Two old Americans were standing at the edge of an empty platform close to my house here in Lisbon. As they complained of hurting knees and swollen feet and stared a thousand yards into the darkness of the underground, they said:
“Porto is fascinating.”
“It's an older city.”
“You could feel it.”
“This is more a metropolis.”
“It’s all spread out.”
“Less charming.”
“Sure glad this is the end of the trip, though!”
I may be somewhat biased here, but I don’t think they were entirely wrong.
Porto is the kind of city you can hold on the palm of your hand. It all seems to fit into a mental postcard. You’ll never forget that one view from the top of the mossy hill, looking down on a jigsaw of dirty roofs and odd skylights, broken by all the churches and chapels, split by the golden green river and all its arching bridges.
There is all that dramatic impact of being on a city at the edge of the water, built onto the sides of the valley itself. And unless it's a foggy day, the river isn’t so big that the other margin is lost to the eye. You can see the shapes of the buildings on the other side, warehouses, tin roofs and the monumental Hollywood-like signs spelling foreign names. The other margin is so close, you'd think you could swim across it. I’ve seen a Czech student try this at three o’clock of a Monday morning. It did not end well.
You’ll see it in print on all the newspapers, from the Guardian to the New York Times and hear about it in travelling blogs. 10 reasons to visit Porto, 36 hours in Oporto, why Porto is the great weekend destination of the year…
None of them really manage to explain what makes Porto so special. I mean, yes, it is cheap. The food is great. The locals are honest and hardworking and welcoming. It has the beach nearby, great places to stay in, groundbreaking museums, world-class music festivals, Port, cold beer, the francesinha.
This is all great. It’s brilliant. But it doesn’t really explain what makes Porto so special. You could say most of this about Lisbon - except for the francescinha, or the bit about the locals. I guess, to go back to our lovely old American tourists, it’s that Lisbon sort of shoots in all directions. Porto has a special grace, soft charms, or - as they put it:
“Porto is fascinating.”
“It's an older city.”
You can feel it.
