Oporto

Anthony Bourdain listens to Pedro Caxote, while he reminisces about Saudade

Saudade and Anthony Bourdain

Saudade, the untranslatable word, was described by Anthony Bourdain as “…a kind of melancholy – a yearning to get back to something or someone lost, perhaps to a happier time.” Sorry Tony, I think only a Portuguese can try to describe it. Every portuguese has a deep connection to its roots, in fact a Portuguese, […]

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ...

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the new book on the Harry Potter series and it will have it’s World Launch in Livraria Lello in Porto. If you are Potterhead you cant miss this! Harry Potter and J. K. Rowling are already part of Porto and they are responsible for a lot of myths that […]

A 130 square meter representation of D. Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Pança

Street art in Porto

When I came to Porto, back in 1996, the city was gray, due to his granite constructions and,I should confess, a little bit depressing; people from Lisbon described it like that, a gloomy, foggy city with no light whatsoever. That has changed and, besides all the improvements I’ve seen in twenty years, street art is […]

Bread and poultry sausages

Alheira, all you need to know

Alheira is a lightly smoked sausage, traditional from the North of Portugal which is very easy to find in Porto’s restaurants and a very economic option for a quick lunch. Alheira is a white sausage which is smoked,usually, for three days, and mixing ingredients like wheat bread, garlic, paprika and a mix of white meat […]

A winged man with a broken chain in it's hand

Avenida dos Aliados – Porto

Avenida dos Aliados is the central avenue, or should we say square, that serves as Porto’s Living room. An area for celebrations of every kind and it’s waiting for you. In 2005, Siza Vieira and Souto de Moura, two local architects and Pritzker Prize Winners, started the requalification of Avenida dos Aliados. Taking advantage of […]

Palácio de Cristal – Porto C ...

Palácio de Cristal gardens, a nineteen-century creation, is a park in Porto, with fabulous views over Douro River and the perfect place to walk, run, relax, read or even visit an art gallery.   Palácio de Cristal gets its name from a glass, iron, and granite structure inaugurated in 1865 for Exposição Internacional do Porto […]

Uncommon Shops that you shouldn ...

Globalization is creating a series of clone cities, one after another, and traditional shops are one of the first targets on this list. However, in Porto , there’s still some excellent examples of authentic and uncommon examples  that you should visit. During the last 5 years or so, in Porto, a high percentage of traditional, […]

hard boiled Egg caged inside the dough

Folar, a Sephardic heritage?

Folar is a Portuguese sweet egg bread that you can find in Porto’s bakeries during Easter, but do you know it has Jewish roots? Folar has two different meanings in Portuguese. First, it refers to a kind of bread that can be sweet or savory, depending on the area of the country. The second meaning is […]

Metro, Subway or Tram in Porto  ...

Metro or subway it’s just a matter of semantics for English speaking countries; for our “rivals” in Lisbon, tram is the word; for us, in Porto, it was the best thing that happened in the last years!   Metro do Porto created a revolution is Porto’s traffic and the best way to understand it is […]

Moisés vocifera contra os adoradores do Bezerro de Ouro após ter recebido as tábuas da Lei

Palácio da Justiça – Porto

Palácio da Justiça in Porto holds a mystery waiting to be solved. Justice is not blind and there’s a good reason to it. Palácio da Justiça (Palace of Justice) in Porto, is a monumental building, near to Torre dos Clérigos and Jardim da Cordoaria. It was created by Raúl Rodrigues Lima and inaugurated in 1961, holds […]