Map of Porto for young independent travelers by veerle devos

iro que jun

carolina michaelis

av da b

oavis

r ua d e

gue r ua

r ua d r ua d

a b oa vista

e álv ares

c abr

ita

rua da to

rua dos bragas

rrinha

ic a

iz a

gre

rua do campo ale

r al

cedofe

eg r e

city centre: turn the map

r e s ter

rr a

cerc a

black & white

çd

tel

rua de entrec am

via pa

pos

ro ed .p

youth hostel TR

Nº

500

T ON

AA ED

r ua AM

Nº1

d. m

anu

iguel b

omba r

a feit

BUS

re yn

ed o

s . da a j u

gam

do b

r ua m

o dinis

r ua

rua júli

de c

o bo

r ua

diog

rua da

im fát

BUS/TRAM

TRAIN

a le

din

gr d o le m a di eio r ja a s s p

eio

BAR

de for

o inh / ouz ue ista e mquerqboav d ç pr albuda da de tun ro

b a r t o lo m e u v e l h o

r ua d e

pa s s

FUNICULAR

lu í

b s ca

FOOD

úl

pad

o ad

o al

METRO

M F

amp

SHOP

r anç a

n. s

do c

HOSTEL

b a r ão

r ua d e

u lo

el ii

auração rua da rest

IDA ÁB

15 fernão

miramar

a gam

lo b

d va sco

n ér e s

r ei

nte me

niz

cleme

a s mo

av sac adura cabral

av da li

alhães

berda

d e m ag

rua eg

r ua

ic a

int

rib

eir

es sa rua ag ra

om e s

fer na

ita

e s p i r i to s a n to

a c ab

eit a

nde

adur

rua fr

g. g

c av sa

esc a

r al

av dr antunes guimarães

Praça D. João I open daily 9:00-19:30

blic a

álvaro de castelões

rua brito capelo

r épu

r al

rua franca junior

a c ab

rua roberto ivens

adur

av serpa pinto

c av sa blic a

er r a

es gu

BUS 500/502

aguda

av da

5 MINUTES WALK

m av go

r ado pe sc dos r ma do

r ua

brito capelo

T r ua

5 07

rua heróis de frança

BUS

rua conde s. salvador

1º dezembro M

r épu

heco

gago coutinho

av da

mercado

er r a

av eng . duarte pac

es gu

Aeroporto open daily 8:00-23:30

m av go

ponte móve

granja

PORTO OF BRIDGES

20 TO THE BEACH!

Coming to Portugal and not going to the beach is like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. Going to the beach doesn’t mean it has to be a dead hot day and you don’t have to roast until you look like a red lobster. The coast can be nice even on some winter days when we go there just to provide some company to the Sunday fishermen or to simply enjoy the power of the Atlantic. Keep in mind that Porto is at the same latitude as New York, so if you open your eyes maybe you can even spot the Liberty Statue’s torch!

SOUTH ir a

igo am os 2

r ua d

eá

eir ao

BU S 507

li v

1 hour

de pa

r lo

1 hour

oavis

r ua

inh

2 hours

5 r ua

TOURIST OFFICES

depósito legal: XXXXXX/XX The selection of the recomended spots was done in a totaly independent way and all the contents are of the exclusive responsability of the publisher. © Calote Esférica.

5 MINUTES WALK

Sé - Terreiro da Sé Mon-Fri, 9:00-17:30

av da b

Porto is a grey city, but try to see the less obvious side, like the beauty of the wet granite on a rainy day. It’s fascinating to appreciate the “shades of grey”, to look at the stone of the past and the present and notice how the grey changes with the fog, the sun and the rain.

Ribeira Rua do Infante D. Henrique, 63 open daily 9:00-19:00 (July–September) 9:00-17:30 (September–July)

5 02

LUCA, 40, architect from Italy in Porto for 17 years

Prices Z2 Andante - 0.95¤ (for the city centre) Andante Tour 1 day - 5¤ (no zone limitations) Andante Tour 3 days - 11¤ (no zone limitations)

2 0 3/

City Council Rua Clube dos Fenianos, 25 open daily 9:00-19:00 (July–September) 9:00-17:30 (September–July)

201/

www.cp.pt, For schedules and prices check (also in English). site web ays Railw se ugue the Port

r ua

BUS 500

2008 - The ‘Downtown Euphoria’ starts. For years a desert where nothing happened, downtown suddenly springs to life, proving that Porto is not dead and didn’t lose the capacity to re-invent itself. New shops and bars open every day and the underground art and music scenes are more alive than ever.

publisher: calote esférica - associação cultural www.calote-esférica.pt text, design and illustration: Carlos Azeredo Mesquita supported by:

BUS

u di

r ua

PANHÃ Ever y train goes from PORTO- CAM a from (and to Braga, Guimarães and Régu PORTO-SÃO BENTO also).

USE-IT also exists in other cities like Brussels, Oslo, Warsaw, Dresden or Ljubljana. That’s not enough. If you think your city needs a map like this too: download the brochure “I WANT TO START MY OWN USE-IT!” on www.use-it.info

d ua

HERE YOU GO 4 ONE-DAY TRIPS!

USE-IT - TOURIST MAPS AND BUDGET GUIDES

SIGHTSEEING

GOING OUT

casa música

A popular sayin g is “Lisbon ha s fun, Coimbra stu dies, Braga pray s and Porto Wor ks!” so...

2004 - Portugal hosts the UEFA European Football Championship. The opening game is here, at the newly built Estádio do Dragão, and although Portugal lost first place to Greece, for one summer this city was all football.

To the Airport! The fastest and best way getting to and from the Airport is by Metro. It runs every 20 min, takes half an hour, and you need to have an Andante Z4 ticket (1.45¤). By bus: 601/602 takes you to the city centre, to the Universities area use 604.

r ec

e om

pé

a do

n mo

2001 - Porto is European Capital of Culture, in partnership with Rotterdam. After decades of decay some big investments are made. For example, the first Metro lines are opened with some more now being built; Casa da Música is under construction, and the building is an icon even before the foundations are finished.

Schedules The Metro is open 6:00-1:00. All of the Night Buses (1:00-5:30) depart from and meet at Aliados once an hour, exactly on the hour.

j oã

1996 - UNESCO declares the Historic Centre of Porto to be a World Heritage Site.

r ua

çd

ag r

lu z

The Capital.

nt The city of the students (and stude t parties) and home to one of the oldes dden Universities in Europe; feel the forbi n loves of Pedro and Inês, crowned Quee . of Portugal seven years after her death

r ua

1960’s - You can eat it on every corner; it’s a calorie-bomb, but we just love it! It’s said that Daniel da Silva, a Porto emigrant, and returned from France created the Francesinha. He adapted the French ‘croque monsieur ’ toast to the Portuguese taste and called it ‘little French girl’. The Francesinha is a sandwich made with bread, wet cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage and steak or roasted meat, covered in molten cheese, served with a thick sauce made from beer and tomatoes plus some more secret ingredients!

oavis

The Douro Valley. You need only to take the train, which runs alm ost on top of the river, and put your hea d out of the window. Those stepped hills where the Por t Wine grows are sim ply incredible .

rã

RÉGUA

d pa

2 hours

o ad

LISBON

r ou

s to

COIMBRA

ce our of the nation sin The bir th-place es, was iqu nr He so on first king, D. Af d wellvery beautiful an born here . This ge sta ll wi re nt ce rical preser ved histo 2012. al of Culture in pit Ca an pe ro the Eu

PORTO

av da b

sil

AR ÃE

d ua

GUIM

BR AGA

ma av

1958 - Porto and hearts again! During the hardcore fascism period, a crowd of 200,000 gathers in Carlos Alberto Square to support Humberto Delgado, the opposition candidate who lost, obviously due to fraudulent elections . ‘My heart will always be in Porto,’ he stated. Seven years later he was murdered by the PIDE, the Political Police. The dictatorship only came to an end on the 25th of April 1974, with the “Carnations Revolution”.

The ‘Andante’ is the hyper-technological ticket system shared by the metro, buses, trams, the funicular and suburban trains until certain stations. Buy yourself a rechargeable ‘Blue Andante’ card (0.50¤) and then pay for trips according to the distance you want to travel. For example, a Z2 is valid for 2 rings of zones - on the maps count the zone of boarding as the first and then all the contiguous as the second ring. The adjacent zones form the third ring and so on. You can purchase these in vending machines at stations, most newsagents, and several other central locations (do it in advance as single tickets bought on board are way more expensive). Once validated, your Andante lasts an hour and all you have to do is to ‘touch’ it to the yellow machines, a must also when switching transportations - for instance, after ridding the Metro you can catch the bus with the same Andante as in the gap of one hour no additional trips are charged). Sounds easy? Well, when you go to pay for a trip, it might not seem so obvious – but don’t worry, we have problems with it too!

ré

PUBLIC TRANSPORT The Portuguese Rome . Baroque chur ever ywhere and huge sanctuaries ches with hundreds of ste ps to climb. B US 1 ho ur

WALK

5 02

d av

1809 - On the 29th of March, Napo leonic troops invade the city in what ’s know as the 2nd French Invasion. In panic , the city’s population tries to escape to the othe r side of the river by crossing the fragile Boats Bridge. Under such weight it collapses , causing around 4,000 people to drow n in the Douro. This was such a massive trage dy that we still now light candles in memory of the deceased at the 79 ‘Alminhas da Ponte ’ (Souls of the Bridge). But with the help of the British, we kicked the French out… 1820 - …and afterwards came under British rule. The liberal Porto starts a revolution driving the British oppressors away, resulting in the country’s first liberal constitution being approved.

lh mo

”I like Lisbon better” ”Why don’t you speak Spanish?” ”Alvaro Siza Vieira…um, who?” (the world-famous architect, still alive and a Porto native) “I don’t like Portuguese food” ”Wasn’t Port Wine invented by the Brits?” ”What bridges?”

