Sunny Porto - Tuesday 26 February, 2019

My first full day in Porto would involve art, trams, beer and football.

The view from my first floor room revealed a clear blue sky. Before leaving Hotel Grande Rio I remembered to apply sunscreen lotion and take sunglasses with me.

With no breakfast available at the hotel, it was only a short uphill walk to O Fumeiro for coffee and a croissant with a view towards Praça do Marquês de Pombal.

Casa da Music - view from 203 bus

The 203 bus journey downhill from Marquês to Serralves (Museu) left at 9.50am and passed the Casa da Musica which I would visit on Thursday night to see Still Life Trio.

Twenty stops from Marquês and a short walk later it was good to arrive at the Serralves Contemporary Art Museum inside Serralves Park at 10.25am. The low white museum building which has exhibition spaces on three levels opened in 1999.

I'll be your mirror (2018) - Joana Vasconcelos

This gave me the opportunity to look at the exhibitions, including Tacita Dean and Joana Vasconcelos - I'm your mirror featuring several large installations by the Portugeuse artist, while the museum was not busy.

Casa Serralves + 'Marilyn' high heeled shoes artwork by Joana Vasconcelos

From the shade into the sunshine and a walk around Serralves Park to the art deco style Casa Serralves for the exhibition 'Joan Miró and the Death of Painting'.
Returning to the museum building it was nice to walk through the library reading room and have a coffee in the Auditorium Bar, on the lower level, with views of the park.

Leaving at 13.45 it was sensible to keep to the shady side of the road for a 2km downhill walk to Calçada Ouro where I could sit on bench, and eat a sandwich with a view of ferries crossing the river Douro to Afurada and classic trams (route 1) on the way to and from Passeio Alegre (Foz).

There are plenty of cafes and small restaurants here but an even better spot was just across the Rua do Passeio Alegre where a snack bar kiosk had tables on the banks of the river Douro. A bottle of Super Bock (no glass provided) cost 1.10 euros and it was an authentic experience to drink it from the neck while also absorbing the loud chatter from a neighbouring table of elderly card players.

Later in spring and summer the plane trees on either side of the kiosk would provide adequate shade.

A pleasant walk east along the river bank took me under the arch of Ponte da Arrábida to the tram museum (Museu do Carro Eléctrico) founded in 1992 which includes the machinery hall of Massarelos thermoelectric power plant.

I caught the 18 tram at 16.33 paying 3.50 euros for a single ticket and enjoyed the ride up the hill to Carmo with the driver making frequent use of the horn to warn of our approach.

At Carmo you can change for route 22 to Batalha Guindais.

Cervejaria do Carmo - Craft Beer House

Carmo was the end of the line for me and conveniently only 100 metres from Cervejaria do Carmo - Craft Beer House at Praça Carlos Alberto which opens at 13.00 daily.
There is a shady outside seating area - strangely next to a shoe shop's window display.

Inside there is a blackboard behind the bar with a basic amount of information about the draught beers available. Portuguese and international beers are available on draught.

My 'half pint' of Session IPA (5.6% ABV) brewed locally by Lindinha Lucas was rather bitter for my taste and cost 2.80 euros.

Leaving at 17.10 I passed Praça Carlos Alberto, a square with a World War One monument by Henrique Moreira. On a future visit to the square I would like to visit the Saturday market Porto Belo held here on Saturdays, Cafe Luso and Banco de Materiais - the material bank - a museum of external decorative items like Azulejo wall tiles and vintage shop advertisements.

 A Fábrica da Picaria

Walking on, I arrived at A Fábrica da Picaria, 72 Rua da Picaria at 17.20 and spotted the blackboard sign outside 'Happy Month - Black IPA & Pilsner - 1 euro / 0.20cl'.

The first thing to notice inside is the sacks of malted barley under a shelf for leaflets by the entrance. 

A Fábrica - Black IPA

A Fábrica da Picaria was the first brewpub in Porto. The two beers brewed here change with the seasons and are served direct from the tank either via a font for convenience or from the tank itself. The other draught beers available are from the Super Bock Selecção 1927 range. 

I explained that Quinten Taylor had enjoyed a visit to A Fábrica in January 2018 and his report on Lisbon and Porto bars had been published in the Spring 2018 issue of West Berkshire CAMRA's Ullage magazine. Marta Gonçalves recognised the photo of Quinten on the right of the cover of Reading CAMRA's Mine's a Pint  and posed holding both magazines. I promised to return to A Fábrica later in the week - see Wednesday and Thursday blog posts for more details.

