Day 111 - 112 : Porto Wrap Up (pics)

Although I had 3 nights stay in Porto, essentially I only have 2 full days to explore the city, since I had arrived in at about 8pm and leaving early in the morning at 6am. 

My thoughts about Porto, I love it! I do regret not allocating more time in Porto, as it was tough trying to cramp all I wanted to see in 2 days. I definitely have cut myself really short in Porto, especially since I was told not to bother about Porto and focus on Lisbon and the South instead. 

I did however do most of the key things I wanted to do, spending a full day on the side of Cais da Ribeira, and another day on the side of Vila Nova de Gaia. 

On Cais da Ribeira, the must dos include walking along the Promenade and then through the streets towards São Bento and the neighbourhood, as well as catching the sunset along the coast of Praia Do Caneiro. 

My exact routes were 

Cais da Ribeira

Monument Church Of St Francis

Bolsa Palace - Stock Exchange Building 

Miradouro da Vitória - great viewpoint from here

Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória

Portuguese Centre of Photography - entrance is free and worth checking out. The building used to be the prison building, so the infrastructure are mostly still intact. 

It is now used to showcase photography work, and there were some really good ones when I was there. 

Including a series of pictures by Muhammad Muheissen, a 2 time winner of the Pulitzer prize and also a National Geographic photographer, specialising in documenting refugee crisis in different part of the world.

His portrait pics are incredible. 

It is also a museum of different cameras that had been collated over time. 

This was one of the original first Poloroid models. Imagine having to lug these around.

Compared to the ones now, which are so handily sized. 

I remember these films and materials!

These ones are mainly used for black and white photography, and makes me think fondly of the time when I was in the darkroom developing my own black and white pictures. 

You can also get some of the best views of the city here, albeit through the gridded windows. 

Igreja dos Clérigos

Livraria Lello

This is one of the most popular and most photographed bookshops in the world.

It was the only place in the city with a long queue continuously throughout the day. 

This bookstore from the 1800s is said to have *maybe* inspired author JK Rowling to create Harry Potter while she was living in Porto in the early 1990s. 

There is now an entrance fee to enter at €5, which you can use towards a purchase of something in the bookshop. 

While randomly walking through the streets, I came across The Portuguese Cock Shop, and this was as seen in the window display...

How many cocks can you count? 🤣

Do you have a favourite pattern? 😂🤣😂 

City Hall building

Casa Oriental shop

Tins of seafood lining the entire store walls... Prawns, octopus, cod fish roe, tuna, sardines etc.

They even have a section by the years from 1930s, listing interesting nuggets of information of what happened in that year. 

Rua das Flores

Porto Cathedral and Bishop Palace

I love the beautiful tiles on the side of the cathedral walls. I didn't bother to enter the cathedral since there was a cost. There's also a good view of the city from here. 

Igreja de Santo António dos Congregados

São Bento 

It's highly recommended to check out the train station, as the inside is stunning. Different scenes of Portugal past are depicted on those tiles

Catching the sunset at Praia Do Caneiro is also a must do. I was already quite exhausted, and so opted to take the tram, which was a good idea as it would had taken me about 1.5 hours just to walk over. The tram ride took about 30 mins, followed by a short walk to the coast. 

And just in time to catch the sunset. Lots of other people had the same idea as well. 

I was very surprised by the force of the waves too, as they lashed along the sea walls of the lighthouse. Check out how high those waves went! 

I then took a bus back to the city centre to grab dinner before walking back along Ponte Luis Bridge. It was then I discovered that not only can we walk on the lower level of the bridge, but also on the upper level where the metro runs. The view from the upper level was really amazing. 

I think Porto looks really pretty in the night. 

The 2nd day was spent on Vila Nova de Gaia, famous for the numerous port houses in the area. I was told Taylor's is one of the better one, and so headed over for a winery visit which comes with 2 ports to taste. 

The winery tour was done via an audio guide, so I could do it at my own pace. The rows of barrels were super impressive, as I entered the cellar. 

And as I made my way to the tasting room, I was very surprised to find peahen at the entrance of the tasting room, as well as a peacock in the garden. 

I was given a white port and a red port to try. It's my first time really taking port, and between the 2, I liked the white one more than the red, but then again these were probably the cheaper range, and hard to really gauge my preference until I could try more. 

The walk to Taylor's required cutting through the World of Wine (WOW) building, a very fancy looking complex, housing a number of museums related to wine. 

There were also a number of other port houses in the area, so one can be spoiled for choice moving around the area to do port and wine tasting. 

A couple of interesting street art too. 