1756 - By royal decree, Marquês de Pombal declares the Douro Valley to be the exclusive production region for Port Wine, thus becoming the world’s first wine region with a formal demarcation, and the second (after Tokaj in Hungary) with appellation control. (The historical and national pride of those who first did what first is convoluted…)

5 MIN UTE S 201/

de g

Be a fan of FC Porto, they’re real champions!

HOW TO PISS OFF THE LOCALS -OR, HOW TO GET SMACKED

1498 - After a trip to the south of Spain where the King falls in love with Arab azulejos (tiles), the first ones are brought to Portugal. Since then, as is visible, they became a hallmark and any empty spot is filled with them.

BUS

r ua

surprised We like to go out, but we start late. So don’t be yet filled not club the and 10:00 at empty to find the bar table at 2:00 or 3:00. We’re probably still at the dinner Come back or starting off with a drink at somebody’s flat. people! later and the whole city will be stuffed with party when I But what’s that card for – the one they gave me a drink the entered the club? Well, when you go to order had. you what write will and it for you barman will ask at the At the end of the night, you pay for everything an when same time and give the card back to the doorm you want to leave – so, don’t destroy or lose it!

- most Where’s everybody? On Sundays Porto is dead shops, restaurants and cafes are closed, and so are most Museums bars and clubs. What to do on a Sunday then? ed if the are open and the parks and beaches are crowd window weather’s nice. But what families really like is ing malls shopping at one of the multitude of huge shopp spread on the outskirts.

1394 - On Ash Wednesday, considered to be an unlucky birthday, Infante D. Henrique is born in Ribeira. In 1415, he begins the Descober tas – the ‘Discoveries’ – leaving to conquer Ceuta in North Africa and thus starting the longest lasting colonial Empire in History. Because we support him so much, we give him and his men all the meat, and those left in the city eat tripe.

We all get crazy at São João, our city festival on the night of June 23rd, when we celebrate the saint who guards over Porto. The city centre and riverside are amazingly full of people dancing to popular music, drinking and eating grilled sardines and smashing each other on the head with plastic hammers! No kidding. But we love it!

If you’re a student, wear a black cape. Being a student comes with a lot of old-fashioned traditions . These are bizarre, infantile habits like humiliating first year students on the street, carrying a gigantic wood spoon as a hierarchical status symbol, and blocking the whole downtown for a day with the “Cortejo da Queima das Fitas” parade which even involves trucks with noisy music to “celebrate being a student”.

1139 - ‘From here, the name Portu gal is born.’ Portucale, now Portugal, becomes officially independent and proceeds to take Lisbon from the Muslims – for some reason ‘Lisb ongal’ is not the name of this country!

1834 - A Heart in a Jar. Because we supported King Pedro IV, fighting for liberal ideals during the one year Porto Siege (1832-33), he decides his heart must remain here after his death – it’s at the Lapa Church, and the rest of his body is in Brazil. 1896 - In Porto, Aurélio da Paz dos Reis shoots the first moving pictures in Portugal and shows them at Teatro do Prínc ipe Real (now known as Teatro Sá da Bandeira, in downtown), just less than a year after the first public presentation by the Lumière brothers.

cha

e vid

“A galinha da vizinha é sempre melhor do que a minha’ is a typical Portuguese saying that means ‘my neighb our’s chicken is always better than mine”. Yep, we like to complain. And we’re never satisfied with what we have. Complaining is the national sport in Portugal. It’s like the Fado thing: we know Portugal was great, but that’s the past…

Eat a lot! Eating is not about feeding yourself, it’s pleasure and culture. In the morning we start with strong coffee and a sweet pastel de nata, then we go to a tasca to get Arroz de Cabidela (rice with chicken cooked in blood). Around 16:00-17:00 you need another coffee and a croissant. A good dinner could be Iscas de Bacalhau... and later, when going out, we get a Bifana. A lot of calories, but still, we’re not fat. Yeah, it’s all about metabolism... Keep in mind eating schedules are quite strict in Portugal. It’s possible to find a place serving dinner until late – for example at 22:00 or 23:00, but don’t even think of showing up before 20:00. It’s uncommon to get lunch outside of typical lunch hours (12:00 to 15:00 at the latest) as most restaurants are not even open. Apart from that, cafés and bakeries are all over the city and you can have breakfast or an afternoon bite anytime from very early morning until 19:00-20:00.

1095 - Count D. Henrique, from Burgundy in France, helps King Alfonso VI of León y Castilla to drive away the Arabs who had invaded Iberia. As a gift for his braveness, he’s given the county of Portucale, which back then covered more or less from the south of Galicia to Coimbra.

ont

It’s not You almost never see people on bicycle in Porto. steeper because we don’t like it, but look: this place has s are hills than SanFrancisco! But feel free to try. Driver Metro the onto bikes take to free it’s and polite quite riverside and suburban trains... and it’s quite flat by the and at the seaside!

imes, Kissing protocol: once might be acceptable somet more on; situati every in two is r numbe rd but the standa as than two kisses – never! Boys kiss girls as soon boys, they’re introduced and shake hands with other of their but it’s normal for boys to kiss a male member means own family. Apart from this, to kiss other boys kisses two just – simple more it’s girls For gay. are you for everyone.

We’re quite genuine and say whatever is on our minds. Thus, even if we’re not angry, we use a lot of insults like ‘murcão’ (which means ‘asshole’) or ‘carago’ (which is ‘fucking’). These are two very typical ones from Porto. We use these words as part of normal conversation, like Americans do, and it has nothing to do with being impolite, rude or rough.

2nd century BC - Portus Cale (nowadays just Porto) is a peaceful Roman city, serving as a trade centre and meeting point for Roman routes. Eventually the name spreads to the whole region, and later to the land of Portugal.

fu n

av de f

av d

We rarely drink Port wine - that’s for tourists. But of course we all have one very good expensive bottle at home, which we only use for special occasions with family or friends.

Don’t drink Sagres (brewed in Lisbon), drink Superbock! This is the beer brewed here, in Porto. We also drink a lot of wine – well, we are a wine country. Try a glass of good cold Vinho Verde (white dry wine) to refresh your hot summer afternoons!

r ua

oavis

14 COMICS AT THE MALL Inside Brasilia, the first shopping mall to open in Portugal back in 1976, is MUNDO FANTASMA (“Ghost World”, Mon-Sat, 10:00-20:00, Sun&holidays 15:00-19:00, 1st floor, shop 509/510). Every comic aficionado makes his way through the dark labyrinth of now mostly closed shops to get to the biggest bookshop dedicated to comics in the country, where you can find everything from the very underground manga to collectors’ stuff. There’s also a gallery with regular exhibitions dedicated to the 9th art.

5 07

av da b

If you’re in an architecture mood, then a stop at the ARCHITECTURE FACULTY is highly recommended (and it’s always open since the students are slaves here). Porto is world famous for it’s architecture school where names like Fernado Távora, Souto Moura and Siza Vieira studied (the latter built this remarkable building) and where young talents are being brewed. Ironically, the next door Faculdade de Letras (Humanities Faculty) is one of the most awful post-modern buildings we have – it’s commonly referred to as the ‘Bullring‘ and it’s so ugly you can’t miss.

rua bom sucesso

Built right by the river, almost under Arábida Bridge and covered with glass all around, CASA D’ORO (Sun-Wed lunch&dinner, ThuSat 12:00-24:00) feels more like a boat than a building – not to mention the beautiful view of the old city and the Gaia side, very impressive also at night. As the name indicates, it’s an Italian restaurant with a pizzeria on the top floor and terrace (around 10¤) and a more sophisticated (and expensive, around 20¤) restaurant on the lower level.

12 MUSICAL METEOR

ARCHITECTURY

10 ARCHITECTURE FACULTY

One of the modernist icons of the city, surrounded by awful mirror glass post modern buildings, MERCADO DO BOM SUCESSO (Mon-Tue 8:00-17:00, Sat 8:00-13:00) is an interesting hyperbolic structure built in the 50’s using the least possible iron due to the high price of it at the time. To be redeveloped soon, so hurry!

CASA DA MÚSICA replaced the weather as the most popular topic for bus-stop discussions some years ago. Designed by the world renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, immediately hated by some and unconditionally loved by others, it was planned as the highlight of 2001 when Porto was European Capital of Culture (although it actually opened in 2005 with a classic Portuguese delay). Now the polemic arguments over its weird shape are gone and everyone recognizes ‘the meteor’ as a symbol and the building that put Porto on the architecture world map for good, attracting lots of architect-tourists from all over. For a bite, try the Artists’ Cafeteria (everyday, 10:00-20:00, or 23:00 if there’s a performance, located at street level under the main access stairs) and if you’re lucky one of them might even play something on the piano!Visiting most of the inside is free, but if you want to see every corner of the building guided tours (3¤) are also in English, and not boring.

pêr

5 02

lh ã ov i

RESTAURANT ON THE RIVER

13 MODERNIST FOOD MARKET

âm

0 5000 USS5 BBU

BUS

BOTANICAL NOT BORING GARDEN

NUNO, 30, sports teacher I'm an outdoor kind of guy. I like to take my dogs for a walk in Parque da Cidade where you can run to meet the sea or spend an afternoon in Palácio de Cristal and enjoy the charms of a beautiful romantic garden.

BUS

oavis

CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM WITH A PARK

Porto is a “beautiful bordello”! It’s some sort of beautiful chaos, disorganized but in a good way. Unlike Bordeaux where I come from, which is too clean and controlled, Porto suggests freedom.

