McDonald's

Golden soup at the golden arches.

After purchasing timed tickets and a short stroll along the waterfront, we returned to Palacio da Bolsa, their former stock exchange and commercial association headquarters. That might sound drab, but the interior was gorgeous, highlighting Portugal’s trade partners over the last century, and indeed felt like a palace.

Interior of the Stock Exchange; the gold squares at the top are Portugal's major trading partners in the 19th century.

One of the rooms in the Stock Exchange, highlighting industry and the trades.

The Arab Room, still used to impress distinguished visitors.

Detail of the Arab Room.

I’d heard Porto’s cathedral was where religious pilgrims walking the Camino from Portugal to Spain start their journey, so we rode a funicular up to the hilltop church. It was nice, but honestly by that point we’d been spoiled by so many churches and so much architectural beauty that it felt just average for the country. 

Porto Cathedral

On the other hand, the double-decker bridge Ponte Luís 1 and its views were so beautiful that we walked across both decks. From the upper deck it was a short walk on the other side of the river to Mosteiro da Serra do Pilar, which was closed but had great views overlooking the town. Unfortunately it also had some of the least-talented street performers I’ve ever heard–never been so tempted to take the mic just to help them with lyrics.

Ponte Luís 1

Homes along the Porto waterfront

Crossing back to the north side of the river, we walked to a place called Conga to try Bifanas, a Portuguese sandwich made with thin slices of pork and their signature sauce. The restaurant was basic, but the service was good and the food even better!

Our sandwiches were so delicious that I forgot to take a photo, but here's the place mat.

Dessert was a nice stroll away at Majestic Café. It would’ve been worth a stop just for the gorgeous interior and delicious pastries, but coming back to JK Rowling this was allegedly one of her favorite spots during her time in Porto. And with hot cocoa and an ambiance like that, I don’t blame her. It was a lovely end to the day.

In front of a cafe frequented by JK Rowling

Interior of the Majestic Cafe

Day 6: Tomar; Fatima; Batalha; Coimbra; Porto

We bid an early farewell to Évora and made a few stops en route to Porto. First up: the ancient Convento de Cristo, with ties to the Knights Templar beginning in the 12th century. More beautiful hilltop architecture and interesting history, and after finally finding the hidden entrance, a walk along the top of the fortress walls.

The fortress walls of Convento de Cristo--see if you can spot the entrance to the tops of the walls (Kara for scale)

Detail inside the main chapel of Convento de Cristo

One of the cloisters at Convento de Cristo

Another cloister--notice all the time periods coming together in the different buildings in view

Oil vats in the basement

Our next stop, along with what felt like the masses, was the pilgrimage site Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima. This story was completely new to me, but Catholics believe that during WW1, angels and even the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children who were later venerated. The massive complex included several chapels, and instead of small prayer candles the faithful lit long candles that looked more like torches in a dedicated grotto. A few of the worshippers even completed their journey to the chapel on their knees through the long courtyard.

The huge square at Fátima--the original chapel is the outdoor one on the far left, and the light-color line is the path where we saw pilgrims on their knees making their way through the square.

Inside the large church are tombs of the 3 people who first had the visitation as kids (2 on this side, 1 on the opposite side of the nave)

Returning to our historical tour, we visited the unfinished chapel and graves of Henry the Navigator and parents at Batalha Monastery. They started building the monastery in 1385 and it took over 150 years to build. The intricate carvings were gorgeous, and made me wonder if they’d gone a little simpler, could they have finished putting a roof on that chapel?

Incredibly detailed carving at the entrance to the unfinished chapel at Batalha

The tomb of Henry the Navigator's parents

The unfinished chapel (Kara for scale)

Batalha Monastery

Detail inside the monastery

Cloister at Batalha Monastery--I love the detailed carving on everything from the columns to the screens at the top of each arch, and the parapet--many of them showing off different styles harmoniously.

Our last stop was the small university town of Coimbra, and before our walking tour we stopped at DOPPO gelato. I tried a dark chocolate with orange as well as pineapple basil gelato, and was impressed with both. 

Gelato break!

View of Coimbra from the top of the elevator

Rick Steves again gave us a fine walking tour, with the important element of taking an outdoor elevator to get us mostly up the main hill to the university instead of walking up steep streets. We briefly toured the older parts of the University of Coimbra, which settled here in 1537, before our timed tour of the Joanina Baroque Library. No photographs were allowed, but it was a booklover’s dream with over 60,000 books spread over two levels with ornate shelves and ceilings. You can see official pictures here: https://visit.uc.pt/en/program-list/4/space-details/joanina 

Coimbra University

Coimbra University Chapel--students can get married there

 

Wall near the entrance of Coimbra University Chapel

Books in a lower level of the library (where photos were permitted)

On the steep walk down afterward I was delighted to find a local chocolate shop, and grateful we’d taken the elevator to come up!

