Porto: My Douro Dream

We took the shuttle to the Ribeira and the city hit us like a warm hug – colorful houses tumbling into the river, the Dom Luís I bridge towering above, buskers playing fado. São Bento station at 9 a.m. – 20,000 hand-painted tiles telling Portugal's history while commuters rushed past like nothing. We walked across the bridge to Gaia for port tasting at Ramos Pinto – 10-year tawny that tasted like liquid Christmas.

We had lunch at Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau – cod cake with molten Serra cheese inside, paired with Vinho Verde that fizzes on the tongue. We watched sunset from the terrace of the monastery above the bridge – the entire city turned golden while church bells rang from every hill. The pros: soulful, walkable, and genuinely welcoming. The cons: those hills are steep, but every climb earns another perfect view.