As in every botanical garden, JARDIM BOTÂNICO (everyday, Winter 9:00-17:00; Summer 9:00-19:00, free) displays exotic plants from basically everywhere in the world - don’t forget to stop by the greenhouses. The good thing is you don’t have to be a botanist to like this one since it’s a very nice park that used to be the private garden for the house where Sophia de Mello Breyner grew up - she is a recently deceased, very famous poet who wrote passionately about the sea as well as creating some of the most popular tales that everyone read as a child.

In Portugal, Serralves equals exhibitions, concerts and performances. The main building, designed by the world famous Portuguese Alvaro Siza Vieira, houses the CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM (Tue-Fri, 10:00-17:00, Sat&Sun 10:00-20:00). There’s also a concert hall, an art library, a bookshop and a restaurant (the perfect place to get diabetes since for 3.80¤ you can eat as many delicious deserts as you wish if you choose the just ‘desserts buffet’, lunch time only). But Serralves is also a magnificent Park filled up with contemporary sculptures (ask for a map at the entrance!) which used to be the private garden for the family that lived in the beautiful art deco pink mansion (exhibitions inside sometimes) which faces one of only two art deco gardens in the world. And if you happen to be here on the first weekend in June don’t miss ‘Serralves em Festa’, a 40-hour non-stop free festival with live music, performances, theatre, dance and exhibitions.

ade parque da cid

av da b

refer Oporto vs. Porto - just to make it clear, both names Oporto to the same city. Porto is the portuguese name, only 1 letter in English. Yes, it’s silly that they’re so close understand difference. But, as it happens, the Brits didn’t ly the actual is ” “Porto before placed they “O” that the the name masculine article in Portuguese, placed before the name. of the city. They assumed this “O” was part of

Even if you don’t feel like peeing, go to CASA DE BANHO for the ultimate toilet experience! Built in the early 20th century as one of the first public toilets in the city, it features amazing hand painted toilet seats (now just for display since post-refurbishment you can’t pee on them anymore) and a weird hexagonal set of six urinals with a water tank on top – exclusively for boys but girls can see if they sneak in!

Some love it and shout ‘it’s the best party!’ while some hate it, insisting you should ‘forget it, downtown is the scene’. But it’s easy to conclude that discos at ZONA INDUSTRIAL are very popular and huge (in former big warehouses and factories). If you’re into house music or dance-floor charts, and your body starts moving when you just hear the name Bob Sinclair or David Guetta (both were here recently), don’t even hesitate. Pick the least smelly of your shirts, put on your highest heels and tiniest miniskirt, and start the quest to decide if it’s at VOGUE, CHIC, ACT, VIA RÁPIDA, LA MOVIDA BEACH, SOUNDPLANET or any of the others where you’re going to dance till sunrise… To get there: Metro Ramalde or Viso and night buses 2M and 13M.

LAETITIA, 23, philosophy student from France

When you come to this area, whatever the reason is, it’s almost mandatory to stop at AUGUSTO (Mon-Fri 9:00-20:30, Sat&Sun 10:30-13:30/15:30-20), the grocery store where you can buy a piece of home made cake, yogurt or some bread and a few slices of good presunto (smoked pork ham). They put everything into a small bag you carry happily in your hand until you decide whether to eat in the park or looking at the sea. (You will see more bags like yours around).

Despite 20 years of existence, INDUSTRIA (Fri-Sat) is still a known on the nightlife scene as a club where widely recognized DJ’s and musicians perform (Miss Kittin or Chicks on Speed were here) and where music is the main concern. And if you happen to stay late, don’t miss the sea in the morning light, just across the street!

D.I.Y. PICNIC

PEE, BUT IN STYLE

av da liberdade

USE-IT-PORTO.PT

Low lights and packed to the top with antiques: beer advertisements on the walls, a gramophone from another era, little boats and leather sofas. BONAPARTE (everyday, 19:00-2:00) is a very nice place and good to try some foreign beers - the most popular here is Erdinger – and in the summer you can even sit outside facing the sea.

CLASSIC GOOD CLUB

On PORTO-RIO (Fri&Sat) you can be sure the party will be hard, start late and last until even later (or early since everything is relative…) The gigs start at around midnight and if you’re into something like Punk/Hardcore, Drum’n’bass or Dub this boat floating on the Douro might be a good option - and if you have to puke, the water is just there…

BONAPARTE

500

MADE BY LOCALS / NO-NONSE NSE / NOT COMMERCIAL

Port Wine comes in different varieties: Branco – White Port – is the only one that should be served cold. The rest are red and don’t even think of chilling them: Ruby, Tawny, Colheita and some other special categories like Single Quinta, Reserva and Vintage. For example, Vintage is the highest classification a Port can get and is made with grapes from a particularly good year – 2 or 3 out of every 10 years are considered good enough to be declared Vintage. It ages in a barrel for about two years and then in a bottle for as long as you resist from opening it. (There are bottles from 1870 still available, and you can imagine the price!) …but once open, you must drink it within several hours.

At the beginning of the 18th century Britain’s main wine supplier was France – for obvious geographic reasons – but they became again involved in some new war and suddenly didn’t want to buy French wine anymore. This was our chance! In 1703, the ‘Methuen Treaty’ was signed, stipulating no taxes could be charged for Portuguese wines exported to Britain or British textiles exported to Portugal. The Port Wine industry boomed and thus began its worldwide reputation. This also shaped the city, and a heavy British presence is still felt with the English Factory House, the Oporto British School (the oldest in Europe), the Oporto Cricket and Law Tennis Club and the British Club. This shows just how big the wine business is and why a good portion of brands are actually English.

02 /

There is no big mystery behind Port wine. Basically, when the wine is made the fermentation process is stopped at an early stage (2 or 3 days from the start) by adding aguardente (a neutral grape spirit), which means not all the sugar gets turned into alcohol which makes the wine sweeter and stronger.

So, who invented this nectar of the Gods? Some think the British invented Port wine. For sure the British would like to have invented it… but they didn’t. References to this way of making wine date back as far as the 17th century, and most likely the idea of adding aguardente to the wine came about as a way of preventing it from rotting and becoming vinegar.

Finished on time for Porto European Capital of Culture 2001, just after its completion someone realised the building had absolutely no purpose or function and couldn’t be used for anything due its structure. When questioned, both the Catalan architect and the commissioner replied they didn’t have to answer that sort of question! It gained the nickname of TRANSPARENT BUILDING and for years newspapers and websites made ‘ideas contests’ trying to figure out a solution. In the end it became a mixture of restaurants, shops and exhibitions, all with an amazing view to the sea.

11 PARTY DISTRICT

PARTY ON A BOAT

TRANSPARENT BUILDING

FRE

‘Women are like Port Wine, both get better with age’ goes the saying, which is precisely why Gaia’s Ribeira (across the river from Porto) is full of cellars showing off their company names. Wine is stored there, either in bottles or in wooden barrels, to mature – a process that will change it’s colour and flavour and can last for 10, 20, 40 or even a 100 years. This drink that the city gave it’s name to is sacred, which is why we don’t like tourists boldly asking for a glass of port wine at a restaurant while eating their steak – this is not just a wine, but a unique digestive drink or starter!

If you want to go to the beach and walk around in a small suburb, then Granja is a good idea. Our Royal Family had its summer house here, in the 19th century, which means all the bourgeois wanted to have impressive villas here as well. Granja is now kind of stuck in the time, nice to feel former glories, but still very nice for a walk. From the train station, walk 3 min and you’re at the beach. From there, head north and you will pass Aguda, a fisherman’s village, where you can visit the 19 LITORAL STATION OF AGUDA (Mon-Fri, 10:0012:30/14:00-18:00, Sat&Sun 10:00-18:00), a building that combines a Fishery Museum and an Aquarium that displays local marine fauna and flora. Walk about 20 minutes from Aguda to Miramar, to the 20 CAPELA DO SENHOR DA PEDRA (‘Chapel of the Lord of the Rock’). At the water’s edge, the rock that the chapel is built on used to be a pagan altar which was properly Christianized by the chapel in the 17th century, but where strange ‘ceremonies’ still happen when the moon is full… so don’t get too scared if you happen to see huge amounts of wax from burned candles or ‘magical’ remains of any other sort. Either in Miramar or Aguda you can get the train back to the centre, or you can keep walking and take the train back from any of the upcoming stations… or just lay down and roast on the sand! To get there: take a train from S.Bento or Campanhã in the direction of Espinho, Ovar or Aveiro. (Andante Z4)

NORTH – MATOSINHOS DISTRIC

Porto-based world renowned architect Álvaro Siza Vieira grew up in Matosinhos and his first works are here (don’t think of them as ‘minor’ just because he was young!) It might seem silly to build a saltwater tidal swimming pool among the rocks, but wow! 16 PISCINAS DE LEÇA (Leça Swimming Pools, 1966; open May to September, everyday 9:00-20:00), is quite a building and it’s like swimming in a sea without waves! Don’t feel like swimming? Walk 15 min towards Siza’s first big job and another amazing building situated on the rocks: 15 CASA DE CHÁ DA BOA NOVA (Boa Nova Tea House, 1956). Now it’s both a restaurant and a tea house, but if you don’t feel like having even a coffee don’t worry, the staff won’t stop you from just having a look inside to get a feel for the architecture. Feeling hungry? Lobster? Shrimp? Octopus? Grilled fish? Don’t know what to pick? Matosinhos is the seafood district and by default is full of very good restaurants. The famous 17 COZINHA DA MARIA (‘Mary’s Kitchen’, Mon-Sat, lunch and dinner) where Maria will cook for you with the greatest pleasure filetes de polvo (fried octopus fillet, 13¤), lulas grelhadas (grilled squid, 10¤) or any other fresh fish your stomach might be crying out for. Nearby 18 A MARISQUEIRA DOS POBRES (‘Marisqueira’ which means ‘specialized seafood restaurant’ ‘of the poor’ Tue-Sun, 11:00-00:00) is, unlike most of the other marisqueiras, a non-fancy family-run restaurant where you can taste delicious arroz de marisco (rice cooked with seafood, 10¤ for 2 people) and sopa de marisco (seafood soup) or if you’re a true lover, a heavenly sapateira recheada (stuffed edible crab, 20¤/kilo) will force you to literally lick your fingers at the end. To get there: Metro A – blue line – get out at Mercado de Matosinhos then cross the movable bridge over to Leixões Sea Port and walk about 15/20 min more. The beach towels are too heavy? Take bus 507 (direction Leça da Palmeira) from Metro Casa da Música or Mercado Matosinhos. (Andante Z3)

