siguiendosalamanca: Not (too) much to say...

Last weekend I went to Oporto and Fatima in Portugal. I’ve been saying since I got here that I wanted to go to Fatima, so I finally made it happen. However, since there weren’t any hostels in Fatima, I booked one for Oporto thinking at least I’ll get to try the wine….so much for that. It was a rough weekend to say the least. First time really on my own, with no one I know waiting for me to get there, no one traveling with me, no map, no guide book, no phrase book, nothing. So what happens? I oversleep and miss my bus; I’m sure my 5 de Mayo celebrations the night before didn’t help either. No big deal, there’s another bus…the next day. So I waited, and I paid the 32 euros to buy myself a new bus ticket, and managed to get the return ticket changed for free to give myself a little more time to enjoy Oporto.

I got there after about 6 hours on a bus, listening to the radio switching between American music and Portuguese commercials. But not the Portuguese I’m used to. In the 3 months I’ve known him and the little time we’ve been dating, I’ve become very accustomed to my Brazilian boyfriend’s Brazilian Portuguese accent. It sounds like Spanish with the occasional French nasal and some Italian influence in some words and intonation. But Portuguese from Portugal sounds like German. Ok maybe not German German, but some Germanic language; and on rare occasions I thought I was in my car in the North Country listing to the French radio station from Quebec, a really thick Quebecois accent. Needless to say, I didn’t understand any of it and my most repeated sentence of the weekend was: Não falo Portugês (I don’t speak Portuguese). The only sentence I know how to say in Portuguese other than Não me faça cócegas (Don’t tickle me).

So when I got to my hostel I was very happy to be greeted in English. The hostel was probably the best part about the weekend. It was clean and comfortable; the staff was super nice; they looked up the bus company to Fatima, the times and gave me directions. I also got a map; they marked where the hostel was and circled some of the sights to see in Oporto, including a wine cellar that they gave me a coupon for a free visit and a 25% discount on any purchase. The problem was I found everything on the map except for that; so needless to say I never did get to try the wine.

I hate to say it, but Oporto is not a very pretty city. I was staying in the historical center of the city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but they aren’t doing a very good job of preserving it. It’s a dirty, crowded city full of dilapidated buildings. It did have some pretty parks, but that’s about it. Maybe with some of that wine I would have liked it better…

Sunday I went to Fatima, another 29 euro and 70 cents. I got dropped off at the bus station, which didn’t have an information center, and decided to wing it. It didn’t take long to find Basilica, and I arrived in time to hear part of mass and receive communion. However, it was a pilgrimage weekend and kind of packed. Given the large amount of people and what little time I had I never actually got to enter the Basilica. My goal was accomplished though, I made it there and I bought souvenirs for family and friends.

Given my rather large expenditures on the busses and souvenirs, I was left with a little over 11 euros in my pocket. Needless to say I didn’t eat much the whole weekend. I have heard that you eat well for little in Portugal but I didn’t get to try that out. And my low cash flow also explains why I didn’t just buy a bottle of wine and drink it myself. I did end up spending the majority of those 11 euros on the only thing I had to eat that day (other than my two pieces of fruit I brought with me for breakfast) and hydration (it was a warm day and I did a lot of walking). In the end I made it back to Salamanca with 5 euro in my pocket.

I start most of my blogs off with a title in mind and work on it from there. The title I had in mind for this blog was “Not much to say…” because of my slight frustration with myself for missing my first bus and spending much more money than I should have, coupled with the lack of splendor in Oporto, I have not wanted to talk too about the weekend. I was planning on giving you all some quick observations about Portugal and leaving it that; obviously that’s not what happened. I’m sorry if some of this blog entry seems like I’m complaining. I am. Most of my friends know I complain a lot; I don’t mean too. I'm just telling it like it is. But just so you know, I don't view this as all bad. It was an experience; it could have been better but it could have been a lot worse. I accomplished my goal, I have no regrets and now I know better for next time.

Also, I’ve come to realize that many of you enjoy my blog just for the pictures; so as not to let you down, here are some of my better pictures of Oporto and Fatima.