I also found out the hostel provided free bikes to use, and after lots of walking yesterday, I decided to take it easy and borrowed a bike to cycle around the coast. The bikes were not very well maintained, as the gears doesn't work, so it was a fairly tough ride to cycle uphill and quickly on them. 

Thankfully the majority of the path along the coast is geared towards cyclist with dedicated cycle paths and also mostly on flat terrain. 

My first stop was Afurada, a fishing village about 15 mins by bicycle. This place was recommended by the Uber driver for good seafood and so I settled into one of the restaurants for lunch. It's not as easy ordering for one, and settled for a prawns and squid dish with a side of small salad. 

A number of the houses here have the exterior completely tiled and each differs from the next, making it a rather colourful unique street. 

I then continued on my cycle along the Atlantic Ocean Coast. Some nice sandy beaches, but also some spots with very rocky terrain. 

It was super cloudy with very heavy clouds, and as I don't expect much of a sunset, I called it a day and cycled back, passing through a nature reserve and seeing the evening view of Porto before it got dark. 

In terms of food, it's hard to ever go hungry in Porto, with food almost everywhere. In Portugal, one of the "must eat" is the Portuguese Egg Tart, or also known as Nata. I had 4 over the 3 days :

Manteigaria - A popular chain with outlets in both Porto and Lisbon, I was served a Nata that just came out of the oven. The crust was flaky, but the top doesn't seem as caramelised. It had a rather smooth and soft custard filling which was yum. 

Castro - a posh looking outlet, and after having one from Manteigaria that was served hot, Castro's was not even warm when I got mine. It was still decent though, but I am sure would had been a lot better even if it was slightly warm. 

Natas D'ouro - went there twice as it's the closest to where I stayed. I took the original flavour the first time, and then on the 2nd time, I realised there were 5 other different flavours - Port, Capirinha, Chocolate, Lemon, Orange. I chose the orange flavoured Nata on the 2nd visit. Crust was crispy but was also a little chewier than I like. The centre was a little firmer as compared to Manteigaria, maybe because it was only mildly warm. But still quite yummy. The orange flavour came through mildly which was good as I didn't want it to be overpowering. 

Lareira - Baixa

Prego con Vinagrete Pão with Verde Branc

Gazela Cachorrinhos da Batalha - Cachorrinhos is also known as the Portuguese hotdog. Essentially it's a spicy sausage stuffed between a crusty bread topped along with a slice of cheese and pressed on a griddle. Super cheap at €3.80 and tasty. 

Hello Porto!

The flight from Malta to Porto took about 3hrs, a little longer than I expected with an almost full flight. 

It's also my first time taking Ryan Air, a budget airlines often heard by travellers wanting to travel cheap - this leg only cost me Euro 40.36, which includes checking in a 20kg luggage. A very good deal I would have to say. 

 

I arrived into Porto with colourful red hues in the skies at about 6.45pm, just when the sun had set. So beautiful! 

I had also gained an hour, as Portugal is 1 hour behind Malta. 

As it was already dark by the time I got out of the airport, I didn't want to be travelling with public transport and so I called for an Uber. Within minutes, I got a ride. 

The driver was fairly quiet the 1st half of the way, but as we were approaching the city, he explained there is heavy traffic at this hour and that we just need to cross the bridge and we will be able to make our way quite quickly. 

He also commented that the hotel I am staying in is in a very good spot, with amazing views of Porto city and the bridge. I didn't know what he meant until we arrived at the hotel and the view was so picturesque. 

I was also very surprised at how little people there were out on the streets. 

The Uber driver also gave me a tip of eating and drinking on the side of the river I am at, instead of on the other side as the prices on the other side can be rather ridiculous - €7 or €8 for a beer vs just €2 or €3 on my side. 

The House of Sandeman Hotel was amazing - from the reception setting, the ambience, and the rooms and beds. It now makes me think I should have stayed longer. 

By the time I got settled in to the room, it was already 8pm and I headed out to get a quick dinner. The reception suggested Mercado Beira-Rio, a market hall / food court style of place. 

While walking towards the Mercado, I came across a building called Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau - Gaia, and I decided to walk in. 

The decor was out of this world. They sell Pastel de Bacalhau, pastry stuffed with cod fish. I wasn't keen on having one tonight, but would have to come back here again and try maybe over the next couple nights. 

I ordered a Marisco de Arroz (seafood rice) - This was so wholesome and such food for the soul.

So happy that there's finally good prawns too! The prawns in Greece and Malta and most parts of Balkans had been somewhat disappointing, as it lack the freshness and the crunch.

I spotted a shop called Nata D'ouro just outside the Mercado, and made it a point to pop in and order a Portuguese Egg Tart, or as known in Portugal Pastéis de Nata.

