January and February Travels-Portugal

In January, we returned from our travels in America exhausted, ready for work once more, and very excited about some upcoming weekends. Late in 2010, I realised that if we were willing to leave super early on a Saturday morning and return super late on a Sunday night, there was no reason why we couldn't head international on a few weekends! So, I booked up three weekends in the end of January and beginning of February - the first in Porto, Portugal, the second in Paris (!) and the final one with friends on a road trip to Wales. In February, I then booked an extra trip as a Valentines' gift for Ross and we headed to Bruges, Belgium at the end of March - a ridiculously travel-full start to the year. It's amazing really, the flights are so inexpensive, and the trips so much fun, it's almost a crime not to head away! :) I'll begin with Porto, our trip to the capital of Port wine making, a coastal fishing city in Portugal...I loved our weekend in Porto, mainly because it reminded me of a grittier, more run down Italy, something between Venice (all that water) and Rome (all that grit), and it was our first introduction to that part of Europe. In March, we both headed away to Spain and whilst Portugal and Spain have some marked differences, I feel that Porto gave us a taste of Spain. Porto is such a lovely city with amazing, picturesque streetscapes. I loved wandering the streets and admiring the buildings. Porto is divided down the middle by a wide body of water you can pass by going over a bridge just a bit shorter than the one between San Remo and Phillip Island. On one side of the water, scattered at different points on a steep hillside are numerous Port Wine wineries, outlets and restaurants, and on the opposite side are the waterfront cafes and fish resturants, and a very steep climb into the main part of the city. There are fabulous pottery stores scattered all over town, and the shopping there was refreshingly less touristy than in previous European cities we've visited. We stayed at a run of the mill hotel chain and spent the weekend enjoying steep walks, great fresh fish and port wine! A hghlight for me was the architecture and colour. In both Spain and Marrakech where we've since visited, we've again seen coloured tiling and intricate decoraration, but Porto was our first sighting of this in Europe, and it's gorgeous. Homes are decorated with colorful tiles, most commonly with strong blue hues and often also feature some kind of religious imagery on their homes too. Portugal is a very Catholic place, with grand church buildings scattered over town. The architecture is so strange at first, enormous grand buildings...on a waterfront. It's as if they've transported Collins Street to be ocean front. A bit different, but very Europe! Our days were spent wandering the streets, intentionally getting lost, only to be found one late afternoon by an hilarious festival on the waterfront, featuring singing, dancing, cakes...and the head of Jesus. Bizarre, but delicious food!