It was a mainly uphill walk of almost a mile to return to Hotel Grande Rio.  On the way I stopped to purchase a miniature bottle of red wine from a small shop and a large Pastel de nata / custard tart from a small cafe / pastelaria to provide some energy for the rest of the evening.

My 15 euro ticket for the FC Porto v Sporting de Braga semi-final of the Portuguese Cup had been purchased online and printed before the start of this trip. 
It was a mainly level 1.5 mile walk from the hotel to the Estádio do Dragão. I realised too late that, like the locals, I should have taken advantage of the street vendors a short distance away from the stadium for a quick snack of Bifana - hot pork sandwich.

The circular 50,000 capacity stadium, designed by Manuel Salgado, opened in 2003.

My seat was in a good central position, only a few rows back from the front, but I would later realise that the man in the next seat could shout very loudly! There were processions of flag carriers and the pitch sprinklers were turned on before the match started at 20.15.This must have been the first top level football match I have attended for about forty years!

Porto were winning 2-0 with goals from Alex Telles (penalty) and Soares when I left after 90 minutes to catch a direct bus back to Marquês. I had seen Brahimi come on as a late substitute but missed his goal in the 4th minute of extra time although I could tell that it was a goal by Porto from the noise level outside! 

I had to hang onto my seat because the bus driver must have been in a race to finish his shift and seemed to pay no attention to any speed limits on this journey. I was soon back at my hotel with a view of the top of the spire of the church of Our lady of the Conception, Praça do Marquês de Pombal, in the distance.

Today I had walked just over 22,000 steps.

Porto - Thursday 28 February 2019

A full day in Porto / Oporto would include tasting Calem port in Vila Nova de Gaia and end with a free concert by Still Life in the Casa da Musica cafe.

A return to O Fumeiro (Marques), uphill from Hotel Grande Rio, for coffee and croissant was a good start to the day. To go anywhere in Porto usually involves going up or downhill and this may partly explain why there are relatively few cyclists.

On the way downhill, towards the river Douro, I stopped to take a photo of the (closed) tiny Bar Santa Cachaça which I had passed on my first night in the city and not dared to enter!

Another photo stop was for a row of buildings at Praça de Almeida Garrett, opposite São Bento station.

Pelourinho (ornamental pillory) and cathedral beyond

Just down and up from here is the Sé do Porto (cathedral) in an elevanted position where you can enjoy views of the city and the river Douro.

CAL, Av. Vimara Peres 56

I passed CAL, a (closed) bar with bottles of port and beer in the window and a 'craft beer on tap' sign on the northern approach to the high level of Ponte de Dom Luís I metal arch bridge, designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Crossing the bridge, which is also used by the Metro, there are good views including the river far below. Looking back to Porto you can see the ancient stone walls, a funicular railway and the steps that I would later climb from river level.

On the Vila Nova da Gaia (southern) side are the various port wine lodges including Calem which I would visit later.

Having reached the south bank there are good views of the bridge showing also the lower level which is used by vehicles and pedestrians.

It is a steep descent to river level and after lunch at a cafe I joined an English language tour of Calem port lodge. John (João?), our professional guide, finished the interesting tour by presenting us with a selection of ports for a tutored tasting. This tour is recommended and the standard tasting (13 euros) includes Cálem Fine White and Cálem Special Reserve Tawny. Our group of five, which included an American / Australian couple, would stay on for some time here learning about each other's trips and origins with IT backgrounds being a common thread for three of us.

Emerging into the daylight the riverside views include the traditional Rabelo boats once used for transporting port down the river Douro. 

I crossed back to Porto on the narrow pavement of the lower level of the Ponte de Dom Luís I.

A long climb up the steps of the Escada Dos Guindais was made easier by the central handrail to pull on. 

A stop for coffee on the shaded first floor terrace of the bar of Guindalense Futebol Clube provided a welcome break. I hear this is a lively place to enjoy beer and music in the evening but did not have a chance to return.

After reaching the top of the steps you arrive at the Batalha end of the funicular and a little further on is Praça da Batalha with a view of the church of Saint Ildefonso at the northern end of the square. Rather stupidly I forgot to visit Cervejaria Levare at Praça da Batalha 12A, which had been closed when I walked past here on Wednesday.

Fábrica Nortada

However, I did walk another five minutes to reach Cerveja Nortada at 210, R. de Sá da Bandeira, for my first beer of the day at 4pm. 

