Sunburnt! (Porto 2)

So perhaps the last few days havent had the same entertainment value as my first 24 hours! I think part of that is because I put my hair up into a ponytail so walking on the streets is far less eventful!

Sunday was my last blog... it was a slow day here in Porto. It is weird to see an entire city shut down like that! Mondays weather was overcast, maybe 14 degrees and windy. I just laid low for the day... did some walking, checked out some shops. It wasnt warm out at all, and I decided to try to use Ricardos washing machine (which proved to be quite frustrating) so my one and only pair of pants was wet!

When Ricardo called me to check up on the weekend, I asked him how to use the washing machine. He replied to me with "I dont know, my cleaning lady is the only one who uses it" lol... so much for that. He told me to Push power, and figure it out. Well it was pretty much a nightmare! First of all I dont have a lot of clothes so my only chance to wash them meant putting all the colours and whites in the same load. Second, the thing starts washing and doesnt stop!!! Finally after 90 minutes I got sick of watching it go around and turn Judis beautiful white towel to a dull murkey gray.... (Sorry Judi, will replace that for you)... I pushed enough buttons to get it to start to spin and pull the water out. I was making lunch at the same time, so I walked away only to hear water running... go back to check on it and the damn thing was full of water again! I waited again for it to spin and then I pushed a bunch of buttons, got the door unlocked, powered it down and got my clothes out to hang dry. It stretched my sweater, wore some of the decoration off my pretty shirts, turned the towel dirty... kind of a nightmare but my clothes are clean, not sure if it was worth it yet!

On monday night I went to this restaurant called Chez Albert. I was way under budget that day so I didnt mind spending money on a nice steak dinner for myself. I havent eaten very many real meals because I cant read the menu here... so I just eat junk food that I know I can trust like pizza and pastry. I walked in and I was the only person there... this really nice older guy (who turned out to be Albert) came over and started chatting with me. He is very nice, he teaches PE at college and has 2 restaurants as his hobby. One of his kids works in the restaurant with him. I ordered steak with mushrooms, and it came with potatoes and vegetables. When it showed up it was steak covered in mushrooms and a sauce, the vegetables were kind of like shredded cabbabe and a few other shredded things with some oil (they were good but different) and the potato was a Belgian dish. It was mashed, in tinfoil with onions and spices, then on top was melted cheese. It was hands down the best part! Perhaps I will drop in there again just to order the Potato! Anyways Albert was insistent that I "study". He says its very important to experience the world but also to study... when I asked him what study meant, he said it didnt necessarily mean college or university... so maybe his version of "study" just means to always be learning. He was happy to practice his english while talking to me. I think he speaks French, Portuguese and Spanish fluently. He told me when I go to school and complete my studies, that I am welcome back to Porto with my boyfriend (not sure where he got that from, everyone knows I dont have a boyfriend haha) for a free dinner at one of his restaurants. He gave me his email, so I will touch base with him. He told me I am like a child to him and he wants me to do well like his kids lol.

Tuesday was a beautiful day here. I think it was about 24 degrees.. the humidity here is very low so the heat is amazing and not gross like home can be! I did a lot of walking, about 4 hours worth. I went down to the white bridge (which is the new one) and then did the riverside walk all the way back to the downtown (iron) bridge. I got sun burnt and it felt so good to be in shorts and a t shirt all day! There is a beautiful expensive place here called the Majestic Cafe on the main street, Rua de Santa Catarina. It is a pedestrian street and the one I walk up and down the most! I got a really good fruit smoothie after my long walk. I came to the internet cafe at night... it is in a complex with an open hallway and shops on both sides. Everyone that works and owns shops here lives upstairs, so they all know each other. Across the way buying water, I met a guy named KK from africa. When I was done here he walked me to the supermarket so I could buy dinner and then paid for my groceries! He is very kewl, he speaks 5 languages. He makes shoes until he has a container full, then he ships them and his brother sells them in Africa.

