A Mini Postcard From Portugal

Hello, happy Friday!

After a week out of the country, a week of Portuguese food and hospitality, I am back in London.

This will be a short postcard post, not because we didn’t enjoy our time in Portugal but mainly because we enjoyed it exactly as we intended. A week of doing as little as possible. That said, I do have a few places to recommend.

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We booked this trip after an incredibly busy start to the year; we both just wanted, and really needed, a relaxing break. The younger version of myself would book city breaks and fill each moment with something to do, something to see or something to eat. It was nonstop, and by the end of those trips I was almost as exhausted as I had been before I got on the plane. I loved those trips, but these days I have really come to appreciate a holiday that is as laid back as possible. To give us a best-of-both-worlds type situation, we booked our visit to start in Porto, a couple of days exploring the city before we headed inland to the Douro Valley for a quiet hideaway amongst the many, many vineyards.

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My first tip would be not to head to Porto without knowing you’re landing on the evening of one of the city’s biggest nights, Festa de São João do Porto. This is not to say the festival wasn’t fun; it was a riot of unexpected energy. It was more so that the following day, our only full day in the city, everywhere we had planned to visit was closed. I’d assume this is mainly due to the fact that the festivities of the night before extended well into the morning. It would have been great to arrive the day before so we could have enjoyed the city and the festival; this would have been the perfect couple of days.

This festival, hosted annually on June 23rd, is the city’s midsummer festival in honour of St John the Baptist. Whilst it is considered a Catholic celebration, many of the festival’s traditions borrow from earlier pagan practices. As someone who had zero knowledge of the festival, it was quite the shock to head out onto the streets of Porto to suddenly have everyone we passed hit us on the head with little plastic mallets. Traditionally, these hammers would have been leeks, which were used as a sign of fertility. We spotted a couple of people sticking to tradition, but the leeks have long since been replaced with the colourful hammers. Other traditions include the lighting of paper lanterns and eating grilled sardines. If you head to the riverfront during the festival, or any of the city’s many squares, you can see these lanterns filling the night sky, flying high above the city, mixing with the smoke of the grilled fish. The city was absolutely packed with people of all ages, and it was such a brilliant ball of energy.

We decided to stay a little outside the main tourist areas in the Cedofeita neighbourhood. With a much more local feel, it is full of independent restaurants, shops and galleries. We stayed at the relatively compact guest house, Rosa et Al. Set in a beautiful townhouse, it has been lovingly restored by its architect owner. The rooms are beautifully designed whilst also simple; I’d stay here again in a heartbeat. The room we stayed in had a really grand sense of space, with a massive ceiling height and double Juliet balconies that opened onto the street. Great location and the perfect place to rest up. If you want something that feels like it exists at the intersection of an Airbnb and a boutique hotel, this is the place for you. The owners also have a local restaurant called Early, a similarly beautifully designed space known for brunch, although we only popped in for a coffee.

When we headed to the Douro Valley, we opted to stay at the Monverde Wine Experience Hotel. About an hour outside of Porto, it is the perfect bolthole for a few days of relaxation. We should have opted to have the hotel arrange a transfer but, instead, arrived desperate for the calm of the vineyard’s surroundings after quite possibly the most chaotic and crazy cab journey I have ever experienced, a story for another time. Safe to say, the welcome glass of sparkling wine was needed simply to calm our nerves.

Set in the middle of a vineyard, the hotel is incredibly picturesque, with views stretching over the valley. With a stylish design that blends modern elements with rustic farmhouse charm, it was a wonderful space to spend a few really quiet days hanging out by the pool, enjoying the spa, and drinking beautiful wines. The hotel has an outdoor pool (not heated, FYI) as well as an indoor pool and a full spa. You can do all sorts of wine experiences, from simple tasting and tours of the vineyard; you can also blend your own custom blend of the local vinho verde. My only regret was not booking one of the rooms with a small private pool. There is always a next time.

I had quite a few places on my list, but most of them were closed the day after the festival because of the party's late-night nature.

Close to our hotel, this bakery and coffee shop is a place we would definitely visit for our morning coffee and pastry if we were staying in the area again. Set in a slightly industrial space, I loved the design, with its large, curved concrete counter and shabby-chic walls. The pastries were in the modern laminated style and made for a delicious way to start the day. They do offer a more substantial brunch menu, but we didn’t get a chance to try any of those dishes this time around.

I have been a fan of this custard tart shop since they opened their very first location in Lisbon, many, many years ago. They still, in my opinion, make the absolute best Portuguese custard tarts, even after opening so many locations in both Lisbon and Porto. The pastry has a perfectly shatteringly crisp texture, and the custard is silky smooth with a hint of citrus. One is never enough, so enjoy a couple dusted with a touch of cinnamon. For my personal taste, I would skip adding any of the icing sugar, as these are sweet enough.

I have visited Portugal several times over the years, but until this trip, I had never actually tried Portuguese per-peri chicken. One of my editors recommended this old-school spot, and it was exactly what I wanted; we even joked about having it as the food for our wedding! The menu is relatively large, but it seems like everyone is here for the same dish. Chicken and chips. The chicken is a salty rotisserie chicken coated with a lightly spicy peri-peri seasoning. The chips, which tasted so much like a McDonald's-style fry, were basically perfect. If it opened later than 10.30 pm, I would say this would be the perfect post-night-out spot. The place is rough around the edges, with cheap tables and decor, which is of course part of its charm. It is also quite possibly the best value meal in the city, an absolute bargain. No wonder it was absolutely packed.

If you decide to stay at the Monverde Hotel and you're, like us, without a car, it is worth taking a day trip to the local town of Amarante. Inhabited for hundreds of years, this is a beautiful little town in which to spend a day. From a beautiful riverside walk to the beautiful church, it has plenty to offer if you need a break from relaxing by the hotel pool. If you’ve ever visited Portugal before, you may know they have a lot of traditional sweets made from egg yolks. These sweets have their origins in the country’s convents, where egg yolks were plentiful, the whites having been used for starching habits or to clarify homemade wines. Amarante and its convent are home to five of these sweets, so it's worth popping to one of the town’s bakeries to sample them. They’re definitely on the sweet side, and I can’t say they were all to my taste, but it’s still worth trying. When walking up the hill on the town's main street, check out the bakeries on the right-hand side of the road, as they all have terraces overhanging the river.