portugal Archives

An evening in Porto spent at the Ribeira

Porto is a coastal city in northwest Portugal known for its stately bridges and port wine production. In the medieval Ribeira (riverside) district, you will be amazed by the narrow cobbled streets, the merchants’ houses and cafes. This was one of my shortest stays in a city. Since I was in Aveiro I had to stay the night before my flight back to Cyprus in Porto in order to catch the plane the day after. We got the train from Aveiro to Porto and got off at Porto Campanha metro station. I have to mention that during the trip from Aveiro to Porto you can enjoy amazing views, especially when you are approaching Porto. From the Campanha station we got the metro to Casa da Musica to go to the hotel and drop our suitcases. We stayed in Avenue da Boavista, at the Quality Inn Portus Cale hotel which was nice and clean. We only had a few hours in the evening to have dinner and just walk around the main area in Porto. I pretty much had a look on the map where it’s worth going and also had a rough idea about where to have dinner. We got the metro and got off at Jardim do Morro which is on the other side of the Ponte Luis I bridge in order to enjoy the spectacular view of the Ribeira, a district made up of medieval streets and seedy alleyways. We walked to the other side of the bridge and down to Ribeira were we wondered around the area and then found a nice place to have dinner. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Adega São Nicolau. If you have a chance to go there, try to get a table outside so you can enjoy a nice view of the river and you certainly won’t be disappointed by the food. Don’t forget to try the famous Porto Wine. After dinner we went back to the hotel in order to rest and travel back to Cyprus the next day. I’ll be certainly going back to Porto for holidays and stay [...]

Aveiro the Portuguese Venice

Aveiro is a city on the west coast of Portugal set along a lagoon called Ria de Aveiro. The coastal lagoon is rich in bird life and that's where Aveiro got its name from, the Latin aviarium (place of birds). It's distinguished by its canals navigated by colorful boats (barcos moliceiros), reminding Venice. The boats were traditionally used to harvest seaweed. I've been to Portugal a few years ago (in Lisbon) and was considering at some point in the future to visit Porto but then a good chance comes up to travel to Aveiro for a business meeting. I’ve heard of Aveiro before but never thought of going there. Travelling to Aveiro from Cyprus was quite exhausting since we had to take 3 flights (Larnaca - Athens, Athens - Barcelona, Barcelona - Porto) and then a train from Porto to Aveiro. The city Part of the city is bathed through canals, bridges and painted boats called moliceiros which are very similar to the gondolas of Venice. They also say that Aveiro has some fantastic sandy beaches which I didn’t have the chance to visit. You can walk around Aveiro since it's a small town and most of the places are near each other (restaurants, bars, shops). Since I visited Aveiro for business purposes I didn't have enough time to explore Aveiro apart from walking around the canals and the old city. Hotel We stayed at the Hotel Moliceiro which is located very centrally and you can reach the hottest spots within a short walking distance. The room was very clean and comfortable. The breakfast buffet was amazing with a large variety of options to choose from. The staff was helpful and friendly. The price was very good by what you eventually get so I would recommend this place to anyone traveling to Aveiro. The food Ovos moles is almost sold everywhere and it looks like you are about to eat something sweet so I though to give it a try but I didn't like it was made from egg york and the taste of egg is very strong. You will find most [...]