What a city Porto is! Built on a hilltop, the colorful buildings tumble down to the Douro River in a tightly packed, random sized, colorful haphazard fashion. The river gleams a murky green, the sky overhead is blue and the cry of seagulls fill the air.
Rosie and The Operator only have one full day to visit everything they want to see in this amazing city, so lets get started!
215,000 people call this city home and on the top of the hill the buildings are grand and the squares are big, all made of somber grey stone and some, have their exterior lined with beautiful blue and white tiles that Portugal is famed for. The further down the hill you go and closer to the river the smaller and more colorful the buildings become.
Rosie and The Operator are staying at the top of the hill so, its only natural to work our way downhill when it comes to sightseeing. Porto however doesn’t seem to work like that….the streets seem to undulate as they head down hill….meaning that you are fifty percent of the time walking up a steep incline to get to where you want to go even though you are walking downhill to the river.
Our first stop bright and early was the Lello Levaria Bookshop ranked as one of the top 5 most beautiful bookstore in the World. This famed bookshop is where JKRowling used to come quite often when she lived in Portugal and was penning her debut novel, the interior they say, was supposed to be a great source of inspiration to said novel.
Well, Rosie and the Operator turned the corner to the store right on opening time and low and behold…the queue (below) waiting to get in was stretched halfway down the street. Rosie does not have time to waste her one day in Porto waiting in queues, lets go to the next stop on our list for the day, its just down the road and when we finish there the line may not be as long….fingers crossed.
The Clergios Church and its Bell Tower is the sight you can see from everywhere in Porto. Built In 1735 it has the tallest bell tower in Portugal, stretching up 76 meters into the blue sky it towers over all the orange roofs in the city. In and amongst the tall buildings of the city you get beautiful peeps of the tower from alleyways as you walk down them.
The bell tower was once a visual marker for boats coming up the river from the sea and the noon time bells have rung every day since the towers bells were hung.
It was pretty early to be climbing those 226 stairs to the top, the tower had just opened and Rosie and The Operator hadn’t even had their first cup of coffee of the day! On the way you pass the enormous 49 bells which make up the carillon, they are spectacular….you wouldn’t want to get caught up here when those babies are in full song!
The view from the top of the tower was outstanding, with Porto Cathedral to the left, and a peep of the Douro River across the orange rooftops. Across the other side of the river is the suburb of Gaia where all the Port wine cellars are based. It was pretty cramped up the top of the tower and even with the small number of other early birds already up top with us it was elbows at dawn to get the pics over the high parapet.
The Operator was staring intently over the side of the tower down into a small square, Look he said, that’s the bookshop down there…the queue has gone! Well, well said Rosie, you are dead right, lets go!
Rosie and The Operator did knuckle each other and look quite smug on the way down as there was now a steady continual stream of tourists climbing up the steps of the tower towards its cramped viewpoint.
Our looks of smugness were soon wiped off our faces….the queue at the bookshop was there alright, and longer than before, they had just re routed it on the footpath so it was obscured from the tower. Oh well, we are back here again, the line did seem to be moving quite quickly. Lets wait.
The trick to the Lello Bookstore is that you don’t buy tickets to enter from the bookstore….you go to the clothes store two shops down to buy your tickets….nice to see they were spreading the neighborhood wealth.
Rosie and The Operator decided to divide and conquer. The Operator went to buy the tickets because he carries the money and Rosie went to stand in the line for the bookstore because she likes to look around. The Operator will be well back with the tix before Rosie gets to the front of the line….surely?!
Well, Rosie waited….and waited. Slowly shuffling forward and zigging and zagging with the rest of the line, waiting and waiting. While we are waiting for The Operator Rosie might as well tell you why we are standing in line to pay to go inside and visit a bookstore.
Porto was instrumental for setting the scene for all Harry Potterphiles. Back in her days of obscurity and poverty JK Rowling lived here, in Porto and urban legend has it that she penned the first Potter novel while sitting in the Majestic Café….where we are heading to next.
The Lello Bookstore was a favorite place she also frequented and the interior was said to have influenced the vibe and atmospheric setting of her books. This is why we are waiting to get in, let’s visit, then you can look at Rosie’s pics and you decide!
