Saints and Sinners: Our day trip to Porto

Porto

We had originally planned to stay in Porto for about 3 days but plans changed and we were only able to manage a day trip. It can be done if you really push it, but be prepared for a lot of walking and speeding through some of the sites. The trip to Porto included an almost 7-hour round trip train ride from/to Lisbon. So, you can imagine it was a packed itinerary.

We started off at the beautiful São Bento station. The São Bento station itself was quite grand with 20,000 azulejos (painted blue tiles) showing scenes of Portuguese history. It was definitely one of the most beautiful stations I have seen (and some claim, in the world!). 

São Bento station

We stepped outside São Bento to explore the city. The churches were just so magnificent, much unlike any we’ve seen. Anywhere. The Ribeira by the Douro river was also beautiful. Here you can see the Dom Luís I Bridge and, across the river, the Monastery of Serra do Pila cannot be missed.

Dom Luís I Bridge, Monastery of Serra do Pila by Douro @Ribeira Square

We marveled at the churches and buildings covered in azulejos. Some of the churches we saw were:

Igreja dos Congregados—as you leave the station on Rua Sa da Bandeira, this church has yellow tiles as well as the standard blue and white ones. It is dedicated to Saint Anthony.

 

Igreja dos Congregados and São Bento station

Igreja de Santo Ildefonso—by Praça da Batalha, this church from the 18th century was quite close to the city centre and can hardly be missed. It stands out with no nearby buildings or structures.

Igreja de Santo Ildefonso

Capela das Almas—by Rua Santa Catarina, was the most beautiful I have seen. While it is beside another building, it was still breathtaking. The façade was magnificently wrapped in azulejos depicting lives of saints.

 Capela das Almas

 

Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelita—another beautiful church and looked like the biggest church in the city! It is actually two churches, Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas, separated by the narrowest house in Porto (and again, possibly the world). The nuns lived and worked at Igreja dos Carmelitas while the monks at Igreja do Carmo. It’s also close to Livraria Lello bookstore, another famous site (they do charge to get in).

Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelita

We mostly ogled the churches clad in azulejos but the Clérigos Church and Tower deserve a special mention. Also near Livraria Lello, the church is one of the first Baroque churches in the city. Part of the church and one of the most characteristic symbols of Porto is the 75-meter-tall bell tower, the Torre dos Clérigos. The tower has over 200 steps to show the best views of Porto. And of course, it can also be seen from various points of the city.

Clérigos Church

Torre dos Clérigos

Now comes the “sin” part of our trip. In between visiting churches, we indulged in one of the most sinful sandwiches we ever had, Francesinha. Originally from Porto, this sandwich has layers of beef, linguiça (cured pork sausage), salchicha fresca, mortadela, and covered with melted cheese and egg with spiced tomato and beer sauce. It is typically served with french fries. Need I explain more? We had Francesinha at Café Santiago. We managed to get a table at the patio, but the place was packed and had a line up by the time we were done. It was a very heavy lunch and I could not even manage half the fries. It was delicious and definitely sinful. And, we will eat it again!

 

Francesinha  @Café Santiago

Francesinha  @Café Santiago

Another “sin” that I had to get in Porto was Port, of course. Vinho do Porto, is a Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro Valley right across the river from Porto. It is typically a sweet red wine (but also comes in dry varieties) and perfect for dessert. One of bottles we got was a Porto Cruz Reserve Ruby. Hubby claims he likes it better than our very own, ice wine. Under the European Union Protected Designation of Origin guidelines, only wines from Portugal are allowed to be labelled "port.” It was a shame we were not able to cross the river to Douro. But that leaves us more to do if we ever get to go back.

 

Port and Ginjinha from Portugal

Porto deserves to be explored in at least 3 days and more to see the Douro side with its wineries. But as our schedule only allowed for a day trip, I am still so glad we made it here, even for just a short time. It was truly worth it and worthy of being a UNESCO site.