In July 2024, Gill and I made our debut visit to the intriguing and picturesque city of Porto (also known as Oporto), Portugal’s second largest city behind Lisbon. I can now see why it was pronounced as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996, and chosen as Best European destination in 2012, 2014 and 2017 and also became the joint European Capital of Culture alongside Rotterdam in 2001.
In 1387 John I of Portugal married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. The latter geezer has an old grungy pub named after him in the centre of Lancaster and I am sure you will be unsurprised to learn that I have seen a band there! At that time the world’s oldest recorded military alliance, the Treaty of Windsor was signed between the two countries.
Famous people from the city include Ferdinand Magellan the globe circumnavigator, Olympic marathon winner Rosa Mota, footballer Dioga Jota and Rui Reininho, lead singer of rock band GNR, whose most renowned album was ‘Rock in Rio Douro’ released in 1992 and it topped the Portuguese charts for a remarkable nine months.
The other famous ex-resident is the Harry Potter author JK Rowling who was an English teacher there between 1991 and 1993. It is said that the impressive art deco Livraria Lello bookshop inspired her vision of Hogwarts, and she began drafting the first novel while ensconced in the city. We only managed to view the shop from the outside as we shuffled past as there were astoundingly long queues.
Livrario Lello bookshop. Image Credit pandotrip.com
The city centre suffered a dramatic loss of population between 1970 and 2010 before tourism breathed new life back into the area, the previously abandoned buildings being turned into shops and fashionable restaurants, and even a McDonalds is now contained within one of those grand structures. My pal Jason Bax captured it perfectly with his apposite description of ‘charmingly derelict’ when he visited the city to attend the Coliseum to see Nick Cave back in 2008.
On our trip, we left from Manchester on a brutally early Sunday flight and arrived in the city late morning and grabbed some lunch opposite our hotel located within a stone’s throw of the atmospheric Sao Bento train station with its 20,000 glazed tiles designed by Portuguese painter Jorge Colaco.
Later that day we headed over the hugely striking Porto Ponte de Dom Luis I Bridge over the River Douro, where you can walk across either on the lower level or across the higher level with the expansive views and you amble in the shared space alongside the metro. Just prior to there was a chap called Carlos who was serenading the punters with some jaunty tuneage.
Ponte de Dom Luis Bridge I. Image Credit creativemarket.com
Now I must say I am very partial to a good bridge and there are some absolute crackers here with the first one being built in 1806. The Dom Luis I followed in 1886, and another was designed by Gustav Eiffel, the chap who built that other one in Paris! The additional impressiveness only increases when you consider the fact of the extremely challenging logistics of their design as there are such steep drops down to the riverbank. Later on in the trip we went on a river cruise under all of these structures, which was a visual treat.
On the far side of the bridge in the Ribeira area, we arrived at Porto Jardim do Morro which sits at a historically significant location as it was contained within the Serra do Pilar grounds. This area housed an Augustinian monastery built in 1670, that due to its elevated position played an integral role during the Siege of Porto (1832-34) in Portugal’s Civil War. It is also the location of Sao Joao Festival, a traditional event that takes place every June and includes a firework display set against the panoramic background.
Jardim do Morro. Image Credit portomoments.com
It is a very bonny green space and as we discovered a really popular communal area with a posse of families basking on the grass in the evening sunshine. There were ice cold beers and Ruffles crisps on sale from a nearby kiosko, both of which we obviously partook in and joined the locals in watching the sunset. Whilst we there we witnessed a local singer called Tiago Macarata.
What I became instantly aware of is that are singers/artists dotted everywhere across the city, thus I have honed the ones recorded in my annals down to acts witnessed outside specific bars and restaurants where we happened to be residing.
Afterwards we left Jardim do Morro we headed down to the Ribiera riverfront to hunt down some tea at the swathe of restaurants in that area and post-tucker we saw Mick playing a set in Porto Theophilu’s Bar. Later on, outside another bar we saw Sally yodelling on the Porto Promenade.
