Hello, Porto

When planning this trip, I added a couple of days in Porto, Portugal, expecting that it would be hard to find anything to dislike there, given its cobbled streets and balconies adorned with flowerpots. I expected this because of a New York Times article I found before I left that says “It’s hard to find anything to dislike about Porto. Its walkable center is crammed with cobbled streets and balconies adorned with flowerpots.” But then while I was in Barcelona this week the NYT published an updated profile of Porto – “First Lisbon; now Porto. The whole world seems to have fallen in love with the nearby beaches, old churches, seafood-heavy cuisine and historical streets, where the number of tourists has doubled in a decade.” 

While Porto isn’t very far from Spain, it has been recommended that during my visit I should speak English rather than Spanish – something about some misunderstandings that led to a few wars between the two countries several hundred years ago. 

And after Porto I head out by bicycle along the Camino de Santiago toward Santiago de Compostela – a pilgrimage destination for people around the world ever since a solid stone boat randomly washed up on the coast carrying the remains of St. James. But I get ahead of myself. Much more on this later. 

Although not yet on the Camino, I have already experienced my first miracle. Vueling airlines, which is known for its cheap fares, cancelled flights, lost luggage and overbooking, managed to deliver my backpack to the same airport that it delivered me to, despite the fact that I tagged and scanned it myself and then threw it on a moving conveyor belt amidst a mass of confused travelers doing the same.

As for Porto, so far I have found lots of cobbled streets and some houseplants but no flowerpots. And contrary to the NYT
article, I have seen as much pizza and hamburger as seafood-heavy cuisine. Also lots of American tourists and polite young Portuguese men asking me if I want to buy any hash or marijuana.