Month: October 2019

Porto

Posted in France6 Comments
So, I am accompanying again, this time to Porto. And yes, the port is very good, often a little lighter and less sweet than in other places, but so far not served with Stilton.
The city rises steeply from the Douro river. It doesn’t seem to have a plan, just narrow streets and chaos. Then suddenly a street will open into a park or plaza.
Just across from this park is a bookstore where JK Rowling would come to outline her Harry Potter novels. Apparently she lived in Porto with her first husband, who was Portuguese. She anglicized local place names for use in the novels. The bookstore has become a pilgrimage destination and even charges admission, though the money is refunded if you actually buy a book. Shakespeare and Co might want to adopt that practice.

Anyway, it’s a lovely city, albeit one that it would take some time to make sense of. I think that would be time well spent.