Portugal has long been on my list of places to visit, so I was pretty stoked to see we would be in driving distance this season. D had a bye-week last month so we decided to finally make the trip.
A few days before leaving, he dropped the ultimate bomb on me. "You know there's some sort of connection with Porto and Harry Potter, right?" Um. No, I'm sorry. If I knew this, I would've obviously hitchhiked there on day 2 of moving to Spain. What could possibly connect the British superstar that is JK Rowling with Portugal's second city? I immediately googled it and found out that JK lived in Porto while writing the beginning of The Sorcerer's Stone. She drew a ton of her inspiration for the novel from the city. I have already done one Harry Potter pilgrimage of sorts in Scotland where I got to see several cafe's JK frequented to write the series, so I wouldn't call myself a Harry Potter Pilgrimage Veteran, but actually, yes I am 100% that.
The nerd inside of me could not have been more thrilled. I immediately contacted fellow members of HP Nation, knowing only they would share my sheer jubilation and began obsessing over the trip.
D spent the entirety of the 2.5 hour trip to Porto listening to me read aloud every possible article I could find about Harry Potter and it's Porto connection. When we finally made it into the city, I was immediately blown away by how gorgeous and unique the buildings were. They were covered in the most beautiful, colorful tiles and looked like something out of a movie. For over 500 years, the Portuguese have used azulejos, or painted tiles, on the walls of their churches and buildings. You can see these throughout the city and it's a gorgeous tradition that makes you feel like shit that your house is painted in Benjamin Moore.
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| Azulejos covering a Church |
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| Okay, but can we make this a thing in America? |
After living overseas for the past five years and doing my fair share of traveling, nothing is more sacred to me than cities that haven't been completely warped into tourist traps. You know, the ones that don't have Starbucks yet (gasp!). Some of my favorite cities are ones that are not necessarily popular tourist destinations and really maintain their authenticity: Ljubljana, Slovenia and Vilnius, Lithuania, for example. Portugal's tourism market is growing at a rapid rate, with the capital, Lisbon being the main city for tourists. Porto is second in line, and on the rise, but still far from a tourist mecca. It feels real and rugged, and I absolutely love that.
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| My favorite storefront! |
Our first stop in the city was, as usual, to feed the beast. Food is often the only thing that keeps D going on our excursions and I fully use it to my advantage to get him to comply with my often odd and lengthy list of things to see. I read about Porto's famous sandwich, the Francesinha, and it sounded like the fattest thing I'd ever heard of, so naturally I knew D would go for it. This monstrosity of a sandwich is made up of ham, sausage, steak, and cheese, in between two pieces of bread and smothered with a tomato-beer sauce. I like to consider myself a pretty health-conscious eater so when I do have a cheat meal, I always evaluate whether something's worth the calories. This one did not pass my calorie to goodness ratio, but you should definitely give it a try if you're ever in Porto.
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| Literally just gained 5 lbs while looking at this picture |
After self-inducing ourself into a food coma, we wobbled our way over to the Livraria Lello Bookstore. It is said that JK Rowling used this bookstore and it's amazing windey staircase as inspiration for Hogwart's Grand Staircase. This gothic bookstore was built in 1906 and is the type of place that makes you want to cry when you realize that in today's world, not even Barnes & Nobles can stay in business and people read solely off of small electronic devices. I love bookstores, and this has to be one of the coolest ones I've ever been in.
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| No, I wasn't pretending I was walking up to my Gryffindor dormitory here, why would you assume that? |
After the bookstore, we crossed the street and headed towards the Clerigos Tower. This is the church tower of the Porto's first Baroque Church and was built in the 1700s. From the top, you have the most incredible view of Porto's Old Town.
From the tower, we checked out the Porto Train Station which is hands down the most gorgeous train station I've ever seen. Covered in blue and white tiles, you could easily miss your train connection while gazing at all the beauty in the lobby.
From there, we went to see the Porto Cathedral, another supposed inspiration site for JK Rowling. The cathedral's cloisters are also covered in azulejos and the gothic arches and vaults had me feeling like Hermoine could pop up behind me holding her "Defense Against the Dark Arts" textbook at any given moment.
That evening, I let D have a minor break from Harry Potter activities, and we booked a tour at one of the Port Wine Caves. I must preface this by saying I despise Port wine but felt it would be somewhat of a travesty to come all the way to Porto and not check out their most famous export. Unsurprisingly, the port wine is just as terrible in Porto as it is in America, but learning about the production was really neat. Watching a Portuguese live band play during the tasting also helped make it a bit more palatable, but I still couldn't help thinking I was drinking liquid migraine.
After the cave tour, we had potentially one of the best meals of our lives at a small Tapas joint, Jimao Tapas & Vinhos. I cannot recommend this place enough if you ever find yourself in Porto.
The Harry Potter Pilgrimage continued on Day 2 where we visited Cafe Majestic, a stunning, regal cafe from the 1920s where JK Rowling used to frequent while writing Sorcerer's Stone. I'd highly recommend a stop-in for a coffee, but the high prices will make you feel like you should at least be entitled to breathe in some of JK's oxygen trapped in a mason jar. This service is unavailable and frankly, a missed business opportunity if you ask me.
There was only one stop on my HP tour that I had yet to fulfill. Porto is home to the University of Porto where every student beyond their freshman year is required to wear a black cape as a uniform. JK Rowling modeled the Hogwart's uniform after the University of Porto students. I kept my eyes peeled all weekend for these students and was getting pretty anxious one hadn't turned up. As we were walking down a random street on our way out of town, D poked me and said "did you see her?!" I was clearly daydreaming and missed my chance at a caped student! Immediately I turned around and snapped this photo from the back. Probably for the best, as I would've 100% asked to pose in a picture with her and D would've died inside of sheer embarrassment. JK was clearly ahead of her time in the fashion world, as capes are now a chic wardrobe must have. I'll never forgive myself for not packing my black Zara cape and regardless of the weather the next time I visit, I promise you I won't take it off.
Besides it's incredible beauty and history, Porto has so much to offer. The entire city is like a living, walking, Etsy store. Streets are filled with the cutest shops selling unique, handcrafted goods. It was truly a hipster's paradise.
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| Ready to move in effective immediately |
Our last stop before heading back to Santiago was to Foz do Douro. Foz is the gorgeous seafront part of Porto lined with beautiful white pergulas and old, almost Victorian looking homes. The Florida girl in me can't help but love a good beach and I felt a little at home looking at the Atlantic Ocean from the other side.
Even if you aren't a Harry Potter loyalist (no judgement but this is a severe character defect), Porto should absolutely be on your must-visit list. This city is full of culture, history, beauty, great food.. and did I mention, Harry Potter?!
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Porto by Night    |
