Porto, Where Happiness Lives

Happiness – That’s the feeling we got from our very short yet enjoyable visit to Porto. We are spending a month in Nazaré, Portugal and since it’s only a three-hour bus ride to Porto, we felt it would be a shame to miss this city. We boarded the very early bus to Porto with the intention of seeing as much of it as we possibly could manage in two days.

After a few months of being on the road, we seem to get a sense of a place immediately and this was a good one! We bee-lined for the Majestic Café as soon as we were off the bus. It’s one of the top 10 most beautiful cafes in the world. It definitely lives up to its reputation and you’ll find yourself going “WOW” once you step inside.

 

After a delicious french toast and a very expensive cafe au lait, we hit the streets of Porto and slowly made our way towards yet another landmark, Liveraria Lello. Be warned, you’ll want to stop every few minutes to snap a photo. Porto is one of the most photogenic cities we’ve visited. Bruce snapped about 700 photos and actually drained two batteries on our first day and I nearly ran out of space on my phone – that was just in 6 hours.

 

 

We eventually made it to Liveraria Lello. The place is magical and you will never see a more beautiful bookstore. Lello supposedly inspired the Hogwart’s Library in Harry Potter. There is an entrance fee to get in. I understand they probably do this to control the crowds who just want to go in and snap a photo but paying to get into a store just seems wrong. You do get your entrance fee back if you purchase a book and it’s rare I walk out of a bookstore without buying anything.

A guide book to Rajasthan and one all about animals for Kasm, we said goodbye to this beautiful bookstore and set to explore more of Porto.

After some more meandering, we checked into our hotel for a quick rest and out again to soak in more of this gorgeous city. We headed towards the Douro river where one must sit and soak in the happiness.

We finished the day by walking across the Louis I bridge and enjoyed a lovely dinner at Taberninha do Manel. I had the Octopus while the boys enjoyed delicious steak and fries. Bruce got his wish for a little port tasting since we chose to skip the caves due to our short visit.

 

We continued our exploring the next day before catching the bus back to Nazaré.

Are you thinking about visiting Porto? We definitely recommend it and hope our photos can convince you to take that trip 🙂