The city of Porto is so large with so much to do and see that I don't even know where to begin with it.
As far as destinations go it was my personal favorite of the mainland of Portugal, not including the islands.
I would go as far as saying that it was one of my favorite cities that I've been to in all of Europe.
Among the top 5-10 at the very least.
We were there for two nights and one long day, which felt like enough time for us, though it would be very easy to spend a few days there and not get bored if you wanted to enjoy a longer visit.
Nova de Gaia
For this post I've decided to showcase the first and last things that we did during our visit to the city, which was crossing over the Douro River to the neighboring village of Nova de Gaia.
There we saw some spectacular views of the city of Porto (above)...
the Luis I Bridge...
and the Monastery of Serra do Pilar, both during the day and then again in the evening...
More on the latter a little later though.
There were some low laying clouds hanging over the city in the morning (or maybe it was a mist) that made it a little difficult to take some really good photos.
A lot of the pictures I took that day were a bit washed out and grainy because of it, though it really didn't detract at all from the views seen in person.
Vila Nova de Gaia is often referred to as simply Gaia, or at least that's according to a big sign that I saw.
At one point in history the district would have been it's own city, but expansion of Porto and 12 other surrounding municipalities essentially combined to form what is now known as the the Metropolitan area of Porto.
So basically, Gaia is its own place but it's essentially a part of the larger city of Porto.
We stayed in a hotel in Porto itself but the city walking tour that I planned had us crossing two bridges,
the Ponte Infante Dom Henrique (above) and the Luis I Bridge (below).
We crossed the Infante Dom Henrique first and then walked along a path next to the river.
On top of a large hill in gaia sits the Monastery of Serra do Pilar.
You can get a really good view of it once you arrive at the Luis I Bridge.
Of course, I had to walk around the area and take a dozen photos of buildings from different angles.
In the photos above you can see a large cement platform with a lot of people standing on it. That is the look out spot where I took most of the pictures of Porto across the river. It's also the spot that we watched the sunset later that night.
You can easily walk to the top of the hill to see the Monastery in all its glory. You can also go inside and take a tour if you'd like, but it costs money so we didn't bother to that day. It just didn't seem worth it to us.
The view looking down on the bridge itself was pretty cool though and that is something that I would totally recommend.
Sunset in Gaia
We have watched the sunset in a few locations during our travels and have always enjoyed the experience of it.
Most times it was a spontaneous act, in that we just happened to be out at the right time and in a location with a good vantage point. In more recent times we have tried to make a point of it whenever possible.
This time in Porto was the first time that I specifically researched locations and added it as an activity to our itinerary for the day.
Gaia didn’t disappoint at all in that regard.
There are three main places to witness the event and all are in close proximity to each other.
The first is the grassy knoll next to the Luis I Bridge.
There you can buy drinks and popcorn and listen to live music from street vendors and musicians and performers.
Get there early though because it gets very crowded. These shots were taken well over an hour before sunset.
The other location is the bridge itself which is also very busy but certainly doable.
The third spot is the platform of the Monastery.
It offers the highest vantage point.
If you're really ambitious about it you could probably watch the sunset twice by starting at one of the lower locations and then running up the hill to the platform. You would have to run really fast but I do think that it would be possible.
We got up there way too early ourselves and had to wait for over an hour before things started to get good.
A lot of these photos are the exact same as the ones at the begining of the posts but I think that the lighting changed them quite drastically.
When the sun finally vanished over the horizon everyone in the general vicinity, which was well over a 100 people, all clapped their hands in approval.
I always found that sort of funny and cool in a way - people clapping for a natural daily occurrences.
I think it's for each other more so than the event itself. I think its about feeling a general human camaraderie with others, the enjoyment of sharing a natural wonder with strangers. I think that it's pretty cool really.
After the sunset and the applause we headed back over the bridge to our hotel in the city of Porto.
But I'll never forget that sunset on the platform in Vila Nova de Gaia.