Day 10: October 10

But all of that was waiting for us after lunch, and now it was morning. And we decided to head to the ocean. To do that, we had to take a bus. We arrived at the stop early, about 10 minutes before departure. The bus arrived, and we were going to buy a ticket from the driver (because there were no ticket machines or anything like that at the stop....)

We handed the driver 20 euros, and he said something in Portuguese. We understood that he didn’t have any change. He pointed us to a café across the street and sent us there to break the 20 euros. That would have been fine, but the café didn’t have any small bills, and they could only break the 20 into two 10s. The driver didn’t like 10 euros either. He pointed to a sign stuck by the bus entrance, saying that you can only buy a ticket from the driver if you have exact change. So we needed to somehow get 4 euros. Otherwise, there was no way. I was already completely desperate. The bus was about to leave any moment.

We got off the bus. There was no one at the stop except a young guy. Volchiy went up to him and asked to break a 10-euro bill. He took out a special coin purse and emptied it out to the very last cent — it came to 9 euros. But we were happy with that too. Thanking the guy, we jumped back on the bus and continued on, very pleased that we had managed to do it after all.

The bus took us through Porto’s residential neighborhoods. City residents got on and off. At one stop, apparently another visitor, a man, also couldn’t manage to use the bus — the same story as ours: no coins, no bus ride.

We reached our stop and headed toward the embankment.

After yesterday’s ocean with its white sand, open space, and lack of people, Porto’s waterfront seemed too civilized. There was no sense of the ocean here. Just the city, cafés, lots of people. The only reminder of the ocean was the waves crashing forcefully against the pier...

We walked a little along the ocean. There is a pedestrian area here, laid out as a path. Lots of people. But overall, pleasant.

I had planned to return to the city center on another bus; its route runs along the ocean and then turns and follows the Douro River, which crosses Porto through the center.

This bus turned out to be double-decker, with a large panoramic window on the second floor. It was great to ride along and look around.

Douro embankment, where we found ourselves after getting off the bus and walking down a little, is the very very center of Porto. There are just tons of tourists here. But it is very beautiful. We all wondered how many people there are here in the height of the season and when there is no Corona.

We reached the staircase that led from the embankment back to the “upper” central part of the city. We climbed it for a long time. Along the staircase were residential buildings. Many of them were abandoned. In daylight, it was even more noticeable that there were a great many deserted houses in the city. At first, this surprised me a lot and somehow put me off. But then I realized that it gives the city a certain special charm of its own.

Later, on the tour, I asked Pedro why there are so many abandoned houses in the city. It is especially strange to see this in the center of such a tourist city. Pedro said that the houses were abandoned by wealthy owners when the economy was in such a slump that renting out apartments was not profitable, and maintaining such a house was very burdensome. And now wealthier people prefer to buy themselves a larger plot outside the city. So it creates a kind of donut effect: rich people choose the suburbs — there is more space there.

Porto became a tourist destination not so long ago. Therefore, everything is being revived, but very slowly. In the past, Porto had more than 20 tram lines; now only 3 remain. They say cars and heavy traffic did their job — trams were replaced by buses.

These 3 remaining tram lines are purely for tourists; locals, of course, do not use them. Beautiful old trams run here, along special tourist routes.

We walked through the center. Volchiy described the city very well — it is somehow very voluminous, three-dimensional. Something is happening everywhere. All the streets are on an incline, going up and down. Very beautiful sidewalks — laid with small patterned tiles.

By day it had become really hot. We ran home; we had 45 minutes before we had to leave. We grabbed a bite of burritos and drank some cold beer, which I had gotten from the little shop next door.

And so, the tour. In general, I’m not a fan of tours. But this time I decided to give it a try. Looking ahead, I’ll say that during the tour I even started to think that city tours aren’t so bad after all. It’s just important to choose a good one, or in other words, one that suits me…

Usually in unfamiliar cities I have a certain feeling of confusion, of being lost — what should I see, where should I go?… As if there’s no clear plan. My attention is too scattered. There’s so much around, and yet at the same time nothing specific.

And a guide, it’s as if they focus your attention on something specific, show you something you would never have noticed on your own. It’s great when a guide truly loves the city — you can feel it. Then they can even talk about strange, unusual things in an interesting way.

Our guide turned out to be a short man, wearing glasses, about 45 years old. He had a strange way of speaking. A bit tedious, I’d say. But nevertheless, I’m glad that this happened to us, that this strange tour happened. It lasted 4 and a half hours. For 4 and a half hours we wandered through the backstreets of Porto. And by the end my legs were falling off. But let me start from the beginning.

We met in a small square near a fountain, a 15-minute walk from our apartments. Besides us and the guide, there were 4 other people. A young couple — he was from England, she was German. And two very young student girls. One Spanish and one also German. That’s the group with which we set off to wander through the “real,” non-touristy Porto.

Pedro stopped near interesting houses. We walked along strange little streets with very simple houses. We saw how the city’s poor population lives. We took photos of the tiles that all the houses here are faced with. The tiles are very beautiful and varied. Pedro explained that they tile the outside of the houses to protect against moisture. Our houses are brick, while theirs are stone.

We walked through the neighborhoods where the working class lives — the poorest population. They still don’t have toilets in their homes — there is one bathroom for an entire neighborhood. These are such narrow passageways with low houses.

And then we came out through some abandoned building onto a disused railway line. A new line had been built higher up, and this one had grown over with grass. It was the most pleasant part of the excursion - a very unusual place. And from here there was also a very beautiful view of the river and the opposite bank - the railway ran along the river, as if above the road.

Then we had a long climb up a stone staircase - as Pedro said, we were returning to the normal Porto.

Pedro led us through another neighborhood in the very center, where the poor live. Despite the fact that people live in poverty, it is clean here, and even beautiful in its own way, with flowers growing in tubs.

And then, through a little archway, we emerge from the poor quarter straight into the bustling center. Pedro says goodbye to us. It is half past six. We sit on a bench for a while, catching our breath. Then we decide to go to the restaurant where there were no free tables yesterday. It turned out the restaurant was still closed and would open in 20 minutes, at 7 p.m.

We wander around the center for 20 minutes. It’s getting dark. I can barely walk anymore and am dreaming of a sandwich :)

At five minutes to eight, we arrive at the restaurant. There is almost no one there yet, but with every minute new people arrive. We are seated at a cozy table in the corner. We order beer and two francesinhas, just as Wolchiy promised yesterday.

Today’s francesinha has considerably more sauce than yesterday’s. But overall it’s the same. Just tasty, warm, indulgent :) food.

And so this long, long day came to an end. And a journey lasting 10 days…