About a week ago, my boyfriend and I went to Porto, Portugal. It´s a city that has the potential to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but the Great Recession has hurt it a lot. Porto is almost a perfect juxtaposition of remodeled antiquity and old architecture that has fallen to such a degree that it´s almost unsalvageable. What was really hard to see was those old houses and buildings with grafitti. You could make out their greatness, but today´s youth seems to mock its history with tagging. It was also difficult to find restaurants. While they claim to eat according to the Spanish schedule, we walked an hour and a half to find a restaurant and all we found were two very overpriced restaurants.

Regardless of those things, Porto was fun. The mornings are cool and comfortable while the afternoons get very warm. It´s not the heat, so much as the humidity that really affects you. We stayed at Hotel Dom Henrique, which is in the center of town and it´s a very comfortable place to stay. On the 17th floor is a bar with a panoramic view of the city. One of the most enjoyable things was drinking port up there during the sunset. Once it is dark, at least during the week, there are very few people walking around and we couldn´t find any nightlife. Maybe we were looking in the wrong place. Up the beach a little ways in Foz there was supposed to be a lot to do. However, without a car and much knowledge of the city, we didn´t want to risk getting lost at night.

Our hotel recommended the Yellow Bus Tours. For 19€, you can take the yellow bus for two days, go to Calem Cellars for a Port tour, and take a 50 minute ride on the Douro River underneath five of its six bridges. We went on all three bus routes, which also have audio in six different languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Since we were only there two days, it was a very convenient way to see the city. I really enjoyed Calem. The tour was in Spanish and we learned a lot about the different types of port and the process of making it. All of the grapes come from the area, not Porto, but further east nearer to the Spanish-Portuguese border. Once the tour ended, we tried a white port and a tawny port. We met a Spaniard from Almeria and his wife who was from Austria, I believe. We also met three women from Brazil, but who now live in Miami. I really enjoyed meeting people from around the world. Everyone was so friendly.

I always love getting out on the water. The river ride was relaxing and beautiful. We saw the city and enjoyed the summer breeze. Unfortunately, I did not put enough sunscreen on and my back, six days later, is still a little red. Lesson learned!

Lastly, the churches were beautiful. Much of the architecture is baroque, so everything is over the top. They didn´t allow pictures in many places, so I got postcards. The churches were so decorated that it was difficult to take it all in. Another must-see place is Palaco da Bolsa, or the Stock Exchange Building. It´s right next to an elaborate church, which you also need to go inside. The Stock Exchange Building has many beautiful rooms, but the Arab Room really is a treasure. It was built to impress and it really does. It´s breathtaking. The designers styled it after the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, but from a Catholic perspective. I know, it doesn´t make much sense, but it truly is a must-see.

I´ll spend this week relaxing in Madrid and Alcalá de Henares. Next week we will visit Santiago de Compostela, the third most holy city in the Christian world after Rome and Jerusalem.