The bookshop was first established in 1869. The Lello family are the current owners and have operated the store since they purchased it in 1894. Rosie wonders what the original Mr Lello would have thought of all this craziness today!
Rosie got to the front of the line and still there was no sign of The Operator 20 mins on…yes, Rosie stood there like a lemon waving others past her, waiting for her ticket. Finally, up rolled The Operator clutching the tix and with a few calls of ‘queue jumper’ which we deftly ignored, we were in!
Turned out the line was just as big and long and concealed from the street window of the clothes store to buy the tickets as it was to get it into the bookstore.
Welcome to The Lello Liveria! Doesn’t it look amazing! The crowds of people crammed in there at €5 a ticket….is not so amazing. The even crazier thing is this is still a functioning bookstore, purchase a book and your entry fee is refunded. People were actually browsing the shelves which held all the latest releases and had an enormous travel section, trying to actually read books….amongst all the pushing, jostling selfie takers, why would you!
The store is super impressive and exactly what an ‘olde worlde’ library would be like in your imagination. The detailing is phenomenal…..it is straight out of Hogwarts………and the store is huge!
Close your eyes and you can block out the hundreds of people. Take a deep breath and you can smell the dry paper smell of books, leather and the beautiful tang of wood polish. The bell above the door tingalinged when the next infusion of tourists were let in and Rosie was pushed forward by the deluge, back into the real world. The only redeeming thing about the bookstore….it was reverently quietish, like a library should be, even with all the people in here.
The store is a little dim, the counter girls serving the customers and wrapping the books work under the stairs in pools of light cast by lamps. The books are stacked floor to ceiling in beautiful shelves and overhead is the most amazing stained glass ceiling. It is a truly an amazing space, with the focal point in the middle being the crazy twisting staircase….that was chockablock full of Instagram wannabes.
Rosie and The Operator did a lap of the building then stood in a quiet place, appreciated our surroundings and were out quick smart. The photos don’t really make it look all that busy….it was. Outside on the street, we could breath again, Rosie really needed that coffee!
Carrying on our Harry Potter/JK Rowling inspired tour of Porto our next stop is the café where urban legend has it Rowling sat inside and penned the first Harry Potter novel as the café was warm and she couldn’t afford heating back home, in her flat.
The Majestic Cafe is officially the most beautiful cafe in Porto and ranks in the Top 10 most beautiful Cafes in the World.
Established in 1921 it was a hang out back in the day of the social elite, scholars, revolutionaries and writers.
The cafe is famous for its Pastels de Nata – a Portuguese favorite that is a beautiful eggy custard in a crunchy filo style pastry casing. Sprinkled with cinnamon and icing sugar….they are normally a breakfast snack and Rosie can attest, are totally delicious.
PS – about the beer…it was 11 ish by the time we got there, we had been walking around for about 4 hours already, the need for coffee was overtaken by the need for something stronger. PPS – beer was the same price as the coffee! PPPS – Lani back home in NZ said never apologize for what time you start drinking, you are on holiday. Rosie will remember that!
The interior of the cafe is all wood, brass and huge mirrors. It is total luxurious glam from days gone by. The soft pastel pink walls and decorative ceiling just seal the deal….you actually can just see JK sitting here in the perfect novel writing setting……..before tourism hit Porto that is, and her fame….back when the cafe would have been a lot quieter….
On our way out of the café after Rosie had waited in another queue to use the one, yes one, ladies toilet. Rosie spied a wee fabric shop selling the most amazing pre made cushion covers, totes of all sizes, T Towels etc in traditional Portuguese fabrics….Rosie just had to go in for a bit of retail therapy for 5 mins. Twenty minutes later and a bag full of souvenir’s, Rosie felt in a much better frame of mind to carry on with the sight seeing.
Its only about 1130am on our one day looking around Porto…believe me it feels like we have done a full days worth of sightseeing already! Tomorrow Rosie will continue showing you around this beautiful city and all it has to offer. Porto is the perfect sized city to see all of the sights in one day and Rosie and The Operator are right on target. See you tomorrow!
