By Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv my positive line was looking very thin and dim and by that night I was testing negative. I was finally able to book my Wednesday flight to Porto Tuesday afternoon and join for the last few days of the family trip. But Alex and Tonya have been incredibly risk averse in the Covid world especially right now when they have so much going on with Alex quitting his job and them moving to Canada next month so unfortunately they couldn’t risk seeing me at all and they didn’t really want anyone else in the family to either. They changed their flight to Friday morning so I could at least have 1 full day with the parents, Paul, Nichole and Jade. While I would have loved to spend more time with everybody it was still better than nothing! Plus this gave me an opportunity to explore Porto for a day at my power traveling speed rather than with children. I love my nieces and nephew but it’s a much different pace of travel with kids. Also I had my own hotel rather than staying at the Air Bnb which gave me my personal space.

The People

I immediately loved the vibe of Porto, all the people I interacted with were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Basically the opposite energy of Israel. I met great Israelis but it’s just so much more intense of a culture and the Porto energy was a warm welcome. I had a great Uber driver who had lived in Porto his whole life and acted like my tour guide during the rush hour traffic ride from the airport to my hotel. He told me about some of the different neighborhoods, gave recommendations of things to do and places to eat, and talked about where he vacationed to – usually the Azores, southern Portugal, and northern Spain. Somehow we started talking about Colorado wildfires and he told me about a Portuguese law that requires cutting down trees within 50 feet of your houses to prevent fires. Interesting stuff. Always refreshing to talk to a local about their city and lifestyle.

The welcoming energy continued with the friendly concierge at the hotel. They gave me a glass of Port wine and a Portuguese tart upon my entrance. They also provided me with a map and many recs on what to do in the city. I brought up Primavera Sound and one of the girl’s was going! This ended up being a good starting talking point with a lot of people.

The Food

Porto is all about the seafood so obviously that was going to be my main focus. I got some pretty good sea bass at Fish Fish the first night but the real highlight was the whole crab and creamy shellfish soup that I ate at Majára. My Uber driver from the airport told me it was his favorite spot in town and he’d been coming over 20 years and his recommendation did not disappoint. The restaurant was in Matosinhos which was about a 30 minute bike ride so I showed up to this semi fancy place for a 3:30 late lunch/early dinner sweating through my shirt. Might not have flown later in the evening but was fine given the time of day. It was the best crab that I’d ever eaten. So much fresh meat in the claws that just came out perfectly with minimal effort. The head is stuffed with a delicious crab meat filling and even the legs were incredibly meaty. I had no idea what it was about to cost since they charged per kilo. I was a little worried it would be absurd but screw it I was balling out. Turned out to be just under a kilo and cost 40 euros. Not bad at all given what I got.

I also had a great breakfast during my solo wandering day at a place that I had read about called O Diplomata. They served build your own pancakes with so many options and had super tasty fruit drinks! The server was Incredibly upbeat and friendly; loved his energy. I got two pancakes of their current house special and did two build your own pancakes with banana, maple syrup, and Oreo crumbles.

And you can’t go to Porto without getting franceshina their traditional sandwich. Ate this at Mercado Ferreira Borges during lunch with the fam on Friday. It’s made with bread, ham, sausage, melted cheese in a tomato sauce. It kinda tasted like a ham and cheese lasagna. It was tasty but very filling.

I also found it funny how ornate and nice all the McDonald’s looked from the outside.

Historic City

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and has been around an important port city on the Duoro River since the Roman age. The city has some very old architecture along the winding cobblestone streets and there are ornate churches everywhere! I realized that I haven’t been to Europe since studying abroad in 2012 even though I’ve been to over a dozen countries in the last decade. My world travel has strayed elsewhere but sure is nice to be back in Europe…even if only for 2.5 days. Forgot how old the cities look and feel. But then Porto had free Wi-Fi throughout the city which was pretty progressive for a place that’s been around for over a thousand years. A lot of the buildings are attached and very flat looking from the front. They looked like a Hollywood movie set that you could flick and tip over. Very hilly city as you go inwards from the river. Lots of narrow alleyways to get lost in but the city is still easy to navigate either toward the river or toward the main square.

The city is known for Azulejo tiles which are these beautiful polished blue stone tiles that have geometric patterns or are used to tell religious stories and you can find them everywhere. Lots of the churches have them on the exterior and the Sao Bento train station is a prime spot to see them.

Torre dos Clérigos – great panoramic views of the city; can see endless red tile rooftops; Duoro River leading into the Atlantic; countless monuments, churches, and squares

Bolhao – pedestrian walkway through center with shops, restaurants, street musicians. Good spot to find an outdoor patio to drink a beer and people watch

Porto Cathedral – has been main church since 1200s. Prime location at the top of the hill right overlooking the river on one side and the city on the other. Heading down to the river/up from the river depending which way you go has these winding maze of cobblestone passage ways and staircases surrounded by houses where you feel like you should be lost but it all funnels into the same place

Bridges – there are 6 bridges (soon to be a 7th according my Uber driver) that cross the Duoro River. You can do a river boat bridge tour which the fam did before I showed up but I got to see 3 of them during my wandering. The most famous is the double decker Luis I Bridge which was designed by Gustav Eiffel and was the largest span of any bridge if this type when it was first built.