Q: Which is the only other city in Portugal with 6 bridges? A: Gaia (which is on the other side of the river). Of course this is a joke, but it shows how proud we are of our bridges. D. MARIA was built for trains in 1877, a project of Gustav Eiffel and Seyring, and was at the time referred to by a French traveller as ‘Porto’s Eiffel Tower laying down’. Nine years later its double-deck sister D. LUIS I (for traffic and people and nowadays Metro as well) started bringing Porto’s and Gaia’s Ribeiras even closer. In the 1960’s ARRÁBIDA was built, a global engineering wonder of its time thanks to its single concrete vault. The completion of the main arch was broadcasted live on Swedish television, expecting a fabulous disaster… that didn’t happen. Other bridges crossing the river: S.JOÃO arrived in 1991 as the new train bridge, with the old D. Maria now being converted into something although nobody knows exactly what will be; FREIXO is for the new highway and INFANTE (2003) is the newest of them all and based on Swiss Alps bridge designs, replacing the upper deck of D. Luis I since it was taken over by the Metro. But the issue of connecting the banks of the river is older than it might seem. For centuries the crossing was accomplished by boat, but the need for a more permanent crossing lead to the opening, in 1806, of Ponte das Barcas (Boats Bridge). It consisted of 20 boats attached to one other by steel cables and it could be divided in two to allow river traffic to pass. After the Boats Bridge Tragedy in 1809 (see History section), it was rebuilt but replaced as soon as possible in 1843 with a suspension bridge - Ponte Pensil- which was in use until Ponte D. Luis I was opened. Now all that remains are the two pillars on the Porto side.

rua de santa catarina

rua do bonjardim

ães g a lh ma

do re

CONCERTS AND DRINKS

96 AT A CINEMA

In the same building as the biggest concert hall in town (“Coliseu”, the pink neon can be seen from far away) you will find PASSOS MANUEL (Tue-Thu from 22:00 but changeable; concert days, Fri&Sat for sure), a former cinema where many of us saw a film for the first time. The former decoration is intact - the lobby became a bar where an arty crowd goes and the screening room now also doubles as a concert and theatre venue. Parties just on Fridays and Saturdays.

da a

ães

a lh

m ag

o de

97 TOP TOURISTY CAFÉ To see what tourists can do to a place, go to CAFÉ MAJESTIC (everyday 9:30-00:00). Yes, it’s beautiful art noveau. Yes, a coffee costs 2¤ (three times more than the average price). And yes, waiters sometimes speak English even to the increasingly scarce Portuguese customers coming here to get their afternoon tea and croissant. This place used to be a pearl, now it is what it is.

a r ua d r

rua san

av f e

tos pou

rnã

sada

a veig lves d

rua da aleg ria

a ta c a tarin e san

r ua d

rua d. joão iv

iro ve po e lo

g ria a a le prç d

os çd u lé

pr ue d duq

r uia ag

sa ro

morro

im qu oa ej

78 “SOULS OF THE BRIDGE” Bring a candle and check “IMPRESS THE LOCALS”.

103 PRIDE BAR check n.72 - Gay Scene PERFORMANCES AT

104 SOMETHING LIKE A SQUAT CASA VIVA (‘Living House’, door number 167) hosts a variety of performances and concerts of pretty much everything from more punk/rock to deeply experimental and alternative. It’s quite difficult to say what’s happening and when, in this otherwise totally normal looking house, so you really have to check it out before going.

105 FLEA MARKET

r ua d

o o lh ã do b r ua e od

cim

s to gu au de

106

SIGHTSEEING

HOSTEL

SHOP

METRO

FOOD

M F

FUNICULAR

BAR

TRAIN

r ua

to al

er r ua

g en

jardim do

102 LITTLE FRENCH GIRL

e san

r ua

ta c atarin a

a ba sá d r ua

n ja r d i do bo

go hu

es rr

jardim do morro

ic a

p i n to

fo n

tai n

sã

GOING OUT

86 ‘CAVES’

epúb l

d os r ei s

a serpa

da s

PONTE DO INFANTE

r av da

andes

ndido

s fer n

de c â

e g ome

leite

r ua

ilh er m ua d e g u

iogo

105

fel

O MEU MERCEDES É MAIOR DO QUE O TEU (Wed-Sat 22:00-4:00, Rua da Lada, 30; the name means ‘My Mercedes is Bigger than Yours’) is a small café and concert venue in the basement of a medieval building which hosts regular concerts of mostly rock and indie bands. It’s a bid dead now, but used to be a big thing.

Go out to eat with your friends and you can rely on the typical – francesinha, in quantities you might regret. The next day, come back to life with Bolhão and the freshest fruits – choose them by their ripe scent – until you feel healthy again!

Arguing about where to eat the best ‘Francesinha’ (something like ‘little French girl’) with the best sauce is a polemic and hot topic! Inspired by the French ‘croque monsieur’ toast, our adaptation is served in a beer and tomato sauce (plus other secret ingredients!) With or without fries or egg or even both, it’s an amazingly popular meal or snack – this calorie bomb rivals with tripe as the city’s dish! BUFETE FASE (Mon-Sat 12:0016:00/18:00-21:30) is an excellent place to try it, where you’ll have to fight for one of the 5 tables and where your “little French girl” is prepared right in front of you!

rua d. joão iv

l eg r

nde

ir a

rua do almada

r ua rua do bonjardim

rua da picaria avi z

r ua

rua do almada

par i

dos reis

f ave ei av de gust

ribeira

ELIZABETE, 25, nutricionist

FUA, 27, concerts promoter Experimental? Rock? Electronic? As an alternative to the downtown night scene euphoria, you can enjoy a circuit of concerts happening at Passos Manuel, Casa Viva, Mercedes, Maus Hábitos, Porto Rio, Plano B, Armazem do Chá, Cafe au Lait... Every week there’s a bunch of them! Porto’s circuit is actually becoming an international reference in this “peripherical” kinds of music!

Have you noticed Sandman, the Zorro-like character who is the logo for one of the Port brands? Well, visiting some Caves (‘Cellars’) can be a bit like going to a performance, where your guide is dressed like Zorro – yes, wearing a cape and hat and pretending they are Sandman. Naturally not every cellar is like this – there are dozens of them in this area. But, unless you’re really interested in Port Wine or really curious to see just how big the barrels are where the wine ages, think of coming to the Gaia side of the river to enjoy the f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s view over Porto’s Ribeira. 95% of us have never been to a Cave and Port Wine doesn’t taste any worse because we buy our bottles at the supermarket.

BUS

TILES AT THE

90 TRAIN STATION 20,000 is quite a big number, especially if we’re talking about our typically Portuguese hand painted tiles, but that’s how many are decorating the atrium of SÃO BENTO train station. The painter took 10 years to finish them all, so it’s no wonder why this is a tourist favourite. Opened in 1916, it was built on the site of a former convent with the same name, which had been abandoned during the expulsion of all the religious orders from Portugal in 1834. For very cheap, genuinely old Porto’s postcards visit the green kiosk just outside the station!

91 CLUB IN A BASEMENT If you feel like spinning to the sound of heavy and aggressive late night electro, you have GARE CLUB (Fri-Sat), a big old basement right next to the São Bento train station.

Around Bolhão there are some top quality decades-old Mercearias Finas (delicatessens), where you can buy good quality traditional Portuguese food. PÉROLA DO BOLHÃO prides itself on selling more smoked pig ears than any other place in town. But since cooking them requires some practice, buy some Alheira (bread and chicken sausage of a Jewish origin), Morcela (blood sausage with spices) or any other kind of smoked sausage at MERCEARIA DO BOLHÃO or COMER E CHORAR POR MAIS. Then boil, fry or grill them and your dinner is ready! Other delicacies for sale include bacalhau (it’s that yellowish kite-shape thing hanging from its tail, which as children we don’t believe can possibly be a fish), dried octopus or smoked pig noses or ears. And don’t make funny faces… it’s tradition, we Portuguese eat the whole animal.

99 THE MARKET EXPERIENCE This is more than simply a market, this is a living piece of Porto’s soul. And to prove we love BOLHÃO (Mon-Fri 8:00-17:00, Sat 8:00-13:00), the city took to the streets last year when it was announced it would be converted into a shopping mall! Fortunately, the decision-makers stepped back and the market will just be renovated, keeping its 100-year-old genuine charm. With noisy lively vendors calling out what they have to sell, it’s one of the few places you can still touch and ask where the food you’re about to buy comes from.

Looking for the perfect bargain requires commitment! So you must wake up early (or go there directly from the party) and be prepared to fight for the best price if you want to get something decent amongst all those clothes, screws, tiles, rare records, sold out magazines...! VANDOMA (Sat 6:00-13:00) is the place everybody goes to sell their grandma’s porcelain cups, the junk they gathered after cleaning their bedroom or the cell phone they stole the previous night. A good place for souvenirs!

