Photo credit © Shutterstock Porto’s UNESCO-protected riverfront district, the Ribeiria, is a remarkable tangle of historic streets and narrow alleys that weave their way through the hilly heart of the medieval district, replete with its Rococo façades and Gothic churches. Walking along these ancient cobbled streets, comforting sounds permeate the air: the slosh of the Duomo against the docks and the snap of drying laundry hanging from washing lines three or four stories above. Traditional barcos rabelos (flat-bottomed boats) bob along the river loaded with large barrels of Porto’s most famous export, port wine. Porto, like its sister Lisbon, is undergoing a massive bout of ‘cosmetic surgery’ as apartments, some hundreds of years old, are gutted, stripped and gentrified. Cranes dot the skyline busily transforming the interiors of these crumbling structures. The city is becoming awash with burgeoning short- term rentals suitable for the Airbnb market, furnished floor to ceiling with Ikea furniture. Cheap and cheerful bars and restaurants, servicing gourmet meals from kitchens the size of cupboards, line most of the narrow streets and lanes. The residents of Porto appear to go about their everyday business with good humour knowing that, with the massive influx of tourism, the despair of the global financial crisis is finally lifting after more than a decade. It would be criminal not to sample the ports the city is famous for and, to do that, it is essential to visit the famous port wine houses on the other side of the river (an easy walk across the Ponte D Maria bridge). Here you will find yourself in the neighboring city of Vila Nova de Gaia, which has more than 60 port-making lodges on its river banks and high in the surrounding hills, many dating from the mid-18th century. To those who have a hardy disposition, a one-kilometre walk up to the famous Grahams Lodge is well worth the effort, if only for the view of Porto across the river and the splendid restaurant DESTINATION 27