England and Portugal, July 2-July 13, 2025

Written By Gary Wong

#summereuroholiday25

Saturday, August 31, 2024. 3:45 am EDT… Wake up, go to Ticketmaster UK and click on the link for Oasis on Friday, July 11, 2025 in Manchester to enter the queue for an onsale beginning at 4:00 am.

I’m 600-something in the queue. In the 600s. WHAT.

Saturday, August 31, 2024. 4:11 am EDT… Pair of tickets secured for Oasis on Friday 11, 2025 in Manchester.

Seeing Oasis? Definitely NOT Maybe.

Of course, I decided to make a long trip out of this with fingers crossed it would not end up the way of Pearl Jam the previous summer. I’d still get a wonderful vacation out of it but not actually getting the prime objective accomplished woulda been a letdown.

I eventually settled on flying in and out of London on Tuesday, July 1, returning home on Sunday, July 13 with a stop in Porto from Sunday to Thursday before heading up to Manchester on Friday, July 11 for the show. But a week or so out from the start of the trip, Justin was able to come along for the first part of this trip but wanted to spend just a bit more time in Porto over London so we moved up getting into Porto by a day so we could get two whole days bumming around town before he flew home Monday morning. Happy to have the company, especially with some points maneuvering on his part got us the East London stay completely on awards and points. Had it not been for circumstances, that would’ve worked out great (more on that later).

Not quite done with the changing of plans, I got a call the morning of July 1 letting me know that due to a change in aircraft, they could no longer accommodate my Upper Class booking for the 9:30 pm flight I originally booked. Luckily, I was the first of the four who would be receiving that call and they got me the last available business class seat on a flight leaving that night, on the 11:25 pm flight. Only getting in two hours later wasn’t too awful and, as a bonus, I was owed $1075 USD compensation for being bumped so that basically paid for half of this round-trip booking.

As per usual, I loaded up at the Delta One Lounge ahead of the very late departure so I could get maximize sleep (over four hours!) during the flight with a post-flight stop in at the Revivals Lounge at LHR for a much-needed shower and quick bite.

The Wimbledon Championships

I had such a good time last year doing The Queue at Wimbledon, I figured we should do it again this year!

Unfortunately, the London Underground did not want to cooperate due to issues knocking out the subsurface lines in the area we were staying in. We ended up having to Uber from East London all the way to Wimbledon, picking up a fellow traveler along the way. We got there later than I had wanted, just after 6:45 am which meant a longer time sitting outside, waiting for our turn to enter. As it turns out, we, along with Marjorie a few hundred places behind us, would be among the last who would get grounds admission for the day, entering just a little before 2 pm.

Unlike last year, we only got to see three sets of an eventual five-setter between qualifier August Holmgren and the 21-seeded Tomáš Macháč. The crowd was firmly behind the underdog and when we left, he’d just won the fourth set to level the match before finally taking the fifth set in a tiebreak. It would have been nice to see more but it’d be nearly 11 hours spent at Wimbledon and we were exhausted.

Portugal. The Man Country

Landing in Porto after taking a super-early flight out of London-Gatwick on easyJet (first time on this particular ultra low-cost carrier) officially tallied another notch on my list of countries visited.

And what a country it was! I only got to Porto this time around but it was just the loveliest city that hardly feels like a city. Quaint at times, somewhat busy (though not quite bustling) at others and, most of the time, very walkable as long as you don’t mind quite the elevation gain and loss at times.

Though maybe don’t do a speed workout on some of their more hilly streets. I did. I would pay a price for that questionable choice. More on that one later.

Just walking around the city, up and down the hills, north and south of the Douro, and crossing the river north and south, up and down, it was just the most relaxing experience. Views and sights everywhere.

The best way to see the city was from above and the best place to so was at Torre dos Clérigos. It’s the highest point in Porto though it’s not very high (at least not as high as these things get in other cities) but there are unobstructed 360º views at the very top of the tower. Visiting in the hour leading up to sunset on a summer day was just the most picturesque scene. Views and sights abounds.

Being this was Porto, we obviously had to (liberally) sample the port wine that available in abundance. I’d had Taylor’s plenty of times in the past but being able to access bottles that may not easily find its way to the States was a real treat. Nearby, also south of the Douro, was Quinta do Noval, a winery new to me but a great place to have a glass (or two) and just sit outside, looking out onto the river.

No trip to this region would be complete without heading east along the Douro to try port at the source - a winery! Taking a very long train ride out to Pinhão, I visited Quinta De La Rosa where I toured their facilities before working my way through four delicious wines. If those tastes on the tour aren’t enough, they have a restaurant on site with some solid Portuguese food and, more importantly, plenty of wine. Don’t sleep on the beers on the menu as it’s theirs as they are also a brewer of beers.

