Oh, Porto...

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Beautiful. It's hard to say much else about it. This place left me speechless and at the moment the only word to descibe it is 'beautiful'. The people are incredibly nice and very mellow. Life in Porto seems good, peaceful, and happy. I had a hard time leaving this place, and in this place was the first time that it really hit me. I'm not home anymore. I am in Europe! I am in Portugal! I have seen two countries in one week! Crazy!
I fell in love with Porto. I had never felt so content in my life. Sitting in a quiet bar with good company, sharing a local red, interacting with the people all made me realize why I came. At this moment, I realized why I have always felt the urge to leave and explore. This was the first place on this trip that made me genuinely happy.
Maybe it was the visit to the ocean, seeing everyone at the beach along the coast and how calm they were, observing the kids on the giant "big wheels" riding along the sidewalk, seeing smiles and hearing laughter, and the sun. Watching the waves crash into an unfamiliar shore made me feel like I was back home. While sitting on a castle wall along the oceanfront waiting for the sun to set, I felt more of an obligation to return. How could I not?

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Photos

Tiles
Tile decor is everywhere.

Lost in Portugal
Though you're not lost if you never knew where you were to begin with. Mike and Andrew stop at a bench in a park so we could figure out where we were. We met Andrew on the bus. He's from Australia.

Lost in Portugal 2
We kept hearing about some tower and expected a much bigger one. We were not impressed by the small stature of this "tower". We were told that when you see the tower you were getting close to el centro.

El Centro
Building and statue in the center. Still wandering at this point, trying to find the information/tourist station.

Belo Sonho
The hotel room #13.

Belo Sonho 2
Quick overview of the room. Only 15euros a night. We realized why the next morning when we woke up to hammering, scraping of the floor in the room above, loud screaming Portugese women, and thumping music. Home sweet home.

Bridge accross the Rio Douro
You can take this bridge to get to the Port Warehouses. There are tours that we did not get around to.

Tiles 2
Tile art in the train station.

Meat Market 1
Store window displays.

Meat Market 2
Not sure what kind of animal this is. Maybe rabbit??? Creepy feeling that these little guys are watching us.

Portugal beaches
Evidence of my presence on Praia de Matosinhos.

Portugal beaches 2
Mike wading.

Portugal beaches 3
Mid-day sun.

Portugal beaches 4
Found what looked like a memorial by the beach.

Portugal beaches 5
Found what looked like a memorial by the beach.

Portugal beaches 6
Skull tile mosaic at bottom of the cross.

Portugal beaches 7
Castelo Do Queijo.

Portugal beaches 8
Castelo Do Queijo.

Portugal beaches 9
Sunset at Castelo Do Queijo.

Rio Douro
Sunken ship. Bus was moving so this is a little blurry.

Campo Martires Da Patria
Shops and apartments.

Comments

[Kirschke]

Someone is missing!
Where are the pics of you enjoying all these exotic places with that look of contentment you speak of?

[Marius]

Lovely city
I lived there four months and it was amazing. People are frendly and calm. Oh Porto...