OMG, this was sooooo good. It's even better than those I had in Macau. 

I think I might just eat myself silly in Portugal!

1st day in Portugal and I am already loving it! ❤️

Day 110 : Malta Wrap Up

My flight out to Porto is at 4.25pm. Since check out is at 11am, I spent the last few hours I have in Malta by taking a walk around Sliema coast before catching the 1.10pm X2 bus to the airport. 

It's a lot less windy today, which made walking around the coast much more pleasant. The coast has a very rocky but picturesque coastline. 

The trip to Malta has been unexpected. Before I started my big trip, I wouldn't had imagined coming here, but I managed to find some cheap flights that made it worthwhile to fly over as part of my route back up into Western Europe. 

Arriving here, I realised how much we have taken for granted drinking water from the tap. Before arriving in Malta, I did look this up, and a few sites indicated that tap water is safe to drink, but at every place I had stayed, there were signs which indicated that tap water is non drinkable. 

I also found out that Malta was once a British colony, so the power plugs were the 3 pin heads that we use in Singapore. Cars are also driven on the left side of the road, so I had to quickly readjust back to left hand driving since I had been driving on the right in Europe where car rental had been possible. 

The good thing is that roundabouts in Malta usually shows the direction you are suppose to take, so that helps me get back into the groove. 

Outside of Valletta and Sliema, it's fairly easy to drive around, with the occasional extra narrow lanes. Google maps generally works well in the country, though at times it doesn't realise a road is one way. 

Very often I was using only the 1st 3 gears, as it was very hard to go fast due to the way the roads are structured, along with heavier traffic in some sections. 

 

The country is very small, about half the size of Singapore and with only 500,000 in population (vs 6 million in Singapore). As it is small, I could cover most of the key places with a car within the 1 week I was here. 

There are also a lot of trekking routes one can hike on, and I was told that it takes just about 10 hours to walk from one end of Malta to the other!

Public toilets are much better than I had expected - I had entered a few during my trip and most were fairly clean. In contrast to a number of European countries, as well as even in Singapore, where public toilets can sometimes be a nightmare. I also noticed I haven't seen any homeless around. 

There were quite a few foreigners in Malta, with quite a few of them coming to learn English. I met a lot of Colombians, and even Asians from Japan, Korea or Taiwan doing the same. 

It's been really pleasant travelling this time of the year, as the temperature is an average of 16°C in the day and drops to about 12°C at night, and at times during the day, I would get so warm that I needed to take off my jacket and walk with just a long-sleeve t-shirt on. 

Food wise, the average meal in a restaurant is about Euro 20 at the low end. Meals had been average quality for the price, and not too much in variety. 

I did however love their Pastilles, a local pastry filled with either cheese or smashed peas wrapped in a crispy flaky skin. They are very cheap too, at average €0.50, although some places are even at €0.40.

The best ones I have had were at the Fontanella Tea Garden at Mdina as well as the food truck in Gozo. 

While we are still on the topic of pricing, it appears they have different pricing for winter and non-winter period, with prices being lower during winter season. I have managed to stay in a hotel at less than €15 a night, which I doubt I would be able to get during non winter season. 

Even public transport, buses are at €1.50 during winter and €2 outside of winter season. 

Looking at the beaches in Malta, it's highly unlikely I would come here for the beach, as they are mostly rocky in numerous places. The few sandier ones I had seen were located in Mellieha Bay, Golden Bay and the surrounding area. 

Possibly this would be the only time I would come to Malta, since I have seen most of what the country could offer, and especially since there isn't any direct flights to get here from Singapore either. 

And that's my 2 cents worth 😆

Bye Malta! Love this quote found at the Malta Airport. 

Day 109 : Malta Valletta and the Three Cities

It looks like I have saved the best for last, Valletta and the 3 cities are the only main unexplored area I haven't done in Malta.

The ferries from Sliema to Valletta weren't running today, so I had to take a bus over, which took about 25 mins (vs a 5-10 mins boat ride as I was told).

By the time I got into Valletta, it was about 10am. 

Walking into the fortress walls, one of the first interesting building I see is The Royal Opera House. 

It was designed by the English architect Edward Middleton Barry and was erected in 1866. In 1873 its interior was extensively damaged by fire but was eventually restored by 1877. The theatre received a direct hit from aerial bombing in 1942 during World War II. Prior to its destruction, it was one of the most beautiful and iconic buildings in Valletta. After several abandoned plans to rebuild the theatre, the ruins were redesigned by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and in 2013 it once again started functioning as a performance venue, called Pjazza Teatru Rjal. Smart of them to create an outdoor performing centre among the ruins.

