Jardim das Virtudes Porto

In the back of Porto's Court, an amazing garden called "Jardim das Virtudes" is patiently waiting for hundreds of people to occupy its lovely lawn. For many years, it fell into the oblivion among Porto folk, but now, due to a recent trend (that also includes riding bicycles and used clothing), the garden is slowly regaining the life that it deserves.

Not far from the river, this garden is, even to a lot of locals, a hidden place, and not worthy of attention. And, to be fair, for as long as can I remember there were other popular choices to walk around, like the fabulous Serralves gardens, Palácio de Cristal gardens or even Parque da Cidade, the city's main park. The popularity of those places, combined with the preference given to the beaches rather than green spaces (and probably a bunch of other factors), resulted in this: one of the greatest wastes of public resources there is in memory in the city of my heart!

Fortunately, things are changing, and it's notable that people enjoying themselves on picnics and park strolls have increased, and it's way more common to see people running or riding a bicycle now than it was a few years ago.

The topology of its grounds, almost in peels (and slightly reminding me of the beauty of the riverside of the high Douro) combined with the view to the Douro and Gaia shore is truly inspiring, a little bit of Eden, ready to make you happy.