Stroud Is All Over the Place: Things to do in Porto

Monday, April 23, 2018

Majestic Café in Porto, Portugal

Busiest times are breakfast and lunch

Majestic Café in Porto, Portugal

If you want to really be a traveller, you have to stay in one place long enough to find three things: the perfect Café, the perfect bar, and the local market. Staying only an afternoon and jumping through the ten hoops the guidebooks insist on doesn’t make you a traveler, it makes you a headless vector.

I’ve already written about Porto’s wonderful market and the magnificent Intercontinental Hotel Bar. Now it’s time to introduce you to one or two sensational cafés that date back to when your parents were young and frisky, or maybe even your grandparents. You don’t find these places much in the U.S., but in European cities, just ask around and they’ll quickly pop out of a native’s smiling lips, usually beginning with “You’ve got to…” The Majestic Café is like that. A step back into the time of ornate fixtures, artists and writers who linger over a morning coffee in scintillating conversation, and such a comfortable setting that you are suddenly uplifted, inspired, and feel the urgency to learn several languages, read classic novels and view some canvases done by the masters.

The famous French Toast

Would you like whipped cream with your milk coffee?

Think I’m being factious? Let me put it this way, so both of my faithful readers will comprehend: Take your camera, but also take a small notebook and pen and become a momentary scribe over a delicious coffee and the café’s famous French toast. Or if you should choose to flatter yourself and assume your best E. Hemingway, forgo the French toast and order a brandy or Jameson. Yes, I did. No, I am not ashamed.

So, you’re asking: For the love of heaven, please tell me more about the café! Don’t allow me to simply sit there and luxuriate in the splendor of the moment.

No fear, my fellow travelers, here’s the More you request:

But, before I begin, a sip of Jameson. Ah, now, here we go.

The Elite Café opened on 17 December 1921 and was an immediate success, with it’s Art Nouveau architecture and interior design. Leather seating. Flemish mirrors. Ornate plaster details on the walls and ceilings. In short, a perfect place for gentlemen and ladies to stop for a conversation over ice cream, or coffee, or an aperitif. But, something about the name didn’t sit well with some. Elite. Monarchists in a time of Republican sentiments? Hence the name-change to the still elegant, but more egalitarian Majestic Café.

Over the years this sumptuous setting on a busy shopping street has garnered multitudinous awards. You will quickly see for yourself why this café often appears on the “Best Ten Cafes in the World” list.

Although it has certainly become a tourist destination, with a long line to get in, the café has not lost its way. The food and service are remarkable. And, should you wish to arrange a celebratory event, this is the place. Many have, including heads of state, as well as an array of notables from entertainers to aviators, to artists and writers. It’s said that J.K. Rowling finished writing the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone here. (Published in the U.S. as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.)

But, no matter if you’re stoned by Philosophers or Sorcerers, or Colorado’s new state flower, when you step in and have a seat in this paradise of a café and the first white and black clad waiter comes to your table, you’ll be more than glad you came, not to see the sight or follow the instruction of a guide book, but to add your approval to all of those who have made this spot in Porto THE place.

Now grab your notebook and pen and finish this story: It was at exactly noon on the 24^thof May in 1925, the heart of the Jazz Age, when I finished my first cup of coffee, ignoring the many hums of conversation around me, seated near a wall sized mirror in the apply named Majestic Café, when a young woman and her mother took the table beside me. “What calls to you, Cynthia?” asked the older woman as they both reviewed the menu and the black and white liveried waiter waited patiently. Actually, the waiter and I both waited to hear the young voice and find out this delectable creature’s desire.

The Majestic Café! More than a destination, much more than a mere coffee shop, it’s an adventure in time travel you won’t want to miss.

