Atlantic Sunset

We didn't do too much the following day. The first day of climbing hills had wiped us out, and the next day was no day of recovery, either, so we slept late and took it easy. In the past, I would have been running around trying to see everything there is to see, but the older I get, the less I care about seeing everything. I know I can always come back, even if it takes several years - or decades, even. It's a vacation, after all. There must be rest involved. I had to learn that lesson, though. For too many trips I wore myself out trying to do everything. The myth of the once-in-a-lifetime-experience had been ingrained in me, as it is ingrained in all Americans, but no, going to Europe is not a once in a lifetime experience. Studying in Luxembourg was a once-in-a-lifetime-experience, because that could only happen at a specific time in my life. But just going to Europe? If you want to go, just go. It's no different than going to California or Florida except everything there is hundreds or thousands of years older and the people live better lives without throwing it all away for a job. I still can't believe I am in a position where I get to travel every year (at least when covidiots and antivaxholes aren't stealing our lives from us.) Just one of the benefits of not owning a car - I can buy plane tickets while others are making car payments and buying gas and insurance.

So we slept late, and I didn't feel like I was missing out. Then a funny thing happened: the sun came out. It had been overcast nearly the entire three days we had been in Porto, but now it was clear. The perfect weather to watch a sunset. 

We had plenty of time before the sun would set, but we headed over to the Foz district of Porto where we'd sit seaside until there was no more sun to see. Watching the sunset on the Atlantic is something I've done before in Ireland a few times, but it is still funny to think that it isn't something we can do on our own Atlantic beaches.

It was a sight to behold:

Ha ha, just kidding. I was just messing with the contrast. Here is a real shot:

Some others:

the tide was so high no one could sit on this part of the deck without getting soaked by the spray

(If any pics look blurry, click on them. I don't know how to fix the mobile rendering yet.)

An assortment of people were there to share the event with us. We've all seen plenty of sunsets in our lives, but each one comes with its own plot. With every passing day our lives have changed. We've aged. We've experienced something that hadn't happened the day before. Some of these experiences are more significant than others, and some aren't significant at all, but they happened, and we are different than we were yesterday. The trick is learning to navigate these changes and channel them into something positive. Too many people simply succumb to their basest instincts. Hate. Intolerance. Selfishness. Greed. Dishonesty. Deception. Lust for power, money, and control over others. Where is your lust for life?

Go out and watch the sunset, wherever you are in the world. Appreciate that you had the gift of another day. One day, you won't.

The ocean is truly humbling. We are such insignificant beings in the vast expanse of the universe. We invent stupid things like religion and identity politics to deal with our insignificance; we just can't handle the fact that we are not important. One hundred billion people have existed on this rock we call Earth, but our history books only name thousands. The rest of us just disappear into the ether, forgotten by time.

surfing in the freezing waters

everyone loves a sunset

Sequence of a sinking sun:

a couple watches the sunset

We were ready for dinner. We went up a hill to a place that turned out to be closed. We went down another hill. We saw a dark pathway, so we took it.

 

 

 

A restaurant revealed itself on the other side. It was too chilly to sit outside, but we still had a view of the black ocean with its bubbling white waves. I had grilled seabass and the first of several boiled potatoes of the trip. I also had turnip greens for the first time, which tasted like extra chewy spinach. Good, but I will stick with spinach, thanks. But hey, at least it was a green vegetable. I'd come to miss those.

does this restaurant have a name? who knows?

 

trust me, there's a view of the ocean right there...

would be a lovely place to dine in warmer weather

After dinner we popped into a place looking for live music, but found none. We talked to a seemingly absent-minded American woman who had retired to Porto. At some point my phone started locking me out of every site. I quickly flipped it off. Suddenly the woman pulled out multiple phones and then took off without saying another word. I don't know what was going on but I didn't turn my phone back on until I had to call an uber to go home. (It was fine by then.) I wasn't on wifi (won't ever use an unsecured network) so I don't know what she could have done. It was all rather weird and reminded me that you always have to be careful when it comes to digital matters. But she was probably just an old woman who had had too much wine.

A nice idea it is - to retire to Portugal, where you can actually afford to live.

 

Porto Day 2: We Are Briefly Transported to the Portuguese Bizarro Version of DC

I awoke the next morning and headed to the cafe around the corner for my morning cappuccino and mystery pastry. (I don't know what any of them are, I just pointed to one and ate it.) I wrote a bit in the journal, then went for a slow walk to look at things. I meant to make this my routine while we were in Porto, allowing the old guy time to sleep in and giving me the freedom to just wander around and snap photos of quotidian things that probably don't interest most people. Like these buildings:

 

The tiles are called azulejos. It's an Arabic word left over from the Moorish period meaning something like shiny stone. They became popular in Portugal in the 16th and 17th centuries after the Moors were expelled and the Portuguese had their own horrible Inquisition period. Azulejos can be found in every Portuguese city, but they are dominant in Porto. I'm guessing this has something to do with the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon and developing new architectural styles during the rebuild, but what do I know?

These kinds of tiles are also found in the south of Spain and other areas the Moors controlled, but not quite like this where they cover an entire building.

Some of them are plain, while others are quite intricate. Some form murals. Some houses only have a small surface covered:

 

The time for lunch arrived, so I retrieved the old man and we headed for a market our host had told us about, Bom Successo. It's a lot like DC's Union Market. Once it was a place to buy fresh produce and other foods; now it's a food court.

First we crossed a large circle that reminded me of Dupont if it had palm trees and a griffin perched atop a tall column, then we stopped by the Casa da Musica, a modernist structure for performing arts. Kind of ugly.

The day was overcast but oddly bright. I was having significant trouble with my camera settings. (I lost the sun shield for the lens years ago and have never replaced it.) It was also one of those days where you were constantly stripping layers off than putting them back on.

At the market, we looked at every booth before deciding on our lunch of piglet and potatoes.

sardines everywhere

where we ate

The pig was excellent.

For reference, here is DC's Union Market:

not my photo

After lunch, we wandered a bit. Here is a giant vat of Super Bock:

We tried to visit this cemetery, but it was closed. Apparently some famous people are buried here.

a wall of the cemetery

Poetry never dies

Then we found ourselves at a church. Except it was no longer a church. It was a bar.

I had my first non-Super Bock beer. They only have two main beers in Portugal, although craft beer is making a dent in the market.

We left to search for live music. We only found a bar playing American/British rock music, so we stopped in and talked to some Portuguese about Porto and music. The bartender's favorite band is Arctic Monkeys and I texted a friend about tickets to the Arctics show in DC right then. Not many English-speaking bands play in Portugal; she said she has to go to Paris to see her favorite bands. Bands should go to Portugal - rock music is popular there, although the playlist is limited. I don't know how many times we heard Zombie, What's Going On, Mr. Brightside, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Ain't No Sunshine, 500 Miles, Sultan of Swing, and a whole lot of Queen. We could practically predict what song would be played next by the end of the trip. But they were mostly good songs, and we sung along.

Wearily we retreated to the hotel. The night was over, it was time to sleep.

Here is one last random pic of a store window:

To be continued...