Playing the role of a proud Portuguese girl

Porto - my first irretrievable love

What I knew about Porto when I applied for the Erasmus scholarship:

- it is the second largest city in Portugal;

- it lies along the coastline of Atlantic Ocean and there is a river somewhere;

- it is a popular, kind of cheap destination for students.

It seemed to have my dream of living near the sea fulfilled. But, in fact I knew nothing… I walked on sunshine all my study abroad experience!

Getting there could have been postponed in the airport of Milano, because of the best ice-cream, for Adela (my travel companion) and me. You know… Italian gelato… But we made it!

Here is Porto from the sky:

Be careful! Even though it's the beginning of autumn, pack warm clothes if you plan to visit Portugal! Don’t forget the umbrella!

It is said that Portuguese people are like onions! In the morning they put layered clothing on and, as they start to do diverse activities, warming up, they take off ('peel') the layers one by one. In the evening, they put them on, one by one. The next day, the cycle repeats itself. :))

Sightseeing - or, how I like to call it, wandering around for minimum 10 km per day

I often went to Vila Nova de Gaia, on the other side of the Douro River, where most of the port wine cellars are. Dom Luís I Bridge helped me to get there, offering some of the best views for sunsets.

From there, you can admire the traditional, colourful houses along Ribeira, the neighbourhood designated World Heritage by UNESCO.

Most of the buildings in Porto are decorated with ceramic tiles, called azulejos. Some of them depict historic scenes (as São Bento railway station in the picture below), religious figures, but my favourite ones are the yellow ‘alto relevo’ tiles or how the Portuguese people say: ‘the eggs’.

Porto offers everything in my opinion! That’s why whenever I went to visit a place, I did not stop there! I always discovered ‘extras’ on my way.

• Delicious food, from francesinha (a caloric hit covered by a sauce made of beer and tomatoes – crazy, right?! ) to grilled fish (try bacalhau in the port area) As dessert I recommend nata!

• Gorgeous sandy beaches

• Bridges that offer you amazing and unexplainable feelings

• Warm and lovely people, as my experienced teacher that advised us about Portugal’s points of interest

• Lively nightlife

• International environment

• Diverse cafés and cocktail bars (Mirajazz – one of my favorite)

• Complex culture, coming from a colourful and rich history.

The next photo shows the bloody sunset covering The Porto Cathedral (Portuguese: Sé do Porto). This kind of cathedral (Sé) is found in every major city of Portugal.

• Street art – ‘The Trash Rabbit’ through which the author wants to make people aware of the sustainability and I totally support it, since I find ecology in Porto undeveloped for such an important urban area.

Almost the conclusion…

You might have wondered when clicking on my title what’s the story behind it, so here it is my inspiration: my landlady, Cristina. She has taught us a lot of valuable lessons, but the first one, before going out to the city centre of Porto, was: ‘If, in the middle of the night, anybody approaches you in the streets or whatever, just walk like you are proud Portuguese girls, who know the way, nod if necessary and speed up. ’ Pretty funny for the first meeting, right? :))

As for ‘the end’, here’s a piece of advice: visit Porto, explore its magical narrow streets and enjoy a glass of local almond liqueur (Licor Beirão) at Café Casa da Música. There are free concerts on Wednesdays!

Cheers!