Holy cow! I've been planning this trip for two and a half years and now I'm finally in Porto! It's been a long and eventful 24+ hours (that's how long I've been awake). I'm absolutely exhausted but I'm forcing myself to stay awake so that my body will get over jet lag faster. As far as long flights go, Chicago to Madrid was not too bad. The flight was not anywhere near close to full so most people had entire rows to themselves to stretch out and charge extra devices at one time. Even so, as I walked through first class on my way off the plane, I kind of wished I had had an extra 400€ an upgrade would have cost me. Madrid to Porto was less than an hour but with more than one screaming baby, it was not exactly pleasant. Getting off the plane was when the real adventure began. I sat on a bench for a few minutes, debating about whether to ride the metro or catch a taxi to my hostel. I decided on the metro because it was cheaper, there is a stop close to wear I'm staying, and the map seemed simple enough to follow. I figured can it would be the easiest option. Famous last words. Starting off I had to buy the metro ticket, but everything is in Portuguese. I speak a decent amount of Portuguese but funnily enough they don't teach you how to read Porto metro ticket machines. Go figure. Once I figured it out (it took several tries) I then had to wait or about twenty minutes until the metro came. Then I was unable to sit for about a dozen stops. Finally, in classic Hayley fashion, I somehow managed to get my hair caught in the bag of the lady standing in front of me and while I was trying to get it untangled, the train lurched forward, throwing me off balance and nearly causing me to face plant, which resulted in least half a dozen people quadruple checking that I was okay. Smooth, Applegate, smooth. Anyway, moving on from that wonderful moment in my life, we finally reached my stop. I looked at my map and knew (or thought I knew anyway), how to get to my hostel. Turns out, if you can believe it, that I had walked in circles around the general area of the hostel for about forty five minutes. I finally reached it but by that time my legs were like rubber and I was was sweaty. Needless to say my trip started with a bang. I've been too tired to leave my room so I'll be leaving the exploring to tomorrow!
