Well, if I chose my favourite view in Lisbon then it’s only fair that I now choose the best view in Porto, right? Here goes nothing. Like before, I shall do them in the order that I saw them. So, I shall be starting with…

A Dance

This is a really simple scene but I had to share it with you. On the first night, as I left the hostel and went looking for food, I came across a group of people dancing at the end of my street. I walked past them a few times and on each occasion they put a smile on my face. Sometimes there were more dancers, sometimes there were less, BUT they all looked happy.

A Song

I got to see the work of Kandinsky, an artist who is believed to have had synesthesia of sound and sight. What does this mean? When one sense is triggered so is another, meaning that you might be able to see sounds or something similar.

A sketchbook of his, which had never been seen before, was recently discovered and on display in Torre dos Clérigos. His work is abstract, each piece trying to capture an essence. This sketchbook shows some potential preliminary drawings for later paintings, several of which clearly linked together.

While I am not naive enough to think that the below video is actually anything like what Kandinsky experienced, I thought I would share it with you because it still brought me joy and it may bring you some too.

Up a Tower

As a bonus to seeing the Kandinsky exhibition I also got to go to the top of a tower which overlooked the city. I didn’t intend to get entry for this but, oh well, sometimes liking art pays off! The people monitoring the entrance to the stairwell told me I wouldn’t be able to take photos when I got up. Jokes on them…

The Womping Willow

J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter lived in Portugal for a little while. She is said to have drawn inspiration from a few places, one of them being the Womping Willow from this line of trees.

Each ‘tree’ is actually made up of two trees. The thick section, at the bottom of each one, was originally caused by a bacterial or fungal infection. Instead of getting rid of the entire tree, the science students nearby managed to encourage everyone that they could kill the infection. They then grafted on new trees on top of the trimmed old ones so that they could continue to grow.

A Seat Over the River Road

I went on a walking tour with Porto Walkers, which was really good, and our guide took us to all sorts of funky places. She was the one who told me why the trees were the way they were (although I had come across them earlier that day). She showed us an area where lots of the locals gather to watch the sunset. There is a curved rail, that hangs out over the road below it, so that people can sit on the wall and enjoy the view and their company all the more. I found myself there two days in a row, entirely by accident.

A Restricted Area

Miradoura da Vitória is an area that is apparently only open for tourism (there’s a big sign saying ‘Private Property’). Our guide from the walking tour took us in there to watch the rest of the sunset. A couple was celebrating their 25th anniversary and I’m pretty sure that there were a few tears shed.

A Scary Bridge

So, the bridge wasn’t actually that scary or, rather, no one else seemed jittery. I like a good, solid, stone bridge below my feet. It’s not even that I’m scared of heights, it’s just that I don’t trust a bridge that I can see gaps in. How do I know if it’s going to maintain its shape when it’s a hundred metres in the air and there’s a train going over it?

As you may have guessed, I didn’t walk the entire length of the bridge. Maybe next time. I hear there’s a lot of Port Wine tasting to be done on the other side of the river. The view’s also pretty.

A Bookstore

Last, but not least, there is the Livraria Lello. I had never ever paid to go into a bookstore before this one. They have really tried to milk the potential Harry Potter inspiration as a way to get people in. However, J.K. Rowling confirmed that she has never set foot in the building. So, now that they can’t claim that, they still have queues out the door, a casually large section of HP at the back of the shop, and tour guides (not mine) calling JKR a liar. It was a very picturesque interior but I didn’t take advantage of the book discount that the entry ticket would have supposedly given me (partially because I was already carrying a book that I’d literally just purchased from another shop).

The Favourite

Time for a drum roll!

This is a really tough one to pick. I have been to so many places recently that have left me with a smile on my face and a fulfilled feeling inside. How could I pick just one?

Does it bend the rules a bit too much if I pick a time of day instead? Porto seems really alive during those few minutes between day and night. There is a suspense in the air and a nervous excitement from all of the birds and trees, as well as the humans. I guess that means that my favourite places, this time, were the viewing spots where I watched the sun set. Please note that this also includes the Womping Willow, I just didn’t get any pictures there.

I promise that, at some point, I will pick just one!