After the harrowing tale of a bicycle adventure ending in disaster and bovine romance… My rescue team brought me to my final destination of Oporto.
We arrived at night, and my first view of this city left me speechless. I was frozen in place. I cannot describe how perfect was the lighting, the acousitics, and the architecture all coming together in that moment.
This little girl started dancing while he played. I thought about all the nights dancing while my father played guitar. I just could not bring myself to end this moment. I stood there for probably 10 minutes listening to this man and his guitar, looking at the reflection of the bridge on the water before I could bring myself to leave this spot.
And yes, the rest of this city is just as beautiful by night.
When I was finally ready to tear myself away from the old town, we went back to the camper for the night. We awoke in the morning to this view. And I cannot complain about a free place to spend the night with a better view than any hotel I have ever stayed at.
The morning was humorous and humbling. A man came around selling stickers or some such, just trying to make a dime. I pretended I don´t speak portugese. He comes back with options to sell me stickers in at least 7 different languages. In the US, we often look down on the homeless or consider them to be uneducated. Let me tell you this man was smarter than me. We had a good laugh and shared our food with him.
Next was wandering around the city. While I think Oporto is most impressive at night, the intricate blue tile murals are defintely impressive. I started the journey with the sound of a peacock that I simply could not find. I was looking everywhere. I was able to find other interesting things, however.
There are a lot of people in Oporto. I guess that happens in summer, but good photos of the popular tourist attractions and monuments were out of the question. It was a funny trip for me. I´ve mentioned before that my dad is always asking where all the people are in my photos.
I´ve mentioned before that my dad is always asking where all the people are in my photos. So this trip was a little funny for me because I could send him photos with so many people. The only place where it was too packed for comfort was the line for the library that supposedly inspired the Harry Potter movies. That was just too much for me. I did not make the line.
I did get to walk across the bridge that was so beautiful in the night. The daytime view was spectacular.
At the base of the bridge was a wine tasting tour. Port wines are a little sweet for my tastes, but it was a relaxing way to escape the afternoon heat. I learned about the microclimate caused by the mountains and valleys along the river here. It was more interesting than I anticipated. I even met a couple from near of where I was living in the US. We chatted a bit. It was nice to chat in English with strangers.
I loved this city and would absolutely visit again. The shopping was fun. The people all spoke 3 to 10 languages. There was a lot of diversity and a lot of art. My dopamine fix is in finding unique places and creative art. Oporto definitely hit the sweet spot on that for me.
PigTailz 