Paulina Piech

While we were in Porto, we visited a fab little artisan market called Mercado Porto Belo. One of the vendors we came across was Paulina Piech who creates illustrated art prints of recipes of Portuguese food items, giving a beautifully quirky annotated view of how each recipe is made. They have been printed up into poster-sized art prints as well as postcards and they are perfect for hanging in the kitchen either as recipe inspiration, or just as something pretty to look at.

You can find her work on her Etsy store here.

Pasteis de nata are the most scrumptious tarts made from flaky pastry with a rich custard filling.

Bolo de bolacha is a no-bake cake that is prepared using biscuits similar to rich tea biscuits which are soaked in strong coffee and buttercream.

Porto - Claus Porto

After filling our bellies with brunch we headed down Rua das Flores to check out the shops. One of my favourites was the beautiful Claus Porto soap shop that sells its iconic soaps around the world. Their packaging is instantly recognisable for its Art Deco style and colour and they have some beautiful scents. Upstairs they have a little museum that charts the company’s design history and at the back of the shop they offer a wet shave service for men.

Porto - Mercador Cafe

For our last morning in Porto we headed down to Mercador Cafe on Rua Das Flores for a hearty brunch. The interior is warm and welcoming and they serve the perfect eggs benedict washed down with a creamy latte.

Porto - from above

For our last day in Porto we decided to take an open top bus tour and soak in the sights (and the sun’s rays) of the city. What I loved about being higher up was that you got to appreciate the decoration and drama on many of the buildings. It’s not until you look up that you see this amazing array of sculptures perching on the edge of what could be quite an unassuming building at street level. I was also intrigued by the amount of abandoned, yet beautifully tiled, buildings which is so sad to see. 

Porto - Saturday night

After a lovely rest at our apartment, we headed out for the evening. Our first stop was Vogue Cafe for a drink before dinner - fizzy rose for me and a gin and tonic for Subashini. We then headed on to Rua Tapas and Music bar for food and music. We had a fabulous selection of tapas washed down with red wine whilst being serenaded to by a rather lovely singer! My favourite dish was the baked camembert covered in a honey and chilli sauce.

Porto - Patisserie Choupette

The hill walking gets quite tiring in Porto and it’s a great excuse to take a break and have a drink somewhere cool. We stumbled across a lovely little cafe called Patisserie Choupette where we had a gorgeous jasmine iced tea.

Porto - milling about

After a morning of eating and drinking our way around Porto, all we could think about doing was chilling in the sun, so we decided to do that by heading to the river and hopping on a river cruise. It was lovely to be out on the water and see the city from another angle. After that we walked up the (very steep) hill towards the gallery district. It was great looking down over the tiled roofs and we even came across a little market where a DJ was playing music that all added to the atmosphere and the stunning view.

Porto - station

You can’t come to Porto and not miss the beautiful hand painted blue and white tiles that adorn many of the churches around the city. A great example of tile work can be seen at the main station in Porto where you can see the tiles up close and even touch them! As you can see from the photos, it’s a popular place!

Outside the station, a woman was selling the most gorgeous basil plants. Our guide told us that these are bought to celebrate St John’s day and you can see vendors selling them all around the city. They smell amazing!

Porto - finding our feet

Daniel, our Airbnb host, was very informative and took us through a map of the city, pointing out the best things to do in the three days we have here. Then it was time for us to head out and fill our bellies with a late lunch and a glass of wine. We came across a very reasonable cafe selling scrumptious fresh sandwiches and Greek salad which we washed down with a glass of  wine each. I chose the white wine and definitely lucked out in size. Subashini chose the port wine and her glass was tiny! We also came across some beautiful blue and white tiles as well as some scrumptious pasteis de nata (a kind of custard tart) which were even more tasty washed down with a second glass of wine. We also wandered through the mercado and wondered at all the beautiful packaging of the sardines and chocolates on sale.