I decided to randomly walk around Valletta and took the path that led towards Piazza Jean De Vallatte, with a lot of interesting buildings around the square eg. Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Museum of Fine Arts, Knisja Santa Katerina tal-Italja.

I continued on and in less than a minute reached the Auberge de Castille, Prime Minister's Office.

Malta Stock Exchange was round the corner and it was a first time I see a stock exchange with an emblem and a description of what the emblem means.

It was super quiet inside with only 2 people working at 10.35am?

Upper Barrakka Gardens, a must visit in Valletta, is located next to the Malta Stock Exchange, and in my opinion, have the best views in Valletta. While at the Upper Barrakka Gardens, I was told of a midday cannon fire that happens daily, and as I had about an hour till the ceremony happens, I decided to continue on with my random walking around Valletta.

I love the streets of Valletta with those colourful balconies and narrow streets. One of the streets I walked into housed the Ta Giezu Church which I quickly entered to have a look.

St. Lucia's Street is probably my favourite - such a quaint little street and with the street chandeliers and a view of the cathedral at the end of the street!

I somehow ventured into the centre square of Valletta where St John's Cathedral is located. From pictures it looked rather impressive on the inside, but there was a ridiculous charge of €15 for admission. I wasn't keen to be paying so much to enter a church, and I abandoned my idea of entering.

I walked back to Upper Barrakka Gardens to catch the mid day firing, along with watching the meticulous process leading up to the firing.

As it hit 12 noon, the soldier pulled the trigger and "boom"! It was over very quickly.

Time for lunch, where I settled in to Galeas Pasta Restaurant and ordered a seafood pasta. I was surprised to see that the restaurant also has a hair salon on the inside!

I continued on with my random walking and got to the Grandmaster's Palace. I only managed to enter the entrance briefly, before being told that it was closed.

Walking down to the end of the street, I reached the Siege Bell Memorial as well as the Lower Barracka Gardens. From here, you can also see the 3 cities, but not as well as from the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

Time to go check out the 3 cities! The 3 cities are Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua. They are also known as Birgu, Isla and Bormla respectively. I was told there were ferries that runs from Valletta to the 3 cities on the opposite side.

When I got to the ferry station, this guy just rowed in with 2 passengers on board that was disembarking on my side.

This certainly isn't the ferry I was expecting 🤔

I boarded anyway, along with 4 other passengers looking to get to the other side....

It was an adventure as we are on a really tiny boat in the open sea, in this area filled with huge boats. As we got closer to the 3 cities, I felt really small compared to the bastions and forts towering above us around the area.

I am also glad those gusty winds had died down this morning, so the water was fairly calm. I would be worried being in this boat on those kind of choppy waters.

The ride took just about 10 min to Vittoriosa. A very quick ride. 

I walked around Vittoriosa for a bit, passing by the maritime museum and the waterfront, as well as the Fort (didn't bother to go in since there's a fee). 

A number of movies were filmed around here, including Game of Thrones, Da Vinci Code, World War Z, Gladiator, Troy.

I went next to Kalkara, just to see what it looks like. I didn't venture too far and turned back and headed next to Senglea.

As I walked towards Senglea Point and Gardjola Gardens, I came across benches with very interesting quotes that were derived from seamen.

I particularly like this one!

I also then found out there were proper ferries, which were more inline to what I had expected. Oh well, too late! It was still quite fun to be on the traditional boat across the water though.

The view from Senglea Point and Gardjola Gardens was really nice too, as you get to see Valletta from the waters.

I was super exhausted by then, and decided to head back to the hostel, but stopping through Valletta on the way.

It was a good thing I did that, as I got to see a little of Valletta in the evening, and I also only just recalled wanting to see St. Paul's Cathedral from the Valletta side. It was closed by the time I got there, but I probably wouldn't had gone in anyway, since it would be chargeable.

On my way out to catch the bus from Valletta to Sliema, I found a couple stores selling Pastizzi! I already had 2 earlier in the day, but was still in love with these pastries that I had to buy more.

I also found one store which sold them filled with Chicken, instead of the traditional cheese or smashed peas. Couldn't taste much of the chicken filling in it though.

I am actually surprised I enjoyed the peas more than the cheese - the pea filled ones kind of reminded me of a curry puff.

By the time I got back into the hostel was 6.55pm! Just in time for my 7pm slot for the spa at the hostel - very cool to have such a luxury in a hostel, and private too! The only problem was the water in the jacuzzi wasn't hot, and the sauna could be a lot hotter.

Great way to end of a trip in Malta!