Rediscovering Porto

When we arrived in Porto last June, it was less an intentional destination and more of a “this is our only option” event.  In order to apply for our D7 visa, we needed a 6 month rental agreement, which meant we had to arrange a rental several months before we planned to arrive.  

Doing this sight-unseen from across the ocean seemed, at times, almost impossible.  We looked at apartment listings online and talked with several realtors in Lisbon.  Many property owners either didn’t want to rent for a short term or wanted us to start paying rent as soon as we reached an agreement – months ahead of our move-in date.  We got close to an agreement on an apartment in Cascais, but the owner changed his mind and the deal fell through.

After a lot of searching, we gave up on Lisbon and started looking at Porto.  We found an AirBnB that we could rent for 7 months at a decent price.  I think it was the only AirBnB that was available for that length of time.

So Porto wasn’t our first choice of where to live, but it turned out to be a good place to start our new life in Portugal.  Porto is hilly, but very walkable. It’s big enough to have all the amenities you want in a city, but not so big that you can’t wrap your head around it.  It’s a pretty place, with a variety of architectural styles, lots of green spaces, and great views along the Douro River and the Atlantic coast. And we found many little things about the city that surprised and delighted us.

After six months in Porto, we moved to Parede, west of Lisbon. Our plan is to live in several places around Portugal before deciding where we might settle permanently.  Porto is definitely on the list of possibilities.  When the time came for us to go back for a conference last month, we were looking forward to revisiting some of our old haunts.  In this post we’ll share some of what we saw.

Staying in the “Touristy” part of town

We stayed in an AirBnB apartment just around the corner from Praça do Infante D. Henrique (Prince Henry Square), with its prominent statue of Prince Henry the Navigator pointing out to the sea, the Bolsa Palace, and the Monument Church of St. Francis (Igreja Monumento de São Francisco). 

The Praça do Infante D. Henrique

This area was one of the first places we visited after we moved to Porto, back when we were still figuring out the public transportation and we thought “Infante Henrique” referred to a baby. 

The AirBnB was a long block north of the Douro River and the Ribeira, the riverfront walk lined with cafes and people hawking sightseeing tours on the river.  This is an area popular with tourists and the streets were crowded with people from late morning well into the evening.

The buildings on our block were stately and well maintained.

Looking down the Rua do Infante D. Henrique in Porto
Mary captured the spirit of the street

An Evening Walk

On our first evening in Porto, we had a dinner reservation about 1 km away.  It was a nice evening, so we decided to walk to the restaurant and take the opportunity to revisit some of the places we had seen when we lived here.  Within a few steps of the door, we we reminded that in the neighborhood where we were staying, the only way out was UP! 

The Escada da Vitória (Stairs of Victory) in Porto

One section of our walk was up the Escadas da Vitória – the Stairs of Victory.  This is a steep set of stone steps that take you up from the lower city to the Miradouro da Vitória, a small plaza that offers a great view of the city and the river.  We had stumbled on the Miradouro during one of our first walks through the city.

Image source: Universidade do Porto

The view from the Miradouro da Vitória in Porto
The view from the Miradouro da Vitória

Continuing on, we came to a little plaza across from the Jardim da Cordoaria, a large park with lots of trees and sculpture.  Around to the right is the Clérigos Church and Tower.  And behind us was a building with the curious sign “PIXO NOT DEAD” painted in story-high letters. 

A building with the words "PIXO NOT DEAD" written on the wall

I have always been amused by this building. It’s good to know that Pixo, whoever he or she is, is still alive.

A brief aside…

While doing the research for this post, I learned that “pixo” is short for pixação, a misspelling of pichação, a word that means “wall writings” in Brazilian Portuguese.  It refers to the “tagging” done by graffiti artists using a distinctive, cryptic style, mainly on walls and vacant buildings.

When it was first done in Brazil in the 1940s and 50s, pichação were political statements written in tar.  “Piche” is Portuguese for “pitch” or “tar”, so pichação originally meant writing in pitch.

A photo of "tagging" at a railway station in Portugal

And based on what we’ve seen in Porto, and especially in Lisbon, pixo is most definitely alive!

We continued our walk past the Universidade do Porto on one side of the street, where you often see students in long black Harry Potter capes, and the Livraria Lello on the other.  The Livraria Lello is the ornate bookstore said to be where J. K. Rowling got the inspiration for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter books.

The interior of the Livraria Lello.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

An interior view of the Livrario Lello bookstore in Porto.

Early morning walks along the river

The conference we were attending was being held at the Super Bock Arena, a large multi-purpose venue located behind the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal – the Crystal Palace Gardens.  

The Jardins do Palácio de Cristal and the Super Bock Arena

The arena is surrounded by a large park, with benches, picnic tables, a small amphitheatre, and a large flock of peacocks who wander around like they own the place. I guess they probably do.

A peacock strutting his stuff outside the Super Bock Arena

It was a 2km walk from our AirBnB to the Arena.  We looked at bus routes, but never found one that quite worked.  Besides, we figured the walk would be good for us…and it was.

Map showing a route to the Super Bock Arena from the Praça do Infante D. Henrique in Porto.

The first km was easy.  It ran parallel to the river on wide stone walkways.  I found it very relaxing to make that walk early in the morning, before the crush of tourists arrived.  I enjoyed looking across the river at Vila Nova de Gaia, with all the facades of the port wine houses. 

The second half of the walk was strenuous.  I counted 127 stairs on my way up.   

Stone steps in Porto
More stairs!

But at the top of the stairs, there was a great view up the river and across to Vila Nova de Gaia.  

