I was really excited as my Mum had decided to come and visit so while she was here I thought it was a good excuse to get out of London and go exploring. I asked Mum where she fancied going, and since she didn’t mind – I looked up where we could get good flights to on the right times and dates and we ended up with Porto in Portugal.

Our first day there was clear and sunny so we were up bright and early to explore the city. We grabbed a hop-on-hop-off bus tour deal and jumped on the first bus of the day. We had an hour and a half tour of all the historical sites around Porto. It was a really good way to see the city as Porto is full of hills which makes it hard to do on foot. We saw heaps of different types of architecture and some beautiful old buildings and lots of cute brightly coloured or tiled houses with their washing hanging out the window. The bus tour took us along the beach front which was thrashing with waves and along the river and across several of Portos bridges. It really is a stunning setting and we were very lucky to have such good weather after the downpour of the day before.

The bus tour dropped us off at the south side of the river and we jumped aboard a river cruise that too us along the river so we could check out the scenery and head under the bridges. It was pretty chilly cruising along the river but was probably one of my highlights.

Porto is famous for making Port so it was only fitting we headed to a winery for a tour and taste testing. There are heaps of wineries on the south side of the river and if you were a connoisseur I could imagine you could spend the whole day wandering from one to the other sampling many different types. The one we went to was called Calem and was founded before Australia was discovered. So when they have been making Port for a zillion years you sort of expect it to be pretty good. The tour was great – short and sweet and we got to see the huge oak barrels they use and pictures of the district they plant their grapes in. At the end of the tour we got to taste two different types of port. We tried White Port – which I didn’t even know existed so at least I did learn a few things.  We also got to try a tawny Port which is your sort of standard port but as it was only midday it was a bit too much for me and I passed mine on to Mum.

After the winery we wandered across the bridge to the other side of the river that was filled with lots of little shops and cafes and sat and had lunch. We tried the local beer, Super Bock,  and some weird bean things that I expected to be soft but instead were hard and salty. Still it wasn’t so bad and good to taste a local specialty.

That afternoon we spent the time on another bus loop that showed the castles but by the time we got there, i’d fallen asleep on the bus. So it after that little snooze we got off and had a bit of a relax at the hotel before going out to dinner. We finally found a restaurant that had been recommended by the hotel which was tucked away up a side street. It looked a bit dodgy from the outside – all fluorescent lighting and locals standing at the benches waiting for their food almost like a take away. We snuck past and headed up stairs to a restaurant that was actually really nice. We tried the most Portuguese meal I could think of – chicken and chips.

The next day we had a bit of a sleep in before heading out for a walk around the city. We wandered up the hill to the cathedral to get a good view of the city and check out one of their landmarks. After that we wandered down closer to the river to check out the Church of San Francisco. We looked through the museum and catacombs before walking through the church.

By this time we were sick of wandering up and down these hills and it had begun pouring with rain so we decided to jump on the tram out to the seaside. We couldn’t see much out the windows but I was pretty chuffed with the ride because it was so cute!! I love trams! Out at the seaside we too refuge at a coffee shop until a break in the rain before we had a wander along the esplanade. We caught the train back to the city and wandered up back up to near where we were staying in the city centre.

Before heading back to the room for the day we went to another church and walked up a tower. It was pretty tiring as we had been walking up and down hills all day but it was worth it for the view once we go to the top. Porto is such a pretty city with so many different things to look at. Different types of architecture, eclectic little houses, interesting people and everyones washing hanging out their windows.

That night we tried another different type of Portugese food – steak! It was delicious and by far my favourite meal I had in Porto. It came with rice and beans and spinach and was just perfection. Its a shame we finally found our best meal on our last night. But you can’t go wrong with a steak.