106 PIECE OF HEAVEN For our dead, only the best! PRADO DO RESPOUSO (everyday 8:00-17:00) is a 19th century cemetery – ‘Prairie of Rest’, how poetic – with view of the river where famous sculptors (like Soares dos Reis) built tombs for bourgeois families and where old ladies still go to clean and change the flowers on their relatives’ graves. Left of the entrance is what’s now the MILITARY MUSEUM (Mon-Fri 10:00-13:00/14:00-17:00, Sat&Sun 14:0017:00, free) which until the 1974 revolution was the headquarters for PIDE, the political police that during the dictatorship was responsible for censorship and ‘taking care’ of political opponents – funny guys picking locations next to cemeteries, weren’t they?

rua padre antónio vieira

rua de mir aflor

a estaç ão

107

rua justino

teixeira

campanhã

e ca sta m çã pa o nh ã

dim ja r bon do r ua

ar ã

guim

faria

r ua

pa rua da la s da libe

árt sm do r ua rua josé

falc ão

ra s da s olivei

eri

gal

ia ór it da v

rua sousa viterbo

cio ér om

oc ad ru

n tai

Every Tuesday, at around 23:00, for 2¤, at ESMAE (the Music Academy), the students from the school play free jazz jam sessions.

rua de pinto bessa

From outside, you would never guess that on top of this garage is MAUS HÁBITOS (‘Bad Habits’, Wed-Sun from 22:00), a former penthouse flat with a view of the whole city and enough room (and rooms) for a café and bar, concerts by mostly independent bands, parties, exhibitions by emerging artists, occasional small art fairs… all good reasons to take the lift up to the 4th floor!

101 JAZZ JAM SESSIONS

do freixo

fo n

is i

A dance floor on the entrance level, a nice bar on the first floor, this is PITCH (Fri-Sat, from 23:00), a soberly decorated club where a mix of Portuguese and International DJs come to play mostly electronic and rock for a mostly young and trendy crowd.

Don’t miss CUNHA (12:00-2:00, lunch or dinner for about 12¤), as it’s probably the most charming and old school snack bar in the city. The whole atmosphere is very calm and relaxed, so don’t think of coming here in a hurry whether you sit at one of the drivein style tables or at the counter. Beautifully designed in a very 60’s now-quite-retro style, it’s also perfect for just a coffee and a desert - they serve Portuguese classics like Pudim Abade de Priscos or Toucinho do Céu, both egg-based calorie-bombastic cakes. A tip: come in the evening, this place feels much nicer after dark.

r ua

77 SMALL CAFÉ -CONCERT

d av de

se pa s

78 ponte d. lu

o av r amos pint

al a l

a l s o usa di

s ha

rua do so

uia

l da n

bo leir a

rina

94 PITCH CLUB

98 GOOD OLD SCHOOL FOOD

88 F

de sa

en er

oismo

uque

79 e tau

l pa

o h er

r ua d

r ua d o s o

ano

cu l

h er

dre

x an

a e jo

ceir

a le

r ua

a tr

ue d

magnolia

batalha

ba r r ed o

duq

r ua r ua

rua do c ativo

r a per

t en

r pa re

r ua d

av de rodrigues de freitas r ua

a vil

o z ar . lá pa sseio de s a ro láz e s. eitas igues de fr im d d r av de rodr ja

tu n el as c ad

onso

a ru

hã

a av vim

ildef

prç da batalha

saraiva de carvalho

a n to

passeio virtudes ba br bo sa de ca str r ua d a s t o aip as

r ua s

sã

gaia

96 95

ir a

n u el

and

97 s ma

nio gr an

r ua p a sso

ha s

tain

ão

fo n

r ua s . p e

bolhão

sme

100

r ua

da s

r ua

e ved

r ua

riques

67 SAFE ART Have you ever been in a bank vault, like the ones you see in movies? Going for an exhibition at CULTURGEST (Mon-Sat, 10:0018:00, free), housed in a former bank, might be the chance you never had! The safe where the money used to be kept is downstairs, and nowadays is used to exhibit works of art. Useless to think about taking the money & running…

e az

rua 31 janeiro

RIBEIRA (literally ‘next to the river’) was the The whole area was deeply affected by the epicentre of Porto centuries ago, but now it’s construction of the 85 ALFÂNDEGA NOVA mainly where tourists come. The Ribeira is a (‘New Customs House’ Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00, World Heritage site and surely deserves the Sat&Sun 15:00-19:00), the huge building title: it is amazingly beautiful and, something now standing next to the river that totally rare in places like this, it’s genuine. Of course cut off access to it, ruining the entire boat the main square, that one with the 83 FONTE construction business and destroying the H andarilho DO CUBO (‘Cube Fountain’) and the strip beach. As a customs house, they had to next to the river are for tourists. But if you control everything arriving to the city by rua firmeza move back a street and explore all those alleys sea, and now you can learn how to smuggle where you can’t even open your arms fully, olive oil inside a guitar at the MUSEU DAS and go up those stairs which are actually ALFÂNDEGAS (‘Customs Houses’ Museum’). streets, you will find an area that hasn’t The building is so massive it features a change much since the 15th century, with small railway system inside, and houses the same people living here since time began. another museum showing a big collection These people are tough but somehow the of cars - MUSEU DOS TRANSPORTES essence of Porto: simple and strong. Come E COMUNICAÇÕES (‘Transport and m fi H youth hostel to Ribeira to stroll around during the day, buto bon Communications Museum’) - and there’s still r ua fer n d anddon’t go to the touristy restaurants at night. a plenty of room left for temporary exhibitions, e s to ru má s Rua da Reboleira is one of the oldest in the a conference centre, fairs… On the hill next to city, and so narrow you can practically shake ilo Alfândega, at the top, sits the 85 MERMAIDS m e ca hands with the neighbour on the balcony PALACE (it’s that white building with two av d across from yours. Take this and you’re on mermaids, one on either side of the main o s on the way to Miragaia entrance). Well, go up there and look at def(literally ‘looking at Gaia’), ru o il t n a sa r ua another labyrinth of tiny narrow streets them! The mermaids are ugly as hell when de ua M 24 agosto fo r r mos r ua with tall houses above and stairs leadingferto seen up close, but the view you get over a re co n ir de d unpredictable spots – another the city and the river is definitely worth e fe great area to a ca rre get lost in, but by far less touristy ir a than Ribeira. rdo the effort.

má s

lo u r e i r o

nso hen

har

. çd

mos

r ua d o

fo av d. a

e s to

estação são bento

fo n t

da r e

r ua

ve sil

fo r

n ta

BU S 500

iq en r

t fan a in

da b a n

a ru

s fl

and

o da b sá ua

são bento

ore

Nº

a ru

j oã

a ad

es d

io brun

c ad

Those who say every Portuguese man has a moustache have never been to SALÃO VENEZA (Mon-Sat 9:00-13:00/15:00-19:00, Sat 8:00-13:00). As you will notice, Porto still has some barbershops left and they have a lot in common: they didn’t change much in the last 50 years and they all have the same popular Rádio Festival playing. Go and offer your face to an 80-year-old guy! Not for girls… sorry!

s ão

én

66 BEAUTY KING

g u ed

r ua

igos a dos clér

r po

sampa

mer

rivoli cinema

nte

aliados

s eiro

r ua

73 elmo a de b

poets ru

fer n

dos

s do

ita

r ua

ás

fer

r ua

iro

r ua

ude

eir c a ld

rua são miguel

rá

virt

58 as

69 70

a dr

a da

r ua

r m a zé n s dos a

e c eu

o nç ã rua da a ssu á s r de t a u r

c a lç

steps house

j o rg

do ric ar

85 H

wine

BU S 500

trindade

. co

Go inside the shop at 20 Rua Galerias de Paris and then up to the 1st floor, and you will be amazed by what you find. A VIDA PORTUGUESA (Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00) is a shop selling absolutely every classic traditional Portuguese product: from ‘Viarco’ pencils – the factory is 40 min away and didn’t change a single thing in 50 years – to ‘Couto’ medicinal toothpaste – a true classic – or ‘Tenorio’ tuna fish in olive oil. The nice thing is that these products are genuine and not vintage editions of brands that modernised themselves – although they look like it. In Portugal there is still a kind of industry totally stuck in time which handcrafts, for example, soaps that come packed in papers and other stuff that might now be considered to be top retro but that have actually been the same since, at least, our great-grandmothers’ time.

irin

58 THE PORTUGUESE LIFE

nde

57 59

da pátr

TR AM Nº 1

93 ZOOM check n.72 - Gay Scene

THE QUINTESSENCE

100 OF SNACK-BARS

85 RIBEIRA AND MIRAGAIA

ão s

101 spot

bar

la normal

r ua

eod

rampa esco

downtown

r ua d

ártires

çã

sobr

c rua do armo

campo m

r aç ão

rvalho

eia

restau

nte de ca

alberto gouv

r ua d a

102

the yellow house

In northern Portugal, Baroque means gold since we had tons of it coming in from Brazil, a colony at the time. SANTA CLARA CHURCH is a hidden and rather small church - cross the gate and enter that door after the courtyard - best described as a Golden Cave, covered from top to bottom with glittering gilded woodcarvings (a very Portuguese specialty) and the result is impressive, to say the least (Some would say it’s almost kitsch, but you simply can’t miss it!)

rua antó

prof vice

el ii

lo ar ç c to pr lb er a

tu n el

PRAÇA FILIPA DE LENCASTRE is the newest spot on the ‘Downtown Euphoria’ map. This square is small but gathers surprising amounts of people on Friday and Saturday nights, when everyone is just outside drinking with friends. 51 AVIZ (Mon-Sat 7:00-2:00): a big café plenty of students go to during the day, also very popular in the evenings – and if you’re hungry, they have some snacks like rissóis (meat dumplings) and good francesinhas. 50 DIVAN (everyday 12:00-2:00 or 3:00) is probably the oldest kebab restaurant in the city and one of the most popular ones; if you feel like Kurdish music, eat your kebab upstairs at one of the ‘arabic’ rooms and smoke a water pipe. Get drinks at PRAÇA (Tue-Sun, 15:00-3:00), a bar specializing in cocktails with a bunch of different ones. If you’re looking for a more cosy and calm indoor café, 49 ROSA ESCURA (‘Dark Rose’ Tue-Sun, 21:00-00:00 or 2:00) is just around the corner.

r ua

lfe

It’s obvious that we love to display our food in shop windows and REI DOS QUEIJOS (MonSat, 8:00-20:00) is no exception – cheap and absolutely top quality traditional pastry stares at you, so don’t resist a Queijada do Porto (eggs based cake) or a Pérola (a variation on the classic Pastel de Nata). And notice the amazing wig-maker’s shop just across the street! Totally unchanged since 1906, it’s the only left in the country. 100% handmade by only two guys, it takes up to a week to produce a wig and most of them end up on the head of an actor or a wooden saint carried in a procession (or on yours, since for 25¤ you can rent one for the weekend!)

