Happy birthday in Porto

February 13, 2017

Ah yes, officially 71 years old. Woke up this morning in the wonderful Yeatman Hotel. Located across the Douro River from Porto, this wonderful hotel provides an amazing view of the beautiful city from every room. A wine hotel, each room is "sponsored" by a regional winery and the wine list offers more than 100 brands. The restaurant boasts 2 Michelin stars. We are told that Anthony Bourdain is staying here with his crew filming a new show, but we never ran into him.

View of Porto from our room

We spent the day exploring Porto on foot. After a walk down a very steep hill paved in cobble-stones behind our hotel, we reached the river along which are the various port visiting centers - Taylor, Sandeman, Offley, Grahams, etc. We then walked across the amazing iron bridge that links the two cities, and along the river past restaurants and souvenir shops. Porto is all straight up-hill with few level places. The city is beautiful, offering lovely views in all directions. And so we walked, up and up and up. We have visited Porto several times, including this past July with our grandchildren, but this was the first time on our own - free to just wander and take in the city and its vibe. We stopped into the exposition center - Mercado Ferreira Borges,  the last tribute to the iron period in Porto. It had a wonderful photo exhibit by a number of very talented photographers.

Continuing upward we found Livraria Lello, one of the oldest bookstores in Portugal and considered one of the finest and most beautiful in the world. When JK Rowling taught English at nearby University of Porto she is said to have frequented this bookstore, which is rumored to have inspired her books. And it is indeed inspirational. Now it costs 4 Euros per person just to get in the door. So we paid and really enjoyed the beautiful architecture, only slightly marred by the hordes of other visitors. If you buy a book, your entry fee is deducted from the price.

Inside the Lavraria Lello

From Lello we walked across a relatively flat square to admire the azulejos on the side of a beautiful church - the Igreja do Carmo.

Igreja do Carmo

As mentioned earlier, Porto is a beautiful city with beautiful vistas. Look up any side street and you will see lovely building facades with balconies, flowers, and azulejos.

Lovely little side street in Porto

The weather forecast had been for rain, but we endured only a couple of short showers and an unexpected amount of sunshine. All together we walked over five miles before grabbing a taxi back to the hotel where we enjoyed a birthday celebration dinner in the Michelin-starred restaurant. What a wonderful day!.