HORNY FOR THE TAWNY
Many a referrals and recommendation had us hop on the train and head north for Porto, birthplace of the famous port wine, in particular the tawny. Being introduced with Tawny at a young age (no, not Drew Barrymore young), Kez had a bounce in her step, parched to taste some of the world’s finest. And that we did. We arrived to a grizzly and drizzly Porto after 3 hours of beautiful railway scenery and checked into a highly recommended hostel in the heart of the old town. Day one, we weren’t overly thrilled – not a whole lot doing in ol’ Porto when the rains are in town. Thankfully the hostel had a Sangria and Chorizo night in the plushest common room in the world. Possibly, the Universe. We sank some of the delights on offer, chatted with some fellow travelers, lined up some couches to surf throughout Europe and had a relatively early night. Pre 1am is early for us these days. The following morning we had planned a day of stepping out the historical landmarks and sampling some of the local Port Cellars. The latter was a priority but we saved it for last. The churches, 100 year old cafes and museums didn’t take long for us to rip through so before lunch, we headed to the other side of the bridge and scoured the waterfront restaurants and cellars. A DELICIOUS lunch was followed by some of the best port houses in the world. Our fave: Calum. Not only because of the generous tasting glasses but the quality was hands down, the best Tawny we’ve tasted. Then Taylor’s got a red ribbon from us – which isn’t the usual consensus (said to be the best) but we don’t mind going against the grain. At all.
WIN:
Hostels. The culture, the concept and the cost – so far from what we expected. This is a very, very good thing.
FAIL:
Rain on our first day in Porto? Come on! Okay, so it’s probably not that much of a fail, but we’re in Europe and struggling to find a solid fail. Forgive us?
NOTABLE NOTES
EAT: We discovered a famous Portuguese dish called Carne de Porco à Alentejana, which is oh so tender marinated pork pieces with fried potato, clams and a good douse of fresh coriander and lemon. Sounds like a strange combo but the taste buds beg to differ. If you can, get to D. Tonho directly across the river from Porto. It’s a glass box on the waterfront. Fab food and wine list. This is where we discovered the pork dish.
DRINK: Port of course! Maybe with a small Lindt ball on the side to really bring it home.
SLEEP: Rivoli Cinema Hostel is one of the nicest Hostels getting around. $60 for a double room. We also stayed at Pensao Do Norte Hotel, pretty basic but great value for money and on the corner of Santa Catarina Plaza which has great shopping. $70 for double room.
TIPS ‘N HINTS: If you can, do a day trip (or longer) to Douro which is where all of the vineyards are, about 2hrs from Porto. Unfortunately we didnt get there but word is, its absolutely stunning.
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