89 GOLDEN CAVE Nº2

For almost 100 years, trams made Porto move. Now we just have 3 lines left and those are for tourists. Nevertheless, it’s a nice experience, so take ELÉCTRICO 1 (9:3018:30) from Ribeira to Passeio Alegre: it’s a great trip through the city and by the riverside, and you’ll love the sound of the old wood cranking as the tram turns.

92 THE KING OF PASTRY

82 TRAM Nº1

H 444 guesthouse

rua da conceição

a ofeit

au st

51 THE CROWD

ur aç ão

e ced

rua ferreira borges

ta s

u in

rua da resta

t rv d

ria

va no oa ab ad

a feit

ed o

de c

anu

barda

los

candido

r ua

d. m

uel bom

sário

istal

r ua

eiro

de cr

rua mig

rua do ro

ácio

ca sais mont

o pal

dinis

ins d

o r ua d

ire

re yn

. c ar

do b

t rv s

rua adolfo

rua júlio

jard

e vil

TOP BEAUTIFUL 57 BOOKSHOP ‘Divine’ and ‘Staircase to Heaven’ were just two of the expressions the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ used in 2008, when it ranked LELLO & IRMÃO (Mon-Fri 10:00-19:30, Sat 10:00-19:00) as the third most beautiful bookshop in the world. Built in 1881 in Neogothic style, it could be the set for a Harry Potter movie and coincidence or not, J.K. Rowling wrote the first book of the series in Porto, where she lived for several years. Well, you’ll be amazed by the curving staircase and fake carved wood ceiling (it’s actually painted plaster!)

31 r ua

GUINDALENSE (mutable schedule) is the neighbourhood Football Club (think of it as the total opposite of the giant FC Porto) and has a small café and open-air terrace overlooking the river that’s just perfect for a coffee after lunch on a warm day, with the best view you can find with the Luis I Bridge in the background. Don’t get scared by the dodgy look of the whole place, including the stairs where it’s located, since it’s perfectly safe.

rua de gonçalo cristóvão

lic a

r da d e

pa z

i da

épu b

b oa

Do you know how to count in Portuguese? If not, learn at BINGO DOS SALGUEIROS (Mon-Thu until 2:00, Fri-Sun until 3:00, best after 22:00 or 23:00 when it gets full). The rules are simple: for 1¤ you get a bingo card and if you’re the first one to fill in all the numbers in a row, you shout ‘linha!’ and ‘bingo!’ if you’re the first to fill the whole card. But the best is when you’re playing, a beer costs around 0.25¤ or 0.50¤! This is not a fancy-looking casino-style bingo, it’s in fact something closer to a retirement home where you sit around a big table, sharing it with an entire family that came to play after dinner.

rua dos brag as

r ua

te ma

da r

rrinha

48 BINGO!

c abr

r rua de ent

prç

e álv ares

rua da to

r ua d

88 COFFEE AND A VIEW

Another golden cave: IGREJA DE SÃO FRANCISCO (Winter 9:00-17:00, Summer 9:00-18:00 or 19.00, 3¤) is a National Heritage site and glitters from top to bottom with tons of golden wood and it comes with an added bonus: Catacombs! Yes, there is a cemetery under the church you can visit, look at the dates on the tombs and try to find someone who was born or died on your birthday…just a bit of morbid fun!

faria guimarães

rua fonseca cardoso

r ua d

r ua r

pa i

nç

rua da

r ua d

It was the 19th century French-made iron fountain, featuring some weird winged lions, that gave its popular name to the square: PRAÇA DOS LEÕES (‘Lions Square’). But please, don’t point your camera at them when you’re next to the world’s most precious palm trees! 10 years ago, in order to solve tragic parking issues in the city, it was decided to build an underground car park beneath this square, and half the city went crazy over the thought that these palm trees might be removed. So, the car park was dug around the palm trees, which for years were protected by a metal structure. The whole procedure increased the cost of the car park several times, but the palms are still there and in good health. The big building c aibehind s da s p is the edr headquarters of the University of Porto, a s and you can visit the GALERIA DOS LEÕS (enter the main entrance and turn right, go through the Shop and it’s at the back; Mon-Fri, 10:0019:00), an art gallery where the Fine Arts Faculty students show their fresh work.

ade

56 EXPENSIVE PALM TREES

rua de joão das regra s

ita

lio din

5 MIN UTES WAL

For 9 years housed on the other side of the river, HARD CLUB established itself as “the” independent alternative venue for concerts. Now they just reopened on the historical 19th century Ferreira Borges fruit market, with even bigger ambitions: keeping music as the main field you can also find performances of other kind as well as exhibitions, films and, of course, some parties. The place is gigant, so there is really room for everything. Anyway, better check the program in advance because you don’t want to miss a good gig!

81 GOLDEN CAVE Nº1

uês

atum guesthouse

sky

cedofe

rua de

rua jú

da p

a b oa vista

rua conde de vizel

r ua

ini

ic ard

r ua

ied da p

iz a

de ieda

a rq

lapa

rua de camões

u s to

e au g

ero

o sev

ú li

PIOLHO (closed on Sun) (‘Louse’, the parasitic bug that lives in hair) is one of those references you can’t avoid making. It’s a 100-year-old students’ café that also serves, on weekend evenings, as a meeting point for hundreds of people (the crowd can be seen far away). If you have no clue what to do, go there and for sure something will come up. For a good ice cream (or a faster beer) CREMOSI is just next-door.

ester

aj o aleg re

do m

103

lu s o

r ua d

de forr

rua do bom sucesso

55 A CROWD

çd

If what you’re looking for is a good vegetarian restaurant PALADAR DA ALMA (‘Taste of the Soul’;Mon-Sat Lunch from 5¤, Thu-Sat Dinner from 8.5¤) might be the place. Have your Mushrooms’ Vol-au-Vent in a minimalist but comfortable setting or, for the warmer days, on the terrace out back.

rua do camp

r ua d

87 POSTCARD VIEW Save money on postcards and take the picture yourself! Just cross the upper deck of the bridge (do it on foot, it’s more impressive than by Metro) and prepare yourself for the view! Add some romantic touches: go there on the sunset and make a picnic at JARDIM DO MORRO.

80 HARD CLUB

marquês prç

There are four floors of used books, mixed in with old records and music boxes and used cameras or hats that survived wars at CHAMINÉ DA MOTA (Mon-Fri 9:00-19:00; Sat until 13:00), a 25-year-old bookshop that caters for every taste and wallet. Just ask Mr. Pedro, the owner and a true book lover since childhood, to help you find that bizarre one you won’t find anywhere else! You’ll also notice that their shop windows are always displaying something: posters from the 20’s advertising Port Wine, the program for São João festivities during 1950…

bar ão

r c al

br an

rua do

dã o

b ro

STYLISH AND

38 CHEAP VEGGIE

Can I say something bad about Porto? The old town is not well cared for and a lot of buildings could benefit from a good restoration programme. Just look at the beautiful tiles you find in the facades!

FRANCISCO, 29, tourist from Spain

37 BIG LITTLE STREET

Pão-de-ló, our traditional Easter cake, has several versions in different parts of the country, but at 36 CASA-DO-LÓ (Mon-Sat around 12:00 or 14:00-2:00) you have the chance to try one of the most famous ones. Since time began this shop has sold this cake, plus jams and marmalades and it’s now a very nice café as well. Pão-de-ló is amazingly dry here, so you’d better include a cup of tea in your order. Not into sweet homemade stuff? Go for a beer and a game of snooker at ESPAÇO 77 – so popular there’s even a crowd drinking outside in the evening! For Portuguese old-school postcards, matches boxes, stamps and similar things, check 35 COLLECTUS (Mon-Fri 9:30-12:30/14:00-18:30, Sat 10:0013:00) – it’s a collector’s shop, but nevertheless you might find that perfect gift you’re looking for! But the tiny Travessa de Cedofeita is also home to a variety of other shops, like the alternative 37 BLOW UP where you have a bunch of hand made clothes and you can even order your custom-made shoes!

If you’re fat obsessed, watch out! There’s a Portuguese saying that ‘a disgrace never comes alone’ and you won’t be able to resist these two delicious places next to one another. LEITARIA DA QUINTA DO PAÇO (Mon-Sat 9:00-20:00, and Sun after 14:00) bakes the best éclairs in the city (with perfect whipped cream filling and dark chocolate topping) and the neighbouring tiny-butalways-crowded PADARIA RIBEIRO (MonSat, 7:00-20:00) seems to turn basically everything they touch into gold. Their cookies - like almendrados (almond cookies), pastel de nata, and passion-fruit pies are all highly recommended.

