Adjusting to life in the US has been more difficult than I expected. I am transitioning my mindset from a (study abroad) student to a full-time intern. I am also reconciling with my routine in Europe with living at home in Texas. I am relearning how to approach a complex and ambiguous project for my summer internship. I’m physically working in an office, but mentally, I’m daydreaming about my next adventure. (Backpacking the Balkans? Trekking the Camino de Santiago? Exploring the jungle in Thailand? I’m also open to suggestions…)

I rushed from the airport because I booked an evening Fado show. I took the train to the city center, checked into my hostel on the Rua de Santa Catarina, and walked to an old wine cellar on the coast for the show. Fado is the passionate and emotion-dripping expression of fate. It is a moving and traditional genre, and I even saw someone close to tears. Fado dates to the 1800s in Lisbon, where fishermen and craftsmen sang Fado at the day’s end. In the wine cellar, with barely enough room for thirty people, the two guitarists served port wine before the performance. They dimmed the lights and began strumming a classical guitar and a Portuguese guitar. The solo singer (traditionally a woman) used a vibrato and intonation that I haven’t heard in other music. Check out this video of a Fado show similar to what the two shows I saw. (Yes, I enjoyed Fado so much that I went to another show on my last day).

After the show, I walked around the old town with the remaining daylight. I loved seeing the different patterns on the tiled churches and in the São Bento train station. I crossed the Luís bridge and found an excellent sunset spot. This hill overlooking the Douro River reminded me of my favorite park in Prague, Riegrovy sady, because of the many English-speaking students enjoying an evening picnic. After the sunset, I stopped by one of the many confeitarias for a sandwich. These confeitarias are bakeries that also serve the traditional custard tart called pastel de nata, fresh coffee, and port wine. I bought most of my meals from a confeitaria because of the tasty food, low prices, and traditional cuisine.

I spent the following morning at the beach for a two-hour beginner surfing lesson. Porto is a walkable city, but the popular surfing beach, Matosinhos, is best reached with one of the double-decker city buses. I wore a wet suit, but still my fingers were a bit numb at the end of the two hours. On the sand, the instructor led us through warmup exercises and then we practiced getting up on the board. This was my first time surfing, and I had low expectations about my success. I was pleasantly surprised when I successfully rode a couple waves! It took some time, and I have caught the surfing bug. Next time I will find somewhere warmer. 🙂

After my surfing lesson, I treated myself to a francesinha sandwich and a glass of port for lunch (to embrace the culture, of course). This food blog perfectly describes the sandwich: “The recipe uses thick slices of white loaf bread with ham (Portuguese Fiambre), sausage, cheese, and steak. The sandwich is then topped with more cheese, usually taken to the oven to melt, and lastly, a slightly spicy sauce on top… The sauce, which takes beer and tomatoes as a base, is the secret of each chef and makes the dish unique from place to place.” Suffice to say, I took a nice nap afterwards. In the evening, I meandered in the Clérigos neighborhood and passed the Livraria Lello library and the winged lion fountain. It is rumored that the library and winged lions influenced JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel. I enjoyed my final days with few responsibilities by reading at a park for a couple hours and then headed back to the hostel for an early night. 

This mini pilgrimage was the perfect closure to my trip to Portugal and my study abroad experience. Although I am no longer in Europe, I will continue to post weekly. I enjoy the challenge of improving my writing and I am grateful to everyone who has explored my adventures through this blog!