Porto

So I know that I said I was finished writing, and I really should be since this thing called finals is coming up....but you know me, anything to avoid starting to study....but really, anything. Which brings us to now. I would give an account of my last few days, only they haven't happened yet or at least what I have done this week would not even fill a paragraph and I will prove it:

I caught up on all of my TV shows that I will never watch when I get back to W&L. I went gift shopping for almost 4 hours and bought everything which I have been procrastinating getting all at once, ensuring great deals. Then since no one wanted to go out to eat (and I was trying so hard to spend all of my money...I guess I will just have to keep some) I ate an entire pizza (to go), fudge, and port...and then had a crepe later. Not to mention that I more or less got proposed to that night, sweet, only I really don't think I speak enough Italian, and so that was my cue to leave. Ok so I guess my life can fill 1 paragraph...but really for being abroad that is sort of pathetic. Oh well, I threw a coin into the Trevi and that worked well for me last time, so I am sure that I will be back.

So what to fill the rest of this blog with...how about Portugal! (since every other sentence I mention port...) Porto, Portugal was a unexpected pleasure. I booked it with two lovely friends early on, but I had not had a chance to see either of them since well before Fall Break and it was more their trip so I had no idea what to expect. What I got was a lovely weekend with the best food, port, churches, and company.

The trip started at the worst possible moment, once again early on we had thought cheap 6am flights were a good idea...as in wake up at 3:30 to get to the airport...hmmm. So we got there in the midst of pouring rain, exhausted. But the city looked beautifully mysterious in the midst of the rain. (Once again my camera was not so good, because I forgot a charger...but I am just going to take my friend, the photographer's photos..perfect fix). The churches in Portugal are covered in these beautiful tiles, a very different look from Baroque Rome. Ok so the days blur together somewhat (because we did a lot of the same things each day) so I will summarize them here:
- delicious food, such as melt i your mouth roles (better even than crescent roles!), and several other wonderful things that I do not know the names of
- again so many churches
-beautiful scenery, with one drawback....everything was a huge hill! It reminded me of San Francisco, but without the trolleys (things on a map always seem so much closer when they don't mention hills)
- cheap shopping! Also did I mention that they had a real mall complete with food court, H&M, a store that seemed to be a mix between urban/american eagle/something, and Christmas decorations??
- so many amazingly deep conversations about faith, beliefs, and desires from life

Things which stand out: Port tasting

So we crossed the windiest bridge ever which was designed by Monsieur Eiffel, before he built his tower.  Then we started what we thought was a simple task of finding a wine tour/tasting in English...and preferably for free. This was actually a really difficult assignment near the water, so we started hiking uphill. Only we misread the map and probably actually walked an extra mile, and after almost giving up at least five times (and after stating "I refuse to go uphill anymore" at least 4 times) we finally found "Taylor's" which was owned by an Englishman. The port was good, but not amazing, what was amazing was sitting down for 5 minutes....and the satisfaction of finally finding it! Then we walked downhill (because literally everything on that side of the river/sea was downhill from us at this point) and went to an adorable place where we each ordered a tasting of port with a certain type of food. I had the rouge with chocolate...or at least that is what I thought that I was getting. What actually came was so much better! It was little espresso beans covered in amazing chocolate, coated in cocoa. Heaven in your mouth. Unfortunately after this we had to walk back uphill to get to our hostel, but it was definitely worth it.


This was followed by a shopping spree (since my boots did break) and a nap at the hostel (oh and did I mention that this is the best hostel I have ever seen? It was a private room with drawers and doors that locked/unlocked using a computerized bracelet? I felt like a super cool spy all weekend. Further the hostel had only opened a week ago so it was uber clean, uber cheap, and the staff were all still really excited about working there. Not to mention the free wifi, computers, and breakfasts.

Last story to end on (which is the reason why I love port). The three of us did some sightseeing Sunday before we had to leave. We were considering taking a train along the coastline to see it, when it suddenly started raining. We walked down along the wharf until it started pouring and so we ducked into an adorable restaurant to wait for the rain to die down. They probably hated us but we just ordered port and appetizers. We tried the 'tawny' flavor which was suppose to be a deeper, wood flavor (I just had assumed that I would prefer the sweet dessert ports) As we peered out at the sea from our warm, second story window and had a life chat with our port in hand, I fell head over heels in love with port. And so when I found that exact make in the airport, I immediately bought it. And it has become a wonderful reward system for me. When I finish a big assignment, I get to have a glass with dinner or while I watch a movie....I am definitely going to miss being able to legally drink (although I looked into importing this import, and it would cost around 120 euros to ship...so maybe its best that I just enjoy here....)

And that is how the relatively unknown city of Porto became one of my favorite trips of the entire term.

Ciao for now

P.S. there might be a few more posts, depending on how deep my procrastination runs, and if I run out of tv shows to catch up on....