It was a dirty thirty celebration! The town was London. We had 3 days to paint the town red before we moved on to Portugal for the next 3 days. In London there is a lot of prestigious architecture and sites to see. We visited popular tourist areas in the day and checked out different night time scenes each night. We made the trek to ride the Eye of London which gives you a beautiful bird’s eye view of the city. From there we could see every area that we planned to visit. And everything was in reach by a mix of hopping on the Oyster, their subway system also known as the tube, and a little walking. The first day was a day to calibrate and wait for everyone to get there, so it was shopping day. London is known for fashion around the world so this was the day to get a close look at what they had to offer in the mall area, especially since it was far away from the place that we would be staying. On the second day, the day time was blocked off for Wireless Fest, a music festival that we intentionally planned around in interest of experiencing a festival in another country. The vibes were very similar, not much of a difference from festivals I’ve been to in the US. For me, the only demerits were the sanitation portion of the grounds and the limited merch available. I am a sucker for merch so it was disappointing when there weren’t any pieces of merch that caught my eye. As for artists, a couple sets we enjoyed were Cardi B and the Migos. We only did a one day pass, there were many more headliners that I’m sure put on a good show. We spent another one of our days exploring the sites to see like the Bell tower and Buckingham Palace, the grounds were beautiful and made great photo ops. Everything was just like you see in pictures and movies, great detail in this massive, majestic architecture. And the phone booths too boot. To my surprise there was a culinary scene with a lot of buzz. With only 3 days to explore and the way London is setup we didn’t have time to dive as deep as we would’ve liked to in the culinary scene. But, we did get some tips on where to go to get some of the best eats they have to offer. (Caribbean area, Sunday Roast,…). For a better understanding of the different neighborhoods and what they have to offer, check out our other post where we deep dive into it.
Now on to my favorite part of this trip, Portugal. I liked everything about Porto from the weather to the activity to the cuisine. The city seemed to have layers and just like London I was only able to peel back a few, but this time with the few I witnessed I was hooked. Even stepping outside the place we stayed in walking in a different direction led us to a new adventure every time. The buzz of the city was calm and its character was colorful. We indulged in the local cuisine, heavily dominated by fresh seafood as we were surrounded by large bodies water. The classic local dish however was not seafood, it was what they referred to as a Francesinha. It’s sausage between two pieces of bread covered by melted cheese with a gravy like sauce that differentiates by chef covering the entire dish. A delectable dish that I liked almost as much as the wine they were famous for. We set sail on a boat ride to take us to the winery that we toured where we learned the process of creating a Porto from the vine to the glass. The views were breathtaking and the experience was perfect. We were picked up in the morning and traveled the countryside to the location of the vineyard. We made a stop to get a minute to take in the beautiful site of the vineyards on the rolling hills. We boarded the boat for a wine tasting pre winery tour and then took the tour that ended with another tasting. After the tasting we went to another part of the winery where we had a 3 course meal and more wine lessons. It’s safe to say that even though this was my first official winery tasting after this I am a connoisseur of Porto wines. Not really but I could tell you a thing or two. The rest of the trip was spent exploring, as I stated earlier the city possesses different avenues that we walked and observed magnificent architecture, window shopped in boutiques, and took advantage of some relaxation at the nearest beach. And of course more food, I have to mention the amazing dining experience we had at Cafeina where our waiter took great care of Alycia and the rest of our crew while celebrating her birthday. I had a mouth watering beef Wellington that left me craving more. We left a few stones unturned so I’m patiently anticipating the opportunity to return to Portugal and explore more of what it has to offer, like the capital Lisbon.
Of the two I will definitely have to recommend you put Portugal on your list and make Porto a stop. We have another post that explains why we love Porto so much and think it’s underrated! I am looking forward to the opportunity to visit again, I’ll create a reason to go back. As always, if you are planning a trip to Portugal and new suggestions or you’ve been and have some suggestions of your own be sure to connect with us @worldcitizenstravel!
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