When you live in Porto, you can choose how cosmopolitan or village-like you want your life to be! The many familyrun groceries and old cafés make the city truly cozy, but without the suffocating nature of villages where a new tattoo would be the gossip for a week .

104

BOOKS, BOOKS

aíso

DANIEL, 24, future journalist

95 BAD HABITS

74 AND MORE USED BOOKS

Our grandparents still remember the shouts and screams coming from this building as they took their Sunday walks in the garden out front. That’s because it was a jail until 1974 and the city still refers to it as ‘Cadeia da Relação’ (Relação Jail). Nowadays it’s the PORTUGUESE CENTRE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY (Tue-Fri 10:00-12:30/15:00-18:00, Sat&Sun 15:00-19:00) and regularly hosts several temporary photography exhibitions and a permanent collection of hundreds of historically relevant cameras. It’s free, so at least you can go inside and imagine how it would have been to live among famous prisoners, such as Camilo Castelo Branco, a notable 19th century novelist kept imprisoned there for having sex with a married woman.

Long gone are the days when high society ladies used to come to ATENEIA (Mon-Sat 8:00-20:00) at five o’clock to have their scones and tea. Nothing unusual if “white tea” wasn’t the code for the waiter ade au d to bring a beautiful da steapot filled up with… r ua white wine! These respectable ladies in their fur coats in this way could get drunk peacefully and unnoticed, at a time when women were not supposed to touch a drip of alcohol… Nowadays there is no codified ‘tea’ but you still can feel some of the old charm if you come here for ryour scones at ua pa Hungaros breakfast or afternoon tea with dr ec (buter cookies covered with chocolate). ru

(Mon-Sat 12:00-20:00) is a special one: vintage hats, inner-tube hand bags, retro furniture, handmade urban jewels…. Getting hungry with all of these shopping? This mall has no McDonalds, but PIMENTA ROSA serves much better snacks all day long! Not good enough? Try 32 ITAMAE (Mon-Sat, lunch and dinner, lunch menu from 7.5¤) which is the first and still one of the top Sushi restaurants; have your unagi in the nice garden at the back! If you’re looking for the alternative/indie/underground/artist publishing house, visit 25 INC. (Wed-Fri 16:00-20:00, Sat 15:00-20:00), a small bookshop selling only author-published or limited editions. Then go green at 27 QUINTAL (Mon-Fri 10:30-20:00, Sat 15:00-20:00) an organic specialised café and shop, or feel intellectual with a coffee and a poem at the relaxed 28 GATO VADIO (Tue-Sun 21:0000:00 & Thu-Sun 15:00-19:30) a poetry bookshop that also serves coffee. For those who really like tea 26 ROTA DO CHÁ (Mon-Thu 12:00-20:00, Fri&Sat 12:0000:00, Sun 13:00-20:00) is a cosy tea house in the once mythical Artes em Partes building (which provided a start for this and several other shops and projects that eventually moved out; the new, and more modest, 29 ARTES EM PARTES is just a street away). So, sit in the garden and ask for a piece of cake while you read the phonebook-size list trying to pick one out of 300 teas. You’ll be amazed by the beautiful house at 31 BREYNER 85 (Mon-Thu 14:00-02:00, Fri-Sun until later), an art academy “in process” which is a gallery by day with mostly concerts in the evening. Ah, and when everything else is closed, 24 LOBBY (every day, 21:00-2:00) is the café that is open for sure!

For many years Miguel Bombarda Street was simply home to most of Porto’s art galleries and suddenly… puff! It became the ‘Arts Block’, with a variety of everything in alternative version: clothes and accessories, decoration, restaurants, cafés… Bombarda is more than just a street; it’s where the young, arty and alternative Porto mingles. Well, don’t stick to this map too much, just go and explore for yourself but keep in mind artists don’t wake up early (¬in other words nothing is open before noon). The 23 ART GALLERIES (Tue-Sat 15.0019.00 or 19.30) are too numerous to be listed up – just dedicate 2 hours of your day and see them all. If you happen to be in Porto on one of those Saturdays when galleries simultaneously open new exhibitions (16:0020:00 or 21:00), try not to miss the event… Just follow the info on the big ‘Bombarda’ posters everywhere in town, and pop in and out of any gallery as you like. If ‘second-hand clothes’ sounds to you like ‘t-shirt-with-a-stain-for-50-cents’, you must see 33 RE USE (Tue-Fri 15:00-19:00, Sat 10:00-13:00). The three ladies who run this place carefully select every single YSL pair of shoes and D&G purse they sell. Don’t get put off by all the brands (as they’re not that cheap) since they have stuff for 1¤ as well. And Saturday mornings are guaranteed shopping fun, at least for girls because they have nothing for guys. From there, check out 34 PORTO BELO (Sat 13:00-18:00), the open-air market everyone goes to sell their self-produced clothes and ‘designer’ items. What? A Shopping mall in this area? No way! Well, forget about Zara and H&M, 30 CENTRO COMERCIAL BOMBARDA

70 JAIL TURNED MUSEUM

65 CODE NAME: WHITE TEA

54 CAKES, CAKES AND CAKES

ORIENTE NO PORTO (Mon-Sat, lunch), also referred to as ‘The Hare Krishna’, is a vegan canteen-style-restaurant that cooks just one really tasty dish everyday. But the view over the city, the open-air terrace, and the overall atmosphere make you forget that you can’t choose what you eat. (6¤ normal price, 4.5¤ with a student card).

par rua do

a vitó

utu

34 DOWNTOWN EUPHORIA I – READY, SET… GO A-R-T-Y-!

Far from it’s former glory, SÉ CATEDRAL (Mon-Sat 9:00-12:15/14:30-18:00, Sun 14:30-18:00), is now quite medieval looking compared to the golden baroque pearl it was 70 years ago (the dictator Salazar, who ran the country from the 30’s until 1968 didn’t like it and burnt all the gilded wood inside). Left of the main altar is the smaller Silver Altar, an offer from the city’s goldsmiths. Most people still believe the reason it wasn’t stolen during the French Invasions is because we had the genius idea of painting it on white and the stupid French thought it was wood! Unfortunately that’s not true and documents prove we just paid the invaders not to take it. Still, it’s a beautiful legend you will hear everywhere and even though Porto is known as the “Invicta” - the Unbeatable City.

73 VEGGIE CENTER

There are others, but 53 LUSITANO is a popular warm-up place to prepare for the night. Get there around midnight or 1:00, have a drink, dance a bit, talk to people and then follow the crowd to 72 BOYS’R’US (Wed,Fri&Sat, 5¤)and shake your butt to the sound of the ‘queens’: Madonna, Kyle and crew. The drag queen show starts around 4:00 and these divas really act up when they put on their shiny dresses to perform hits like ‘I will survive!’. Then everybody goes to 93 ZOOM (Fri&Sat, 5¤) since taking people out of the closet and driving them into the back alley could be the motto of the biggest and newest of the gay clubs. It’s housed in a former warehouse on a dead-end street and you won’t so much get dance floor chart music but rather go-go dancers and an enormous crowd – the party goes until late! Still asking for more? 103 PRIDE BAR (Fri-Sun, 5¤) is very popular and packed and also well known for it’s drag queens, strip tease and theme parties (‘Roman Gladiator’ or ‘Thieves and Cops’ sound good enough?) and if on Sunday you still feel like partying this is the right place.

n to d

76 CATHEDRAL

22 103 93 22 GAY SCENE

Do you know those ‘1001 ways’ cookbooks? There is one (or several) on how to cook bacalhau, the dried and salted fish that’s a Portuguese national dish (we eat it for Christmas) even though it comes from Norway, Iceland or Canada. A typical way of serving it is dipped in egg and flour and then fried – it’s called Isca de Bacalhau (4¤) and ESCONDIDINHO DO BARREDO (at the bottom of ‘Escadas do Barredo’ but no name on the door; Tue-Sun 13:00-21:30), a typical Ribeira restaurant with an open kitchen where Dona Cremilde cooks in front of your eyes and fries dozens of them a day. Don’t forget to order something like salada de feijão fradinho as a side (cold black eyed peas salad).

For genuine religious kitsch (which is not cheap) CASA DO CORAÇÃO DE JESUS (‘House of the Heart of Jesus’) is here to serve you! The shop is small but beautiful with neo-gothic style wood carvings that give you an impression how things used to look in the once-very-posh, 19th century Rua Mouzinho da Silveira.

Portos people’s nickname is ‘tripeiros’ (meaning something like ‘tripe eaters’ – and by tripe we really mean cow intestines). The origin of the dish is uncertain and may date back to the 15th century. Legend has it that the city gave all its meat to the sailors that went to conquer the future colony of Ceuta, with only tripe remaining for the people to eat. True or not ‘Tripas à Moda do Porto’ (Porto Style Tripe) is the city’s dish, which consists of a thick stew with cow tripe and beans. Honors should be paid to Mrs. Filomena, from CASA CORREIA (Mon-Sun; lunch), who every Thursday cooks for us the best tripe we could possibly ask for, and in such huge portions we can share them between four and still feel full.