Most of the beers are listed on a blackboard behind the bar.

I ordered Nortada Weiss Bier which was 3 euros for 30cl and served in a tall glass from a tap connected to one of the many horizontal stainless steel tanks in the spacious bar.

The beer range and menu is also available from clipboards at the tables.

I picked a table near the copper brewing vessels and was rewarded by the sight of steam when a brewer came to check on brewing progress.

A visit to the downstairs toilets revealed a sign showing that I had reached the 'Empty' stage and views into the lower level where there are fermentation tanks and a bottling plant.

There are other graphics in the main bar in a similar style.

Bottles of the various Nortada beers are on display.
Cerveja Nortada is a slick operation but my impression was that the focus of attention here was on diners rather than beer enthusiasts. Although the large space had some interesting features, especially the brewery, the rest of it was a bit too bright and modern to be cosy, especially when there were only a few customers inside. 

A Fábrica da Picaria

It was only another 10 minutes walk west for a third visit to A Fábrica da Picaria at Rua da Picaria 72. There is a step up to the entrance which is well worth remembering for the time that you leave or a surprise may result!

With the beer of the month offer still available and complimentary peanuts I settled in at 5pm in the room at the back with the long table and a view of brewing tanks.

Marta had not yet left for the evening yet and I was able to present her with some CAMRA magazines including West Berkshire 'Ullage' that has featured Quinten Taylor's article about beer in Lisbon and Porto and Reading & Mid-Berks 'Mine's a pint' with Quinten on the cover. She kindly posed for a photo wearing the Hop Stuff and West Berkshire Brewery badges that I also gave her.

With my next beer she gave me a dish of marinated Tremoços / Lupini beans to try and showed me how to remove the skin first. There are popular as a snack with beer in Portugal apparently.

There is a shaded elevated terrace with tables accessible from the back of the room. 

On the wall behind my long table is a brewing infographic. The simple limited menu now includes
Bifanas no Pão / Hot pork sandwich: 1,90€ and Cachorrinho / Hot Dog with Cheese: 2,90€.
I liked the small scale and good value at A Fábrica da Picaria. It will certainly be my first choice bar to visit in Porto next time and hopefully Marta will still be there to welcome me back!

Catraio Craft Beer Shop

Another ten minute walk west led to Catraio Craft Beer Shop at Rua de Cedofeita 256, a pedestrian street.

In contrast to the minimalist feel at the previous bars, the dimly lit interior (from lights in bottles) included more decorative features and seemed cosy.

The tables were quite busy so I sat at the bar. My first beer was the reasonably priced and refreshing Ora et Labora Pilsner by Post Scriptum Brewery located between Porto and Braga to the north (1.5 euro, 1/2 pint, 4.5% abv).

An 'In the pursuit of hoppiness' map on a blackboard shows the location of various breweries in Portugal. Ronaldo makes a cameo appearance just above the island of Madeira. Arrows point to Portugal for good beer, Spain for good tapas and Morocco for good hash.

A second beer here was Atlantida by Cerveja Bolina based north of Lisbon (6.5% American IPA, 2.50 euros, 1/2 pint).

Up to 13 beers from the Catraio Craft Beer Shop draught beer range are displayed on untappd.com and details are also fed to a flat screen by the bar. The latest untappd check-ins at the bar are also displayed at the base of the screen. (My untappd.com account name is timofnewbury.)

There were shelves of bottles and leaftlets near the entrance so I left my remaining copies of Ullage magazine there on the way out at 8pm.
With a cosy ambiance, knowledgeable staff and a wide range of beers, Catraio Craft Beer Shop can be recommended but note that it does not uusally open until 4pm.

With a mission to reach Casa da Música by 10pm for a concert it was time for a meal and although it was not my first choice, Migalhas 2 provided excellent value with grilled fish and a half bottle of wine for less than 10 euros. 

With good timing, it was 9.45pm as I approached Casa da Musica, Porto's new concert hall. 

This gave me time to order a drink and find a good seat near the stage of the cafe for a memorable (free) performance by Still Life Trio featuring Margherita Abita (vocals), João Silva (violin) and Claudio Marrero (sax and keyboards).
A late finish but an easy journey back to my hotel by metro. This had been a 19000+ steps day!

Postscript:

Many thanks to Marta who kindly gave me A Fábrica da Picaria branded glasses as souvenirs for Quinten's visit in 2018 and my visit in 2019. 

While I am looking after Quinten's glass until I can hand it to him in Reading one day, my glass was put to good use on Easter day!