This past weekend, I had the pleasure of exploring Porto, Portugal – the country’s second-largest city – with a few friends. Porto was a vibrant city with breathtaking views of the ocean, delicious food, and friendly people. I 100% recommend visiting the city. For my first venture outside Spain, I'd say it was a perfect trip. To get to Porto, I took a 5-hour bus ride directly from Salamanca. The journey was exciting in and of itself. We drove through numerous cities in Portugal like Guarda and Aveiro, and I marvelled at old buildings and beautiful landscapes the entire time.
Upon arrival, we checked into our hostel and immediately got to work touring the city. We had an authentic Porto dinner: the fraceshina sandwich, pasteis de balcalhau, and of course, a taste of traditional port dessert wine. Day two was spent walking from our hostel down to Cais de Ribeira where we ate lunch by the water. On the walk over, we saw Livaria Lello, the bookstore that's said to have inspired J.K Rowling's description of Flourish and Blotts in Harry Potter. We saw São Bento Station, the most artistic train station I've ever seen: it was covered floor to ceiling in azulejo tiling, a very famous type of ceramic tile work in both Portugal and Spain. After lunch, we walked across the Luís I Bridge and hung out in Parque Gaia, visited the monastery, and treated ourselves to Pastel de Nata, the famous Portuguese pastry.
On our last day in Porto, we climbed to the top of the clergy tower to see the best view of the city. Then it started pouring rain, so we spent the rest of the day shopping and eating our way through Mercado Bom Suceso before catching the bus and heading home to Salamanca.
Check out my photo gallery to get a real sense of my weekend in Porto!
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Nicole Stein
<p>Hi! My name is Nicole Stein. I am a Spanish major at Kenyon College from Montclair, New Jersey spending the Spring of 2022 in Salamanca, Spain! My favorite things to do are travel, try new food, swim in small bodies of water, pet baby animals of all kinds, spend time outside hiking, skiing and exploring, and making connections with people from all walks of life.</p>
