We have a big map of Europe on the wall of our office/dining room and I’ve pinned a flags on every location we’ve visited during the past two years. There are a couple of large areas of Europe that were blank on this map and we decided (okay, I strongly suggested) to visit one of these for our last trip. We considered a Baltic Sea cruise, but the cost in money and time was too much. The cheapest choice was the Iberian peninsula and I could take advantage of a time period that included two national holidays, which allowed me to use my last ration of vacation time to the best advantage. I planned an itinerary that hopped us to Porto, Lisbon, Sintra and Madrid in seven days. 😅

Our stay in Porto was short (1.5 days), but sweet. After a two hour flight and a long crowded metro ride, we checked into an Airbnb close to the city center. We dropped our stuff and headed out to see the sights and find the food. The whole trip kinda revolved around food and drink. 🤤 We found some Pasteis de Nata in a bakery just up the street and they became a daily treat during our stay in Portugal.

We went to the famous Igreja do Carmo with beautiful tile on the outside and the most depressing baroque interior I’ve ever seen. Seriously . . . it was creepy. The best sight of the day for me was the Livraria Lello, which is the most beautiful bookstore in the world (IMHO!). So many people visit the Lello that they had to start charging a voucher fee to encourage people to buy books and keep the store in business!

We tried another Porto specialty, the Francescinha, for dinner. It’s a good thing we shared it, because this thing sits in the tummy for awhile. I think we walked it off that evening, though. Walking involves a lot of hills in Portugal. We got some good views of the riverside during sunset and saw quite a bit of the old city.

Our full day in Porto was actually spent outside the city. We joined a day long wine tour in the Douro Valley. It was a beautiful sunny day and the views of the vineyards were breathtaking. We visited two small vineyards, tasted lots of port and wine and had a nice relaxing lunch at a Portuguese restaurant in a small quaint village. It was a long ride to/from the valley and the river cruise at the end of the day was a little boring, but all in all it was a great day!

We enjoyed strolling through the streets of Porto in the evening to see some more of the interesting tiled buildings. I wish we had been able to see some of the wine cellars, but we were maxed out on wine that day and off to Lisbon the next morning. I hope we can go back to Porto some day!