Ah, what a life I have to be able to spend 48 hours in Porto, Portugal. Just a quick hop, skip and jump from Spain, it’s the perfect weekend travel destination. There were some inexpensive flights available, so we jumped on it and went!
These 48 hours in Porto, Portugal were my second trip to this beautiful city, but it was a TOTALLY different experience. For one… there was sun.
And second, I was with Luis.
And third, I ate so much fish I think I may have overdosed.
All good things!!
Our trip started early, but not TOO early, which was nice. Our flight left at 9:20 am, and due to the time difference, we landed ’20 minutes later’. We headed straight to the airbnb, (super cute couple, with a hipster vibe and I decided I want their apartment) and then turned right back out the door to start exploring! 
With just two short days, we had some goals for each day. Our fist day, we wanted to walk around to get a feel for the city, see the Bolhao Market– an old time, outdoor market, and then go to the river and take a tour of one of the famous Port Wine Wineries.
So, first- the market.
Across Europe, these markets are one of my absolute favorite things to see. They are so authentic and such an integral part of the society.
It’s where their food comes from, after all. I can’t say I have ever seen a market like this in the US, unless you want to count Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, or Pike Place in Seattle. I don’t think so…
Someone has a sense of humor!
From there, we headed the a small bakery and cafe across the street to try a Pastel de Nata, which is a Portugese pastry that comes from the 18th century, created by Catholic monks.
When I tell Luis to smile:
and…when he tells me to smile:
But we were happy with our pastel 🙂
From there, we made our way towards the river (the Duoro, to be exact).
Love the colorful buildings! 
And then we crossed the Dom Luis I Bridge, which connects Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia (the area that has all of the famous Port Wine wineries).
We were starting to get hungry (and some of us cranky…won’t mention names), so we snapped a photo and then did our usual dance of running back and forth between restaurants because we (I) are indecisive.
Eventually we settled on a place, right on the water. Can’t beat these views….
I would say the food was ‘ok’, but the company was great.
Once we were full, we headed straight to a port wine tour! There are lots of options to choose from, but Taylor’s kept getting great recommendations, so we went with that one.
Last time I was in Porto, we went to Calem, which I really enjoyed, but we wanted to try something else, so Taylor’s it was!
When I went to Calem, we had a live tour, but Taylor’s only offers an audio guide tour. The tickets were 12 Euro each and included the audio guide and a tasting. We realized after we paid that it might not be completely necessary to pay for the audio guide. All of the information is written and maybe they tell you a little bit more with the audioguide. So…go in free and just pay for the tastings. Ah, ya can’t win em all. So we did the wine tour…
And learned a lot! It’s a little difficult for me to pay attention to an audio guide, but I thought it was pretty well done and they had a lot of information. Once we finished the tour, we headed through this beautiful patio, and bee-lined for the tastings 😉
We were able to try both a white and red port (of course I don’t know the names), but we both liked the red (sweeter) one better.
I’m not sure port will ever be something I really enjoy, but it was a good experience!
After that, we got a sandwich to share, had a drink, bought supermarket food, and made dinner at home.
The next day started with a run! It was Luis’ idea to run and I’m so glad we did! What a good way to see the city and we covered a lot of ground in a short time. After the run, showers, and getting ourselves dressed, we headed out to explore. But FIRST! Tortilla de mama espanola!!!
pure bliss.
We stopped along the way for some shots:
And then headed back to the river. But Luis found his bridge!
We had fun plans! We rented bikes and rode them ALLLLLL along the river until it becomes the ocean. If you keep riding (about an hour at a moderate pace), you will come to a village called Afurada, which is a fisherman village! It is full of restaurants grilling freshly caught fish.
We checked out a few restaurants and eventually decided on a restaurant called Restaurant Xarroco. We actually planned to go to another (Restaurant de Peixe Sao Valentim), which was recommended by our airbnb host, but they were closing up! Sad. But luckily, the place we chose was great.
We started with olives, bread, and mussels (for L), and then our dish came! We ordered the “mix” of fish for 2 people.
2 people?! It was so much fish, but SO good. By the time we finished, I had sworn off ever eating fish again, but now I am ready to have more…
These photos say it all. Before:
After:
Only two survivors on that plate…
We hopped back on the bikes and rode along the ocean and river to the most INCREDIBLE sunset!
And all was well until Luis took a tumble off the bike! He was totally ok, but it was scary and he hurt his hand and broke his watch.
Once we returned the bikes, we walked back to the airbnb where I fell asleep and dreamt (had nightmares) about fish. 
What a weekend!!
48 hours in Porto, Portugal is the perfect amount of time to see everything, do everything, and leaves a lingering sensation that you should probably go back in the future. The perfect weekend travel!
