AfricaPorto
Torel 1884
Saturday 8 October 2022. Spending 2 hours waiting on the tarmac at Heathrow (as a result of heavy fog in Porto) wasn’t a great start particularly given the 03:30 alarm that had woken me up.
The rest of the flight was fine but we did have a bit of a long wait for passport control. We noticed a short queue for the electronic passport gates but the gates at UK airports were always rejecting me and I didn’t want to risk being sent to the back of the queue we were already in.
A short taxi ride took us to Torel 1884 where we would be spending the next 4 nights. It was a lovely old building with a striking central staircase. Our room was lovely too.
Browsing the shops
After checking in we made the short walk from the hotel to Mercador Cafe on Rua das Flores (the next parallel street) for brunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the local streets and browsing the shops. We also picked up our first set of custard tarts (or pasteis de nata) from Manteigaria, reputed to be one of the best in Porto, they were delicious!
Street art
We then returned to the hotel for an afternoon nap.
That evening we had a couple of games of cards along with a G&T in the hotel’s library.
We migrated down to the hotel's restaurant for our dinner, a 5-course tasting menu included (‘free!’) in our package. We were escorted to a private table in their wine vault. The food was delicious as was the wine pairing and we particularly liked a 10 year old port!
Sunday 9 started with a 5.5km run down the hill and along the river to the east. Breakfast at the hotel was very good.
We walked down the hill and crossed the river Douro using the lower deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). This took us from Porto to Vila Nova de Gaia on the south side and gave us some lovely views of Porto.
There was a motorcycle 'meet' taking place that morning and hundreds had gathered around the cable car station.
Lunch at Digby's
We walked back to Porto along the upper deck of the Luis I Bridge and had lunch at Digby’s, the restaurant at Torel Avantgarde, a sister hotel to the one in which we were staying.
Library
On the walk back to our hotel we stopped at Leitaria da Quinta do Paço for a selection of their famous eclairs and Starbucks for coffee. We enjoyed them on the sofa back at the hotel library.
That evening we went to Blind for a cocktail in their courtyard followed by an 8 course (‘moments’) tasting menu. It was after midnight by the time we were done and I was fighting hard not to fall asleep. Thankfully the walk back to the hotel in the cool evening air kept me going just long enough.
Monday 10, a more leisurely start as it was expected to rain and I didn’t feel the need to attempt a run. After breakfast we made the short walk up to the São Bento railway station to view the ornate tiled walls inside.
We then made our way to the newly opened shopping arcade Mercado do Bolhao which was mainly selling food. The shops around the edge hadn’t yet been occupied. The centre also had an upper level where it looked like they may have market stalls in the future.
On our way back to the hotel, we picked up some more custard tarts, from another bakery reputed to make the best in Porto, Confeitaria do Bolhao. They were tasty but not as good as the ones we got on the first day.
We returned to the hotel for a 90 minute couples massage in our room.
We had dinner at DOP which was a short walk down the hill from our hotel. We ordered a lobster & fish dish for our main which was lovely. The portion was huge - we managed to eat the fish but had to draw the line at all the rice.
Lighthouse
Tuesday 11, I got up early and went for another run, this time heading along the river in the opposite direction towards the ocean. The route was more pleasant, a little less industrial / more residential.
After breakfast we took tram #1 to Foz do Douro, along the same route as my run, but going further.
Lighthouse
We walked out along both of the piers to the lighthouses at the end.
Taking the tram
On the way back to the tram stop we took a detour along one of the back streets stopping at a store where we bought 2 vases and 2 scarfs.
For lunch we shared a pizza and bruschetta at a cafe within the small arcade of shops and restaurants on the covered Rua de Galeria de Paris.
Custard tarts
We picked up 2 more custard tarts before making our way to Praca de Carlos Alberto where we were meeting a tour guide for a street art tour. The guide believed himself to be more a historian than an art lover so the tour was less street art than we expected but we did see some interesting pieces. Towards the end of the tour I had to hold back and take a Courtyard RTM meeting.
Relaxing in the hotel's library
We returned to the hotel and enjoyed the custard tarts and another Starbucks coffee in the library. We finally managed to get our ‘welcome drinks’ from the hotel bar and from there went to Casario, the restaurant at Gran Cruz, on the waterfront, where we had dinner. The meal was completed by a small complimentary glass of port on the restaurant's terrace which overlooked the river.
A glass of port in Porto
We then completed our last full day in Porto with a couple of glasses of the 10 year old Secret Spot Moscatel do Douro back at the hotel bar.
Wondering the streets
Wednesday 12, our last day. I woke up early for a longer run all the way to Foz do Douro and completed a loop around the lighthouse we had visited the day before. I felt surprisingly strong on the final segment up the hill to the hotel.
After breakfast we visited the “Impressive Monet and Brilliant Klimt” exhibit at the Immersivus Gallery. A 30 minute audio visual experience. After the show we walked to Rua de Miguel Bombarda which the street art guide had pointed out the previous day. We walked along the street and stopped at a number of the galleries.
We then went to Nicolau Porto for a light lunch before picking up another 8 custard tarts on our way back to the hotel. We had a final 20 minutes sat in the hotel's library before collecting our bags and ordering a taxi. We had a friendly driver who had spent 9 years living in Colchester before moving back to Porto in 2019.
We relaxed in the lounge watching the departure board for updates on our flight. As it approached the scheduled departure time there was still no information on the board. Eventually Tammay insisted we go through security and as we got to the gate we could see boarding was already well underway.
The ticket I had on my app failed to work and I was issued with a paper ticket. As we got to our seats we realised they had bumped us forward a couple of rows and into business! Boarding was a bit of a mess with people standing in the isle for some time. Surprisingly we weren’t that late getting into the air. The last minute upgrade resulted in a couple of double G&Ts each and a very nice linguine dish that we weren’t expecting!