All my pre-holiday stress has disappeared! I knew this would happen the moment I got to the airport. And it did.

Porto has been an amazing city for us so far and the food here is amazing!

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Boarding the plane to Porto! Leaving a cold and rainy Holland behind.

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Flying on a budget

It was my first time flying with Ryanair and I vow I will next time pay for better seats! My goodness, there is even less space than Easyjet. And Easyjet is tough enough as it is for somebody my length (2mtr). It does explain why Ryanair is so cheap. We only paid 80 euro for a return flight for two. So, can't complain much!

Luckily the flight from Eindhoven to Porto was only 2,5 hours. So, gangrene had not set in yet. After landing it only took 20 minutes for the blood to return to my legs and I could get out of the plane.

Note to self: stop being a cheapskate! Spend a little bit more on a seat with more space next time.

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Arriving in Porto

It’s definitely warmer here than Holland and that’s something we can both use. It’s been bloody cold in the Netherlands lately and we can use some warmth!

We arrived at around 16:00. We needed to get to the center. The hostess of the Airbnb gave us great instructions how to get to the rented apartment before we left so we knew we had to grab the subway that was in the airport.

It takes 35 minutes with the metro to get to the city center at 2 euro per person it is very cheap. Arriving at Trinidad metro station (the main station). We had to walk 10 minutes to our Airbnb.

Just came out of the Metro station.

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The hostess was waiting for us and let us in. It’s a great little apartment with all the comforts of home. We have a living room with kitchen. A nice bathroom with a bath and a two-person bedroom.

I personally prefer Airbnb over hotels for these reasons. It’s just cozier.

We paid 130 euro for 4 days for the Airbnb.

View from the couch. The apartment is perfect.

Saving money out the window

Before coming to Porto I had the idea to save some money by cooking at the apartment instead of going out for food. But we were both tired from the travels and Bianca found a great little restaurant 20 walking from here. So, we went there.

What I love about foreign cities compared to the place where I live in the Netherlands is that there are hidden gems everywhere all the time. Little restaurants in unsuspected places, cool stores hidden from view that sort of thing.

In the Netherlands, it’s often all generic. You see the same brands in the streets over and over making the experience boring. But not here! Just walking to the restaurant alone, we must have passed dozens of shops (that are still open late at night) selling antics, vegetables, rugs, sewing machine parts (you name it) and 20 tiny restaurants. All these people are making a living from being in business and it works. Fantastic!

Porto, sunset.

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The city also feels very safe. I don’t feel like I must check my back all the time so that also adds to the experience.

Arriving at the restaurant at a quarter to 20:00 there was a sign on the door saying the restaurant would only be open from 20:00. Funny, in the Netherlands we always eat at 18:00. The owner of the establishment saw us standing outside the door and was kind enough to open it for us early. We could have a drink in the restaurant before the kitchen opened.

Bianca ordered octopus carpaccio as a starter and spaghetti with prawns for main. I ordered garlic prawns for starter and the ‘steak of the house’ for a main. The steak would turn out to be the best steak I ever had in my life.

Prawns with Garlic and Salsa seasoning.

Octpus Carpaccio.

Spaghetti Nero with Prawns.

Steak of the house. I asked the chef later what cut it was. It was rib eye. The best tasted ribeye I ever had.

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We were on a roll! So, after all this amazing food, we ordered desserts. All the desserts were homemade and not on the menu (they change every day).

Passionfruit Pie and Profiteroles

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Wow! In the Netherlands, we have a saying. A man's love for a woman goes trough his stomach. Well, I think my love for a city goes trough my stomach :). I am in love with this food.

I asked for the bill after an amazing evening. I expected to pay a huge bill but it was worth it because it was amazing. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw what we had to pay. Less than 50 euros for everything! We gave a big tip. Totally deserved.

As you can imagine my interest in home cooking has wavered a bit. I am on holiday after all. We are going to enjoy our time here as much as we can trough good food, beautiful wine and seeing as much of this cool city as we can!

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