The Beaches

During the afternoon of my solo day I rented a bike and road along the river walk to various beaches ultimately making it to Matosinhos for my dank crab meal. I stopped at Ingleses Beach which had pebbly sand but nice rocky coastlines. After chilling there for an hour I continued along. The further north you got the nicer the beaches got. Damn stopped at the wrong one. After lunch I laid out on Matosinhos beach which had great sand and much more liveliness with people surfing and playing soccer.

The Music

To cap off my solo day I crossed the Luis I bridge to the park Jardim do Morro. I read it was the spot to be for sunset; it lived up to hype and then some. The tiny park was packed and there was a ripping live band that had an incredible drummer. I could learn a thing or two from him for 82 Moons. In addition to the great music the sunset over the river with the city backdrop was absolutely incredible. The colors changed from bright yellow to a fiery red and it lasted for 30+ minutes. I was sad that I didn’t bring booze but Jardim de Morro answered my prayers and had a concession stand selling beers and pina coladas served in a pineapple. I was chatting up a girl next to me and she said they always have live music in the park for sunset. This place is paradise!!

I also had the pleasure of going to Primavera Sound, a music festival that is held around the world in various major cities. Paul got my dad into Beck a few years back and he was one of the Friday night headliners so we got him tickets to the festival as his birthday gift. And of course Paul, Nichole, and I wanted to go too. The other headliner that day was Pavement so I was excited to finally get the opportunity to see one of the legendary founders of Indie rock. We thought it was going to be a midday into evening thing since it was a city festival but this is Europe so that was not the case. Beck played 10:30-11:30 which was an incredible set but I wish it were longer than an hour. Pavement was on from 12:45-2:15 which we stayed for most of. They were awesome!! We heard some of the hits and even the other songs just had that classic Indie sound; still crushing it in their 50s. So nice being back at a festival again and boogieing with Dad, Paul, Nichole, and thousands of strangers. The DJ stage went until 6 in the morning but no way were going to make that with this crew especially when we all had to fly out the next morning.

Grateful for My Time in Porto

Even though my original week long trip to Porto got cut short and I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with my family (or any time with Alex’s family) because of Covid, I’m so glad that I got to enjoy 2.5 days there. I packed in so much during my solo day sight seeing the historic city in the morning, hiking the river and laying on the beach in the afternoon, and catching the sunset to some great music at Jardim de Morro. And the one day with the family was also incredible just all being together. I wish I got to spend a few more days there but am grateful for what I got.

Airport Travel Reality Check

Travel can be incredibly challenging especially if you haven’t done your proper research. And boy did I get slapped in the face hard before starting my South America journey. When I got to the counter they asked for my Colombian migration form. Didn’t know that was a thing that needed to be done in advance. The Porto airport Wi-Fi kept cutting in and out. I would almost complete the form and it would freeze. Asked to borrow a stranger’s phone and got to end and it said it couldn’t complete try again in a few minutes. It was a total mess and I was getting very frustrated. I finished it after over 30 minutes only to struggle to pull up the email on the Wi-Fi. Can’t catch a break. I finally was good to go on it and when I get back to the counter she asks for proof of onward travel through plane or bus. Are you fucking kidding me!!? I don’t have that I’m a nomad. Well apparently that’s a thing in Colombia; it was my fault I didn’t know (I did look into visa requirements at one point and don’t recall seeing this) but also researched after the fact and read that a lot of airlines don’t even let you book a one way flight there. Thanks for the advance info Iberia. I was totally losing it at this point but I had to get to Colombia at all costs and my flight was supposed to start boarding in 10 minutes (of course it ended up boarding and taking off late). So I hopped on my phone and booked a flight a little over a month down the road from Popayàn to Quito because I knew I’d be in that general area of Colombia at the end. I didn’t have enough time to mull over other options, I just needed proof of something so I could get in this damn flight. Hooray it worked! Quite the learning experience to start my trip. Note to self always check if proof of onward travel is required when doing travel with no clear end date.

South America Here I Come

All that being said I am Colombia bound and after 2 amazing months since quitting my job, my solo South American adventure is finally about to begin and I am so ready for it!! I feel like I’ve already been traveling for a lifetime. My excitement level is through the roof right now. Now that’s it actually happening the nerves are kicking in too but that’s par for the course. There will certainly be challenges along the way but also so many amazing experiences and growth opportunities ahead. Cannot wait to conquer the Andes mountains!