Park Hopping in Porto
It’s the very last day of our trip to Europe. I asked Fierce if he would like to look at the map and pick a few things to do and he circled all the parks. I smiled and started looking up which ones would have playgrounds. At breakfast, I asked the girl at the front desk of our hotel if she had any suggestions. We went to our room to grab a few things. Beatrice absolutely blew me away when she knocked on my room door to give me a hand written list of ideas to include a tree top walk and a fun, kid-centered restaurant.
Excited about a tree top walk, we headed to Serralves. When we arrived, we were taken out of the city and into a post-modern art museum and grounds that resemble a botanical garden. The museum’s first floor is all white with a few mannequins dotting the floor. They showed the cloths which were colored upon in almost a child-like way; painted in strokes of thick blue; and then sewn together into garments.
Stepping outside, we spent most of our time in the gardens. Fierce led the way and we discovered several outdoor art installations. My favorite was a giant red spade.
Soon, we couldn’t miss what we had come for and entered the tree top walk. The railings were slanted outward, so you could see down on either side. I looked over the edge once or twice and had to bring myself back to the middle…just unnerving enough.
Before we left, I wanted to stop in the outdoor tea room. Fierce finished his snacks way faster than I was sipping my apple tea, so he went out and played in a large open courtyard. A little boy came speeding up to him with his training bike. They tried to communicate through sign language until I was ready to leave. It was really sweet to watch.
We went to Fierce’s park pick next. Quinta do Covelo was a surprisingly large park considering it’s in a city. There were spacious areas for a zip line, huge play place, toddler area, sand box, adult exercise equipment and my favorite…a café! I don’t think there was one spot Fierce didn’t check out.
We had ordered ice cream from the café and the man used a machine to squeeze out canisters of individual ice creams into a cone. Fierce said it was just like loading a cannon with cannon balls. Cheers!
He talked me into working out and we even turned the wheel of exercise suggestions. However, he didn’t want to do what they said, he made up his own system and game. He had us running, doing push-ups, jumping jacks, etc.
We moved on and he ended up meeting a friend from Colombia. They spanglished their way across the playground and mostly hung out at the zip line. The boys exchanged info, so maybe he will have made a lasting friend.
We ended our day at Bira dos Namorados Restaurant. Reds, Blues, Yellows and Greens greet you wherever you look. Legos are built into actual bricks in the wall. Portuguese, ceramic birds flew as art installations above our table. Even the cashier is playfully apart of the theme as a red truck. We played eye spy with my little eye and pointed out all the cute hidden gems like frogs above the doorway, upside down tea cups for lights and yellow and white stripes on our straws. It was a bonus that the food was good too. Fierce tried croquettes and a steak and I got an avocado stuffed with salmon salad. I would definitely recommend this restaurant if you are enjoying a few days in Porto.
Thank you Lord for these past few weeks full of wonderful days. I am so very grateful.
