Monday, June 9, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Trip to Porto (Day ONE. Part TWO)
Another thing about Porto (and another reason I simply adore the city) is how it has not only kept the old habits, the old shops, the old buildings, etc, but it has given a modern twist to them as well.
For instance, this old bookstore, which has been turned into a coffee/tea shop, still selling books, has kept the facade, the signs inside and outside the store and even some of the objects that belonged to the original bookstore.
Then we found this huge and beautiful shop called A Vida Portuguesa, which sells really old portuguese brands - from soaps, to notebooks, to liquor, to pencils, to shaving creams, to whatever you can think of - while maintaining the original, beautiful and even naive branding and packaging style.
Their mission is to "create an inventory of brands that survived the passage of time, to highlight the quality of Portuguese manufacture and to showcase Portugal in a surprising light".
These are "products that have been passed down from generation to generation and are still in our hearts today"!
Trip to Porto (Day ONE. Part ONE)
Another weekend, another chance to be a dorky tourist in a city. This time, we hopped on the 8pm train to Porto (also known as Oporto, don't ask why).
We rented a studio apartment for the weekend. Two friends who decided to buy, re-model and rent out a few apartments for tourists. They were super nice, and one of them gave us a lift from the station to our studio. But first, he was kind enough to show us a bit of the city. Naturally, we forgot almost everything he had said the night before and got lost a couple of times... In spite of the extremely acute sense of orientation we both possess.
Even though we had been to a Rolling Stones concert the night before and woke up super early the next day to work (please read: we were extremely exhausted), we decided to enjoy the night and use that time to start getting acquainted with the city.
We headed towards the center and, along the way, we found this little street called Rua do Almada, with tiny little shops and bars and cafés. Oh, it was just adorable. We couldn't resist and just had to hop into one and take a look. For some reason, instead of building more floors above, many of these buildings have underground areas, so most bars are in the ground floor and a sort of basement. The one we entered was so cool. It had this retro feel to it and the walls had pick-up lines written on them, perhaps to help those who, after a long week, go in completely uninspired.
On Saturday, we headed straight into town. Porto is unbelievably charming during the day. Something about the way the light hits the buildings, how different in colour they are, the people who spend time by their window, watching people walking by...
Then again, the really cute cafés along the way. Like this one, in Rua do Almada:
'I'd rather have wine, than be in bad company.'
At least two things are a must-try in Porto.
The famous port wine. And a francesinha, which means "little frenchie". Seeing as I have recently gone vegetarian and that a typical francesinha normally contains a lot of meat, I was sad that I wouldn't be able to try one.
But, as we walked down the street, this rustic, tavern like restaurant caught my eye. I went to look at the menu and (fireworks!!) - they had a vegetarian francesinha! I have a feeling that I emotionally blackmailed my partner in crime into going inside, but I bet he doesn't regret it one bit. We ended up sharing one and not only was it delicious, but the couple who owned the restaurant were really nice and sweet to us.
Ah, got to love raw instincts...
Above: the infamous vegetarian francesinha!
Monday, June 2, 2014
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