Statue of a traditional Portuguese woman

So grateful for my walking sticks, and elevators to the top so I only had to go down this street!

Sunset view of Coimbra (we parked across the river so this was the view on our way to the car)

Arriving in Porto, I discovered our hotel was next to the soccer stadium, and that their team had a match that night against Barcelona. Checking in, we were also surprised with a room upgrade so that the room looked down on the game! I ventured out to a nearby restaurant the hotel recommended for a small dinner (soup again), and felt like I was swimming upstream walking back to the hotel amid all the fans streaming out of the stadium. They lost, but were thankfully calm about it.

View from our hotel room?!

Day 5: Algarve; Évora–hero x 2

I’m not normally a morning person, but we booked the earliest kayaking tour we could find and were lucky we did–though not with a lucky start. We carefully navigated to the address we were given, only to discover they’d moved the launch site to another beach down the coast that required a bit of offroading to reach. Thankfully we still arrived in time, and it was worth the effort. While we couldn’t make it to the most famous algarve, it was a beautiful day on the water and so cool to kayak into sea caves and algarves (the official name when a cave has a hole in the roof). I’d told our guides we were there for Kara’s birthday, and it was at one of these stops that he had the group sing happy birthday–only to discover another girl in the group shared the same birthday. Small world! As the morning went on, the water got rough so we had the “full experience” of getting doused by the waves as we paddled onto a secluded beach, and by the tour’s end our return was more like surfing into shore than kayaking. The winter swells from Africa were arriving, and the seas were so rough that our tour ended up being the last one of the day, and possibly for the season. My arms were thoroughly tired, but it was worth it! The day provided a chance to be heroes, as we drove the birthday twin and her travel buddy, along with their luggage, up from the beach to an Uber pick-up spot for their ride to the airport. A small thing for us, but for them it meant not having to carry their suitcases up a steep road and back into town.

Kayaking into an algarve

Classic algarve: a cave with holes in the ceiling

This rock formation is called the submarine.

Perfect kayaking weather!

One of the formations we kayaked through

Enjoying a beach we reached by kayak

One of the prettiest beaches in Portugal

One last photo before the paddle back

Drying off at a supermarket, we hit the road for Évora. The small city center was full of beautiful buildings, including Roman ruins of a temple, and an usual one: a chapel of bones. Built by Franciscan monks when the town’s cemeteries were filling up, it was fascinating and macabre. They also housed a museum of religious artifacts, but as an interesting balance to the bones they had a display of nativities from around the world. The hilltop Cathedral of Évora was beautiful, and we happened to be on the roof when the bells chimed. Walking the narrow streets of the old city, I got the shopping bug and treated myself to a cork purse, a cork nativity, and olive oil from a nearby vineyard. When in…Évora? 

Chapel of Bones; a sign says "We the bones that are here for yours we are waiting"

A balance to the bones: nativities from around the world. This one shows the town of Évora.

Typical street in the old part of Évora

Remains of a Roman temple in Évora

Detail of the Évora cathedral's door

Detail from the roof of Évora cathedral

Roof of the Évora cathedral

Hallway in the Evora cathedral

Cloister in the Évora cathedral--I loved that every circular window had a different pattern

Évora cathedral chapel

 

Dinner was at a Portuguese restaurant recommended by the hotel called Piparoza, and it was perfect weather to dine outside–which was fortunate because the only seating was in the middle of the street. The local olives and sausages were delicious. 

Enjoying Alejento cuisine

 Back at the hotel, we encountered a new experience: the key cards to our room didn’t work, and there was no staff in the lobby. A few angry guests said they’d waited there for quite some time, and no one was answering the hotel’s phone or app. Deciding it was time to be heroic again (and so we could get into our room), I entered the staff area and kept calling out to find someone. Eventually I found the restaurant’s kitchen upstairs, and an equally surprised dishwasher was able to get a hold of a pair of staff to help out the guests. A girl said it was the battery of the key card reader and proceeded to try repairing it, but was unsuccessful. Good thing we were only there for a night! I wrapped up the day with a quick dip in their pool under a starry sky.