Looking across the rooftops of Porto toward Vila Nova de Gaia
This view made the 127 steps worth it

The Art Along the Way

On the last morning of the conference, I took a different route and enjoyed seeing another part of the city waking up.  I passed shops where merchants were setting out bins of fruits and vegetables, getting ready for the day.  In cafes, I saw tables being set and chairs arranged. 

One spot near the Parque das Virtudes captured the early morning scene perfectly.  The lights are still on from the night before, the umbrellas are still folded, and the chairs and tables sit to the side, ready to be deployed for the day’s business.

Early morning scene in Porto - cafe lights on, umbrellas folded, chairs and tables stacked

From the park, there was a great view across the rooftops of the city, looking down the river toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Looking west across the rooftops of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia

A few steps further, I found several large pieces of wall art, including these two by artists we had admired in the past – Rafi and Fedor.

While I find the pixo ugly and meaningless, murals like these always made me happy. The “art on the walls” brightens the cityscape and adds a touch of good humor to what could otherwise be bland, grey stone.

As I continued my walk, I found more art and slowed down to appreciate it up close.  No getting to the conference on time for me today!

One of the murals was aspirational.

Wall art in Porto with an aspirational message

Here is a transcription and my amateur translation.

Portuguese

eu sei que as

dificuldades são

inevataveis.  Quero ter

forças para nao fubir

transformar cada probl…

em um exercicio positi—

para a evolução

de minha alma

English

I know that

difficulties are

inevitable.  I want to have

the strength not to fail

to transform each problem

into a positive exercise

for the evolution

of my soul

Some were overtly political, like this one by the stencil artist filho bastardo

A mural by Filho Bastardo in Porto - the EU flag bleeding

Then there was this ambitious series of portraits of famous rappers by @kilosgraffiti.

Wall art murals of famous rappers in Porto

Here’s your pop culture quiz for today: Name all six of the artists shown below.

(Answer at the bottom of the post.)


I did eventually make it to the conference venue on that last day. It was a very successful event where I learned a lot and met many interesting people. Getting to visit Porto again was great fun and reminded us of how much we enjoyed living there.

Maybe we’ll live there again one day.

What’s your favorite city to visit? Tell us where and why in the comments below or with a note via the Contact Us form.

Until next week / Até a próxima semana

Mike

The Writer


Answer to the pop culture quiz

Left to right: Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Ice Cube

Here’s one way to score your results:

  • 6 correct: Your Spotify playlists are more interesting than mine
  • 4 – 5: You Googled “images of famous rappers”, like I did, and got them mostly right
  • 2 – 3: At least you’ve been paying attention
  • 0 – 1: Maybe you need to go back to school

Thanks for playing!





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16 thoughts on “Rediscovering Porto”

  1. Found your post when I got home from Porto and googled “who is Pixo”. Same building. Thanks for the answer & enjoyable read!

    Reply
    • Hi Ashley,
      Thanks for your note. We always enjoyed walking through that area from the university down to the miradouro with the great view across the river. And I always had a laugh when I saw the building and wondered “who IS Pixo?”
      Have a great day,
      Mike

      Reply
    • Hey Esri,
      Thanks for your comment. I appreciate the feedback. Sometimes I worry that I’m using too many images, but I try to let the story dictate what’s needed. Combining the words and pictures is one of the most fun parts of creating these posts.
      All the best,
      Mike

      Reply
  2. I got 6 right but couldn’t name any more than their very top songs. I would love to visit Porto sometime! It is just beautiful.

    Reply
    • Hi Bonnie.
      Yes, Porto is beautiful. We enjoyed going back and are looking forward to our next trip. If you can name the top songs, you’re doing better than me!
      Have a great week!
      Mike

      Reply
  3. I loved the Rasco mural, Mike. Thanks for the translation. Porto revisited was a fun read, and like Alice, am curious re the conference. Maybe you hoped we would ask. (I totally flunked the rapper test!)
    Favorite cities to visit…in Europe, MANY…and perhaps because of what happened there, or who I was with, or what the weather was like that day!
    I’m a WW2 buff and it was an eerie and depressing feeling to be standing where atrocities had taken place, or in cemetaries where our soldiers and loved ones are buried…..yet felt a sort of satisfaction to verify what was true, sad as it was.

    Reply
    • Hi Joy,
      Thanks for your note. I’m glad you liked the Rasco mural. It was a surprise to find it, tucked away in a corner on a street that wasn’t very busy. I hope whoever wrote it is living out his intention. We are looking forward to seeing a lot more of Europe and learning more history in the months and years to come. And thanks for the question about the conference. I replied to Alice, so everyone gets the answer.
      Take care of yourself!
      Mike

      Reply
  4. I only got 3 correct. Looks like you had a wonderful visit to Porto again. Mike, what conference were you attending?

    Reply
    • Hi Alice,

      Thanks for your note and the question. We were attending WordCamp Europe. It is a conference for people who work with WordPress. That’s the software we use for this site. This was the 10th WordCamp in Europe, but the first in-person event since 2019. The 2020 conference was cancelled due to covid (like lots of other events) and in 2021 it was a virtual event. This year there were over 2500 attendees, 70 different speakers, and about 20 workshops. I was one of almost 100 people who helped organize the conference. I worked on the Communications team, helping to maintain the web site, do social media posts, and write press releases and news items. Mary was a volunteer during the event. We’re looking forward to the 2023 conference. It will be in Athens, Greece.

      So we’re going to Greece next year!
      Our best to you and Earl,
      Mike

      Reply

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