Don't forget the famous Porto Pastéis de Nata, Portuguese Custard Tarts

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Porto, Portugal, Mercado do Bolhão

No matter where I visit, I always find my way to the local farmers’ market. I realize buying food isn’t usually something you stuff in your suitcase. But, I go anyway. I’ve walked away with a fish carton at Tokyo’s famous Tsukiji Fish Market, packed away canned sardines in Etratat on the Normandy coast, and chorizo in Santiago, Spain.

There are things other than fresh fruits and vegetables to buy, especially for inquisitive shoppers. And the people? They make the market. In Santiago, it was an older shopkeeper who went out of her way to help a confused traveler find a shop where nuns make the finest tarta de Santiago . In Metz, France it was a woman selling cheese who tested my meager French, then twisted my arm to taste half a dozen. So what was it in Porto?….gimme a sec, I’m coming to that.

Each market is a vastly different experience. Different smells and flavors. Can you get the right chocolate for Spanish hot chocolate in Charleston? Or how about shrimp and grits in Madrid?

Listen to what I’m telling you: Visit the markets! Chat with the people! Listen to the music of the voices and find a cornucopia of delights.

Mercado do Bolhão in Porto, Portugal is a wonder. By the way, don’t get tongue twisted over Bolhão, it’s pronounced Bol-yo and an easy walk from downtown.

But, let me summarize the essence of markets, the things that attract me faster than a swimsuit optional beach? You think I exaggerate? Ok. Maybe a little, but the pull to visit a market is strong! There are always different things to see, sounds to hear, things to taste, people to talk to, architecture to admire. A market draws you into the beating heart of a city and it’s people. Of course, merchants are eager to sell, but also possess a fount of knowledge about their city and for those of you hooked on gardening, it’s is a wonderful source of information.

What’s that, you don’t speak French or Portuguese or German or southern? Fear not and march bravely forward. Every market I’ve been to has an English speaker nearby and pointy-talky works just as well. “How much is this?” you ask. The response is gibberish to your untrained ear. Your look is as blank as if a doctor asked the date of your last tetanus shot. The seller immediately either writes the answer, or shows you the number on a calculator.

I mentioned architecture. In Porto, the market came about in 1893, but wasn’t covered until 1914…yes, Portugal missed out on a couple of world wars and has never mourned over it.

Built on or near a swamp, Bolhão, according to what I have read, means Big Bubble. Swamp no more, it’s in the center of town and an easy walk from most downtown hotels.

So, what did I do there besides gawk and take photos and wonder if there were a swimsuit optional beach? Are you familiar with Port Wine? Similar to Spanish Sherry. I’ll write more about that in a follow-on blog entry, but right now, I’ll tell you we found a wonderful older couple who had a matchless array of wines and ports and didn’t mind chatting about all of them. What’s your pleasure? Ruby? Tawny? Old, young, sweet, dry…..we’re talking ports now, gentlemen, so control yourselves. They poured and with each empty glass, they poured more. We drank and listened and learned. The couple alone were worth the visit.

We tasted the younger ports, then tried the ten year old, then the twenty year old, then the forty year old. The white, the ruby, the tawny, finally settling on a forty year old tawny. At least I think that’s what we settled on. At that point it was hard to tell. Could have been four acres of land and two cows. But nobody mooed at me on the way back to the hotel and I didn’t have dirt under my fingernails, so I’m pretty sure we just bought port. Anyway, it’s says 40 Years old and my depleted bank account confirms it.

Photo from Bakespace, which also offers a recipe: http://www.bakespace.com/recipes/detail/Pastel-De-Nata-%28Portuguese-Custard-Tarts%29/68971/

So, anything else we bought or sampled or can’t discuss? Yes, matter of fact we tried the famous Porto cream tarts. They’re called nata (cream) tarts, but the taste is a very rich vanilla pudding, with a deliciousness and aroma that made my maddened taste buds shout for more. Yes, I surrendered to gluttony. After all, you’re only fat and in Porto once!

I’d write more, but now I’m in the mood to let the photos tell the rest, while I sneak another sip or six of some fabulous port!