Day 22: feeling portly in Porto
Why did no one tell me about the sheer amount of pork that would be served... or the massive size of most portions (says the American!), or the fact that Port would be an acceptable beverage at any time of day and pours would never be the snifter but entire glasses.
Matt and I have very few hobbies, and one of them is food and drink, or is that two? Whatever... our favorite way to get to know a city is through its bar and restaurant culture, but in Porto, we may have met our match.
Porto sits on the confluence of the Douro River and the Atlantic Ocean and because of its rich history of fishing, trading, and exploring from its ports, you get a wonderfully rich mix of cuisines. Rumor has it that the food is Porto is customarily rich due to the large working class and the need for calories to sustain them throughout the long working days.
Porto is a relatively small city and is extremely walkable, so we made the most of it and walked to all of the major cities in Old Town Porto. Fun fact, JK Rowling spent many years in Porto with her Portuguese husband at the time, teaching English in a local school. There is a beautiful library (Lelo) from which she gained inspiration. Cafe Majestic, the oldest cafe in Porto, and where she reportedly wrote some of her later books. And finally, there are college students all around the city dressed in their uniforms that look extremely familiar (see photo).
Matt and I were lucky enough to go on a tour of the Douro Valley wine region with a very knowledgeable guide. She was a Port wine expert as well as a passionate Portuguese native eager to share her experiences. Something she elaborated on was the reason for the numerous buildings that were either abandoned or not kept up. In Porto is not lawful to destroy the facade of a building, and if it’s it updated it has to be in its original style. Also, in Portuguese culture, you don’t buy property, you inherit it. So as housing prices rise, taxes rise, and with that, the locals can not afford to maintain their property. So, instead of selling, they opt to wait for the next generation to take over. I believe that a rising tide raises all ships, and therefore, eventually, tourism dollars (euros in this case) will make it to the locals and will actually help them revamp the city (classic American capitalist). With that being said, something we can do is shop local to help sustain the places that we visit. For more insight into the economic conditions of Porto, watch the Parts Unknown episode there. It is an early episode so the city has changed a lot since A.B. visited, but as always he did an incredible job portraying the beauty as well as the reality.
RIP Anthony.
xo
K