If you happen to see a bunch of junk hanging in a window, that’s 47 ROSA CHOCK (everyday 13:00-21:00) so go upstairs and dig to find something vintage you’re really looking for. But for the real, genuine, totallynon-trendy everything-mixed second-hand, go to CASH&GO (Mon-Fri 9:00-12:30/15:0019:00, Sat 9:00-12:30) where you can sell whatever you’ve realised you don’t need anymore and make room in your suitcase! Are you an Eastern European missing your sour cucumbers or smoked hearings? Then rest assured that you’re not the only one, since former Soviet Union immigrants are one of the biggest groups living here and 43 TROIKA (everyday 9:00-14:00/15:00-19:00) supplies 68 BARROQUE TOWER them all!Just one street away is another 63 HUMAN FURNITURE two-in-one: 44 MATÉRIA PRIMA (Mon-Sat, Towers are symbols of power and Porto, If they’re not there, it’s only because 14:00-20:00) and DAMA AFLITA (Mon-Sat, as an important city at the time, had its own something terrible is happening elsewhere 15:00-19:00); the first is a record shop with TORRE DOS CLÉRIGOS in the 18th century in the country! The TWO POLICEMEN more electronic music and a bookshop with (Winter 10:00-12:00/14:00-17:00, Summer standing on this corner are as much of alternative publishing (if you ask kindly, João 9:30-13:00/14:30-19:00, last admission 30 a landmark as the building they’re guarding might tell you what concerts are going on); the min before closing, 2¤). Built as the bell tower on the opposite side of the street. It’s the Bank second is a gallery specialised in illustrations for the church it’s next to, it is still the highest of Portugal’s doors they watch the all day long showing work by Portuguese and foreigners building around and from the top – only 225 (and no, it’s not the same two guys everyday!) which is run by Rui and Júlio, two young steps – there’s a breathtaking view over the city. ru a dteachers. And don’t miss 45 illustrators and M casa música os v CANDELABRO (Mon-Sat 13:00-2:00) a former an z 64 SUGAR BABIES le used-book shop noweturned into a café - low re 69 WAX ORGANS s light, good music and nice theatre chairs! For decades a synonym for top quality H black & white Portugal is 99% Catholic but, as elsewhere, chocolates and almonds, ARCÁDIA (Mon-Fri the Church was always quite efficient 9:30-19:00, Sat until 13:00) is where we go 53 CAFÉ LUSITANO im a at adapting pagan rituals into respected fát to when we need a gift de for an aunt we visit at a ru r traditions. DEPÓSITO DA NOVA FÁBRICA o ad h Don’t feel intimidated by the huge chandelier; Christmas or a sfriend when we don’t know a in en fant(Mon-Fri a DE VELAS s s a d. maria 9:00-12:30/14:30-19:00, CAFÉ LUSITANO (Mon-Thu, 12:00-00:00, ofor his birthday. But what this what to get n av da Sat until 13:00), a century-old shop where r ua boav is a very calm and Fri&Sat 12:00-4:00) shop sells that’s really special are the liquoro h ista M carolina michaelis in / a time stood still, sells wax versions of virtually ouz queavist discrete café housed in a 19th century coffee filled sugar (no almond in it, just ru o e m eralmonds ad ç dlbuquda b every part of the body – liver, stomach, hands, a warehouse where a very mixed clientele goes e a d thepdrname) – they’re hand painted one by one, e un t legs,olears… and ‘those ones’ as well ive either for meal, a piece of homemade cake or withroshapes and colours ranging from olives ir a for believers mo to take to church, making just a drink. On Friday and Saturday nights you and carrotsato beans and even v dastrawberries, nt boav eir a promise in order to have whatever disease ta 3¤) A playfull and won’t believe your eyes – it gets packed with o babies! (100 gramsisfor cured in whichever organ they offer. o a mostly gay crowd and the room tasty Porto souvenir. ç ã at the back r u a a da b it oavis turns into a dance floor! a med ta 5d

Everyone in Porto knows Rua do Almada because if you need screws, taps, metal wires or anything D.I.Y. construction-related you don’t bother looking anywhere else. But a few years ago, a parallel market began to emerge next door to the decades-old (sometimes centuries-old) shops: it’s water pipes and screws vs. records and vintage! Of this ‘wave’, the first to open was 40 RETRO PARADISE (Tue-Sat 14:00-19:00) with music at the front, and great second-hand vintage clothes at the back (but Elisa got a bit bored of selling garments, so now you must make an appointment to see them). For more records, you have 42 ZONA 6 (Mon-Sat, 14:00-20:00) where you can burn your own vinyl record the songs must be copyright-free, so forget about Michael Jackson. 41 LOUIE LOUIE (Mon-Sat 10:30-13:30/ 14:30-19:00), sells all kinds of music – new or used, from the latest releases to the classics – and shares a space with the LOMOGRAPHIC EMBASSY (Tue-Sat 15:00-19:00), but for more rock/punk/progressive stuff we go to 43 LOST UNDERGROUND (Mon-Fri 13:00-20:00, Sat 14:30-20:00). Take a break at 41 MARIA VAI COM AS OUTRAS (everyday 16:30-20:30/22:3000:00), a literary café and shop where you can also ask for a game to play.

especially booming: going from one end to the other of 60 Galerias de Paris (the street was named this because the original plan included a glass roof cover as was fashionable in 19th century Paris) can easily take 10 minutes because it’s so dense with people drinking and chatting. But it’s also a nice area to visit during the day, when everything is quiet. CAFÉ AU LAIT (Mon-Sat, 12:00-2:00) is a relaxed spot for a salad or a piece of cake, with some DJ in the evening. Next door GALERIAS DE PARIS (Mon-Sat, 9:00-2:00 or 3:00) is a restaurant with lovely brique-à-braque décor to enjoy while having a nice breakfast for 1.5¤ (!!) (only until 11:00), a buffet lunch (5¤) or dinner (8¤). Across the street, the more exquisite CASA DO LIVRO (Tue-Sun, 20:002:00, 5¤ to get in on Fri&Sat) is perfect for a ‘long’ coffee and next to it ITAIPU (until 2:00) is a bakery that will supply you with cheap snacks like empadas or lanches and beer for the night; 59 ERA UMA VEZ NO PORTO (Mon-Sat, from 16:00, entrance nº 162, then up the stairs) has a nice balcony and it’s good for either coffee or drinks until late.

ão b e

47 DOWNTOWN EUPHORIA II - SCREWS VS. RECORDS

r ua

Named after the famous 19th century Porto-born and based sculptor NATIONAL MUSEUM SOARES DOS REIS (Tue 14:0018:00, Wed-Sun 10:00-18:00) hosts a fine collection of mainly Portuguese 19th and 20th century painting and sculpture. The big masterpieces and names are represented – Soares dos Reis’ sculpture ‘O Desterrado’ (The Exiled), and Aurelia de Sousa’s powerful self-portrait – as well as some of the couldhave-been-big names if the artists hadn’t died of tuberculosis in their 20’s. They also have a nice collection of furniture, metalworks, jewellery and ceramics from the 16th century onwards, and one piece you can’t miss: the ‘Nambam Screens’ is a set of two Japanese hand painted screens depicting the arrival of those strange men with long noses, pale faces and weird clothes - the Portuguese, the first Europeans to get to Japan.

Imagine this street just a few years ago: there were empty buildings everywhere, like everywhere in Porto. Filipe and his twin brother João decided not to go to Lisbon to make a living, as so many young Porto people were doing at that time, but instead started their own business, which suddenly changed and brought to life an entire block. That’s how 61 PLANO B , the first club to open in the area, came to life. At first a small venue with the occasional party, it’s now an impressive club with mutant décor (now it has fake Greek statues and fountains), parties with everything from heavy electro to rockabilly and a café that’s open during the day where you also find some small exhibitions. For a smaller and more decadent late night rock club 62 TENDINHA DOS CLÉRIGOS (Tue-Sat) is a possibility. After so many years when everyone just complained about the near-death state of the city, it seems something changed and the downtown came to life again. Now every young guy and girl comes here to mingle, to shop, to have drinks, to meet friends or to dance. On Friday and Saturday nights it is

79 HIDDEN RESTAURANT

75 A HEART OF JESUS, PLEASE

71 INTESTINES

ça

22 NATIONAL MUSEUM

The décor is so outdated it became pure vintage but don’t try to pronounce the name in a fancy trying-to-sound Italian way. SINCELO (Tue-Sat 12:30-00:00, Sun 14.00-00:00) is just the name for a soft kind of snow. Ironically, it’s better to have the ice cream with pancakes or in a milkshake, rather than eat it on it’s own!

GOURMET COW

62 DOWNTOWN EUPHORIA III – THE ODYSSEY BEGINS

fr a n

Of the long gone 1865 PALÁCIO DE CRISTAL (8:00-19:00 October to March; April to September 8:00-21:00) just the name remains. But before it was replaced by an atomic mushroom-shaped sports palace, (built in 1951 when Portugal hosted the hockey championships and we believed we were going to win it all), there really was a Crystal Palace. A smaller version of the London one, it was built for the 1865 Oporto World Exposition. (Nowadays this event is called EXPO, something that came to Lisbon only in 1998, more than 100 years later). The gardens are still quite unchanged and keep their Romantic feeling, complete with peacocks walking around trying to steal your food!

52 RETRO ICE CREAM

av de

21 CRYSTAL PALACE

CONTAGIARTE (Tue-Sat, evenings) is a big house and garden where several things happen at the same time, from a belly dancing workshop to a jazz concert or a poetry session. You never know if you will get jazz/fusion/latin or rock and reggae, but on ‘Baileburdia’ (last Thu of the month) you have guaranteed fun – it’s the folk night when just listening is not enough because you must join the group and dance!

r ua s

39 CONTAGIOUS?

rua do pinheiro de c ampanhã

107 ART WAREHOUSE No old masters and no very big names (yet), every artist exhibiting at the non-commercial ESPAÇO CAMPANHÃ (Mon-Sat 15:00-19:00) art gallery is pretty young and irreverent. So, for an insight into what’s happening now on the lively Portuguese art scene, make your way to this not-so-easy-to-find warehouse in the otherwise uninteresting Campanhã district. Make sure you also check out TABACARIA, another gallery that’s part of the same project, which is dedicated to drawing and printed material, and the ARMAZÉM DE VIDEO (‘Video Warehouse’) - the name is self-explanatory.

DID WE MISS SOMETHING? ARE WE TOTALLY WRONG? LET US KNOW! info@use-it-porto.com