i ♥ porto

[crazy long, but filled with awesome travel photography, jump in please!]

if you follow me on facebook, you must have heard something about my weekend in porto! i traveled there on saturday morning to shoot a wedding and then i walked around the whole sunday taking all the pictures i could, in order to bring some of that charm with me! the thing about porto is that this is a really different city, different from lisbon, i mean. i am in love with lisbon and don’t get me wrong, but lisbon is my favourite city in the whole world and it’s home. lisbon is all about light, flowers, narrow streets, orange rooftops, the seven hills and much more! i can never get tired of shooting something here! there’s always a new corner for me to explore! but porto is darker, the architecture is different, a lot of stone is used, they have their bridges over the river and it’s quite charming in its own style! i only had been there when i was a kid on a school trip and then a few years ago, it was common for me to travel there, but only to work, and i had little time or none whatsoever to explore the city… until this weekend.

let’s start with the people! i think they are reaching the awesome characteristic! they make you feel at home, they try to help you in any way they can and then there’s this typical accent and this also very typical way of calling you “young lady” (menina). i think that even if i was 45 they would be calling me that! it’s so cute and it’s like they are already taking care of you! let me tell you a funny story and let me remind you that i absolutely love lisbon, but once a taxi driver was driving me to the hotel and i was chatting with him and out of the sudden he goes “you’re not from lisbon right?” and i said that i wasn’t born in lisbon and lived most of my life in another city and he went “i thought so, you’re so much nicer!” this is like the typical idea about folks in lisbon… but i beg to differ, of course!

and now let’s talk about the architecture… what was that? i mean, was that city really rich decades or centuries ago? i mean the details are absolutely stunning, i never studied architecture, not even close, but i cannot get enough of that looking up, admiring everything about those buildings. and it’s not one that is like this, it’s a whole avenue… whow! they have the richest details i’ve ever seen on a city before, most buildings have sculptured tops, the richest statues or figures, it’s quite impressive.

 and i think that by now, my idea of porto being a little bit dark has also changed, though some parts of the city have such narrow streets and buildings, with tiny windows and are painted in darker colours that you actually get the darker feeling. however i was quite surprised to find such narrow streets as in lisbon, beautiful and adorned white windows, small balconies, flowers and everything so typical in portuguese buildings.