It wasn’t all wine - thankfully, or I’d likely not be alive to write this up. A lot of food and beers were had and, at the same time, not enough food and beers were had. In particular, I wish I’d found more time at Mercado do Bolhão as I only managed to stop in at a few stands but what little I did get to try made for a nice quick bite before the next stop.

For solid, classic (rustic maybe?) Portuguese cooking, I’d absolutely recommend Taberna Santo António. We had cod and octopus and both just hit the spot for a late lunch and were incredibly filling. Just remember to bring euros because they’re cash-only.

For a place that’s very much a (port) wine town, there were a decent amount of craft breweries and craft beer bars. For a taproom experience, I’d go with Letraria Porto Downtown as they had the best beers on offer and, for a craft beer bar, the hands-down choice for me would be Catraio Craft Beer Shop & Bar, as much for their really nice rooftop(ish) outdoor space as for their solid beer selection.

All of the above is well and good but, if you know me, you know there’s gotta be some bougie joint that I got to. And, boy did I ever.

A friend of mine (h/t Luke) raved about his meal at Casa de Chá da Boa Nova when he was in Porto the year prior. It’s a two-star joint so it was easily in the top-tier with the (baby) tasting menu starting at just over €200 and the full one coming in just under €300. It’s all the more eye-popping in Portugal, where restaurants are generally on the lower end of the price spectrum for Europe. All in, I probably spent nearly €400 for lunch.

The short version? It was worth it.

The long(er) version? This was a three-hour tour-de-force that was not only a tasty meal but also a full experience. Was some of it a little too cute? Perhaps. But it never felt forced or out-of-place and the non-gustatory elements generally added to the meal. With the impeccable service from each and every member of the staff and the tour of the kitchen (and a bonus glass of port within), the whole thing was just a spectacular delight.

London (and Manchester) (Re-)Calling

How many times to London is too many times? When you figure that out, let me know as this was the sixth time in 18 months I’ve been here and I honestly feel as if I still never spend enough time here (the only other place in the world I feel the same with is Tokyo).

On this second leg coming back into town from Porto, as with the first leg, there was company; this time, it was with my friend Kristen who would accompany me up to Manchester for the show. Tragically, she would be the one stuck with me as I bummed (bumbled, really) around the UK. First time in the UK and was really hoping we’d be able to hit of all the places but, yeah, the back was bad.

That’s not to say there wasn’t some bright spots on this leg of the trip. In what would become the theme of the London portions of this long trip, a lot of favorites were visited, including Roti King, which I’ve expounded upon in more detail in a previous trip report, and Side Hustle. On the first London leg, Justin and I hit up one of my absolute favorite go-tos in BAO, which was celebrating their 10th anniversary with cheap bao which meant, of course, we’d be having all of them.

My back trouble peaked (naturally) on our one day in Manchester and we wanted to preserve my back for Oasis in the evening but we did manage to get a really good lunch at Erst. They had this incredible flatbread that we just kept tearing into and if it weren’t for the fact we wanted to try a whole mess of things, we probably could have just made meals of several orders of these.

Oasis

With a pair of tickets, I had to find a friend to come with and it was an absolute no-brainer that fellow Oasis superfan Kristen would be my +1 for this homecoming concert. As it turned out, her fandom would be secondary with respect to the necessary traits needed for this trip.

Remember that questionable choice to do a speed workout on the streets of a hilly Porto? Yeah, that wrecked my back.

If not for Kristen, I don’t survive this trip without her basically keeping me upright as she was incredibly clutch in helping me navigate and work around my hobbled back. Never was that more crucial than during the show as this was general admission on the giant lawn of a park, with all the soft, hilly, grassy spots you’d expect. Not the easiest of terrains for a concert even in the best of times but especially treacherous when any misstep would likely finish my back off for the trip. Girl was elbowing lads out of the way when the lads were predictably and inevitably ladding.

Balky back aside, this was just the most incredible concert experience of my lifetime. I don’t know if I would say it was the best from a music perspective but the combination of laddy vibes, an immaculate setlist, and a prodigal son(s)’ homecoming, it was legendary and, as I barely felt any back pain for two-plus hours, dare I say biblical?

If this was the only time I’ll ever see the Brothers Gallagher, I can die in peace. 15 years ago, I never could have though this day would ever happen -15-year-old me would be happy to see the 45-year-old version living his dream.

➾ Related Foto Feed Posts

The List - England (London and Manchester)

Restaurants

Breweries

Bars

Coffee

Bakeries

Dessert

Places

The List - Portugal (Porto Region)

Restaurants

Wineries

Breweries

Bars

Bakeries

Places

Gary Wong
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San Francisco, July 25-28, 2025