Porto, Portugal

a little spring to your step

On a particularly cold night at the LSE library, Shanka and I browsed frivolously on the Internet for affordable holiday options before deciding that our next getaway destination would be Porto.

Now we had no clue what Porto had apart from Cristiano Ronaldo-lookalikes and yummy custard natas (which to be honest, was a sufficient pitch for the trip anyways), and even the day before the trip, our usually packed itineraries and 'must do' lists were nowhere close to being full. As we headed towards the airport, we laughed thinking how we managed to plan each day's outfit down to the accessories and appropriate lip colour but didn't care enough to research the attractions we wanted to visit. Luckily enough, Porto didn't disappoint.

As soon as we landed, we picked up a city map that had the word 'oPORTOnity' written on them, and immediately I knew I would fall in love with this city. I mean, for real though, who doesn't enjoy puns. We headed to the Sao Bento station, which according to our research (however poorly done they may be), was the closest to our hotel. I guess google maps forgot to show the 15 minute HIKE we had to go through, all while dragging our luggage around. I learned the hard way that Portugal streets are often slanted up and down. Extra points for great butt exercise.

Our first stop was Avenida dos Aliados/Liberdade Square, Porto's main city square. This historic spot was used as a political, economical, and social centre for Porto. This monumental heart of the city offers one of those 360-degrees-always-pretty-vantage point, no matter where you turn to there's something strikingly beautiful there. The town hall stands at the top of the avenue, followed by these random rocks that were decorated with colourful tiles.

We stopped at the Cristal de Palacio gardens to find ourselves overwhelmed by exquisite colourful flowers. Now you have to understand, we're coming from the UK whose idea of the colour spectrum lies between black and grey. The Crystal Palace gardens was a refreshing change to London's gloomy tendencies, we walked around exploring all that the garden has to offer. Although I failed to get the peacock to show me it's pretty feathers (it took me quite a while to finally give up), we managed to get lost in the garden until we found a spot boasting an uninterrupted view of Porto's captivating scenery. Take a deep breath, soak it all in, marvel at the beauty ahead.

Looking at the stellar view from up top, we knew had to see it at ground level. We strolled around the Cais de Gaia riverfront which was actually at the other side of the river to the busy city area. This way, we could get a spectacular view of Porto's stylized architecture, perfectly painted with a pastel palette (anxiously waiting for someone to compliment my alliteration skills). Orange and yellow hues dominated the unique cityscape; the way houses lined up and down on the slopes from the river to the top of the hill gave off a certain charm that I later inquisitively discovered to be a typical Portuguese gem. We waited for the sun to set over a cone of gelato and a rewarding amount of free wi-fi.

Starting off the next day early, we took a hour-long bus to Foz, Porto's seaside district. We were super excited for a beach day, and although the rainy windy weather was less than ideal, the good food at famous cafe Praia da Luz made it all better. Seeing humongous waves crash into the rocky beach was definitely worth it.

This small but charming city taught me that happiness in the details of life; it can be as simple as finally seeing a hop on hop off bus that you spent the last 30 minutes waiting for, tracing your fingers onto the floral patterns engraved in tile-covered rocks, or Pizza Hut on a cold night. Porto taught me that amidst enjoying all the magnificent sights you get to see, maybe the joy of traveling lies in these micro-moments. Maybe it's the ability to string a bunch of these moments together, maybe that's what makes it so memorable.