I`m in love with Porto! This is the better of the two cities I´ve visited in Portugal, for sure. It has a river through it, like Portland, but the sea is just there, a half hour walk east. Metros and busses run frequently. But Instead of Big Pink, they have a gothic church steeple. And letºs not forget the Grand Palace. The sidewalks are narrow n both sides, busses blast by an elbow away but nobody minds. Everything seems to be tiled or cobbled. (I`m lying, there is definitely asphalt). Blue painted tiles also proliferate, sometimes in decorative murals but mostly on building fronts.
The walk from the train to the hostel showed me these seamy streets that honestly, were like this: the buildings were built, lived in, worked in, burned, hosed the fire out, and nobody ever fixed up. Yet clothing hangs from balconies all over the city, and people wash their sidewalks diligently. Itºs got a great feel, industrial but livable. Fruit markets, many many many pastelarias, everywhere. Next door to one another, a bakery and a bakery. Helio speaks portugeuse, though Brazilian Portugeuse, and so he is mostly our spokesperson. When I do have to, English is always there. Tomorrow Sebastien leaves, to go to work on a farm in Guarda. He needs rest since, in his words he has `been running too long.` We might meet in Barcelona Feb 14th. We may not. Hopefully I will see him again! He´s the type of guy everybody wants as a friend. Really honest and good guy. I love that he only wears a thin sweatshirt, a tee shirt, and he showed me his wife beater `for when it gets cold.`
So I will stay in Porto one more day, and leave Monday for Madrid, I think. Today we saw the coast - El Atlantico - from the other side. My spanish is starting to come out, so much so that 1. I am tempted to write it here at times, and 2. I am considering, slightly, the possibility of dedicating some study in Spain to the language. Might use this time to actually gain a skill, not just flounce around drinking wine, eating cheese and pastries. My friends say Porto is very reminiscent of Rome.
Pics to come, promise.