Wednesday was by far my best day yet! Ricardo got up earlier than normal and told me that the cleaning lady was coming in 10 minutes, so we had to get up and get out of the apartment lol. He drove me down to show me where the train station is that I will be leaving from on Friday afternoon. I am headed to Lisboa at 3 pm and will arrive down there at 6 pm. Gabriel will host me there! He is awesome as well I am very excited to meet him!

I walked up santa catarina into the malls looking for breakfast. On my way into the mall, a bunch of police cars came flying up the road and stopped about 30 ft from me. I was going to hang around and see what they were doing, but I was hungry and it didnt look urgent so I went inside. I found the food court right away and it was great! Lots of options, so I was wandering around and making sure I saw everything before I decided. All of a sudden, while I had my eyes on this great fruit salad.. I heard a bunch of yelling. I was on the 3rd floor and it was coming from 2 floors down. At first I didnt pay much attention because sometimes people yell at each other for no reason here it seems... then I looked over to see 2 cops walking in, security people with walkie talkies... the shop owners at the food court started pulling down the shutters like they were closed. I looked down and saw that someone had let off a smoke bomb a couple floors down and was smoking the place out lol.... everyone was coming flying out of the stores but I cant understand the language so I was just standing there until I saw 2 young girls. I asked them what was going on and they said the police were running an exercise so we all had to get out. I walked out the doors and this really cute (perhaps the only cute) cop started talking to me in Portuguese. I let him finish and then said "Can I have that in english" so he said uhh... you go there, and pointed across the streeet lol. I didnt get a chance to ask him if he was single haha. Everything turned out fine - across the road was another mall with a food court where I got a quiche! It was chicken with corn and carrots... freshly baked and very good. Perhaps the healthiest things I could have found. Afterwards I bought a donut. Sometimes I do the stupidest things. It wasnt worth it and I certainly dont need any more donuts!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you guys will still love me when you see how chubby I am lol.

Anyways, I booked my train ticket at the internet cafe and in the complex I bought a tanktop. There is this cute little shop owner that sitts behind his till playing guitar. I bought a yellow tank top, because I had no yellow to go with my bikini top, I needed a tank to change my tan lines, and it was the first thing I saw that didnt clash with my camo shorts. The shorts are the best buy ever! The pockets are super reliable, nothing ever falls out, and there is a pocket for everything! After my purchase I walked down to the main bus station. I was looking for english speaking people to direct me to the Eletrico line 1 that goes to the beach... but instead I got some people who spoke very little english that put me on a bus that went the complete opposite direction lol. Across the river from Porto is a town called Vila Nova de Gaia. The bus I got on went out to the beaches there which was fine. The beach I got to was absolutely awesome! It was steep, so the waves crashing in sounded like thunder and they were gorgeous. On the beach there were these massive rocks. When I first arrived, I thought no one was at the beach... but then when I got closer, I could see people tanning in amongst the rocks. They use the rocks to block the wind! Its genius! I found my own rock to hide behind, and tanned in my underwear (dont be alarmed, my underwear actually cover more than any of my bathing suits haha). I enjoyed the tanning until the tide got a little too close to me then I got up and had some lunch. Along the beach and across the road they have cafes and restaurants. It is much like the LA beaches. I enjoyed a soft ice cream cone, banana chocolate twist and then sat down to enjoy the view again. I thought I was out of the woods as far as the sun burning me went... but apparently the heat stays in that sun until almost 7 pm and burns you the whole time! I am pretty much a lobster haha. I left the beach around 5:20, but while I was walking up to the cafe it was still super super hot and that was well after 6 pm!

Tomorrow I will get Ricardo to drop me at the Eletrico station and head out to the Porto beaches. My burn today was much worse than yesterdays but I dont have sun stroke or anything so I am sure it will turn into a tan soon. I have some time on Friday to hangout since I will get out of Ricardos in the morning and give hi mthe keys, but dont have to be at the train station until 3 pm.

I should do 1 more small update before I leave Porto and then I will be updating you from Lisboa! The weather is supposed to be up to 27 by Friday so more sun for me! I just love that there is no humidity here :)

Apparently you are getting nice weather at home finally so you wont be too jealous... except maybe that I get to nap on the beach and dont have a care in the world haha!