#this is something rua picked up on early in their relationship. so there are days when he'll surprise adrien in bed w pancakes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nosidam · 7 years

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Last day...

Sunday, Feb. 26

One thing about the Spanish and Portuguese, they stay up late but don’t get up early - harder to find a place for coffee at 9:30 in the morning. The only place in the area was busy, I somehow must have offended the clerk as she did not hide her disdain for me. From there I made my way to the bookstore, it opened at 10 and already had a lineup. I have to say it was worth the wait…pretty spectacular place. Livraria Lello Bookstore - one of oldest bookstores in Portugal. JK Rowling wrote in the cafe on the second floor. I felt like I was on a Harry Potter movie set, despite the mass of people that flooded the place, it was really enjoyable to experience the elegance and charm of this truly unique and handsome book store.

Actually, the scene where Harry goes for the first time to Ollivanders is shot in Lelo's library - I will need to review the Harry Potter films.

Just a little information from the brochure;

The Bookseller - is the soul of a bookshop. Mr. Domingos worked in Lello for 52 years, starting at an entry-level job and working his way up the ranks to the top as senior bookseller.

THE ART OF THE BOOKSELLER ACCORDING TO MR. DOMINGOS:

A bookseller must;

Know the shop’s entire catalogue by heart. (authors, titles, dates)

Be able to recognize rare editions.

Be adequate and polite with all customers.

Gather relevant information from his top customers.

Know how to sell well.

The bookseller activity in Porto, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was very much tied with other cultural, intellectual and artistic circles. There was a clear and close relationship between booksellers, publishers, authors, thinkers and artists.

This being my last day in Porto I wanted to make sure I covered all areas, no stone left unturned so to speak. I also wanted to pick up some Port to bring to Germany. I wandered up towards the top of the hill with a tremendous view of the Dom Luis I Bridge and the river below.

I wandered into a pastry shop and decided a treat would be in order. There were so many tempting treats to choose from - the dessert item I choose was so big it required it’s own box. I found myself in the area near the bus depot when I first arrived. Funny how the context has shifted after being here for a few days and having a sense of familiarity with the surroundings. I’ve come to realize I like that feeling, sense of comfort and safety for me. Sitting down with a view of the Church of Saint Ildefonso, I carefully pulled out my dessert being very wary of the multiple seagulls sharing the square with me. It was delicious by the way!

I walked up the Rua Santa Catarina, I was looking for the market having overheard that is was somewhere down this street. Stopping in a local store, I inquired as to the whereabouts of this Market and was sadly informed that it was closed on Sundays - of course it was :(

I meandered the streets for some time, wanting to walk off the half eaten pastry I’d indulged in. Back to one of my favourite streets, the Rua de Cedofeita - still on the hunt for a bottle of Port, I was hoping to find an open grocery store. Sunday is not the ideal day to be shopping, you would think that by now I would figure that out - the majority of shops and cafes even seemed to be closed. Seeing some locals with shopping bags in hand I knew I was close to finding a store…and there it was.

Perusing the aisles, I came across massive bottles of Port at incredibly cheap prices - realizing the size and of course weight of such a bottle would create a problem at the airport, I opted to forgo the purchase and alternatively, buy at the airport.

Down the street I went to the corner of Praça de Carlos Alberto and Rua do Carmo to check out the church across from the University - first, Igreja do Carmo and then realizing there was another church attached to the left of it called Igreja dos Carmelitas, they were twin churches. The church was built between 1756 and 1768. The two churches are separated by a very narrow (1m wide) house that was inhabited until the 1980's. The house was built so that the two churches would not share a common wall and to prevent any relations between the nuns of Igreja dos Carmelitas and the monks of Igreja do Carmo. (Ya, right!)

Went to grab some lunch as I knew there likely wouldn’t be much at the airport. I found a busy area and popped in to grab a seat. Making my meal selection from a photo posted on the menu, I sat and waited. My lunch arrived, raw salmon burger - oh dear…not something I wanted to eat. Obviously my error, I thought it was a fish burger, as in “cooked”. After some effort (servers never check back on you in Europe it seems) I was able to get my servers attention and apologize that I wasn’t able to eat the burger, as I had assumed it was cooked. She kindly checked with the kitchen to get me said item, in the meantime I at least had some fries to fill me up. When the burger finally arrived, it was indeed cooked however, it was actually terrible. I tried my best to choke some of it down, I felt bad after all the hassle I’d caused. I hurriedly paid my bill and exited quickly, leaving a partially eaten meal behind. It seemed to take hours for the taste to leave my mouth!

I eventually made my way back to the flat…the rain was threatening and as I’ve mentioned, I refused to buy an umbrella and admit rain. Eventually I made my way to the train station to find my way to the airport. There were no good byes or anything from my hosts…I did find them a tad strange, definitely not my most favorite of places I’ve stayed.

Luckily the rain held off as I made my way to the train station. Getting a ticket proved to be a bit problematic, the machine was out of tickets and I needed the assistance of one of the staffers. I made my way over to the platform, the station seemed super busy and buzzing with energy. Thinking I was ridiculously early for my flight, I stood by waiting for my train. At last our train approached, loud singing was coming from the train, as it was slowing to a stop it became apparent that it was totally packed with wall to wall people - mostly guys to be exact. They were singing and banging on the walls of the train - I tried several doors in attempt to board and kept being shooed away. The train then pulled away…we were all left standing there feeling a little stunned with what just happened. The staff person said something about another train arriving in 20 minutes - 45 minutes later a train finally showed up. At this point I was feeling pretty grateful that I had left as early as I did…the train was still full and I found myself struggling to remain standing the half hour trip with nothing to hang on to, being surrounded by bodies.

Checked in at the gate, then at security I was looking for my passport…frantically searching every pocket, I rushed back to the desk where I had checked in. The attendant gave me a scolding look (rightly so) as she handed me back my passport - crisis averted!

I love exploring new airports, browsing the shops for items of interest. I almost got on the wrong flight…it was still going to Lisbon, just earlier than the flight I was scheduled for. Feeling slightly foolish, I went back to my seat to wait for the next flight.

The trip from Porto to Lisbon is only an hour long, but from start to finish, it was more like 5.5 hours until I arrived in Lisbon. The bus would have been a shorter and alternative at 3.5 hours. Once in Lisbon I purchased some Port to bring to Germany before the shops closed for the night. I found some benches to lay down on…once again super grateful for having packed along my AirTransat blanket. I logged onto the airports internet and watched some Netflix until I fell asleep. At midnight I wished myself a happy Birthday.

Side note….airports are horribly bright and terribly loud when you’re trying to grab some shut eye!

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