The Way Other Girls Carry Handkerchiefs

Ugh whenever I write these posts I know that there is so much more I could do with them and that my writing could be so much better. But time and human nature being what it is, I feel that something is better than nothing. And to add a tiny pinch of 'literary-ness' to the undertaking, I'll explain my title. It's a quote from a book called The Wanderess by Roman Payne which I have not read but which gives very intriguing, poetic passages about traveling. The line is: "When she was a child, my love carried a road map in her hands the way that other girls carried handkerchiefs." 

I love that and kind of want it to be me as I fancy myself an independent, adventurous woman. Although in modern day speak it might be more "All alone, Jenny carried a tourist map in her hand the way that other girls carried selfie sticks." 

Tehehehe. 

Anyway, the start to my Europe2016 adventure was in beautiful and mysterious Porto, Portugal. Looking for cheap flights to Spain, I found one that had an overnight layover in Portugal and excitedly took it. Any chance to experience a new country I take!

So, first of all, my experience getting to the airport from my apartment in Washington Heights was quite involved. With my backpack and suitcase I took the subway to the train station and then a bus to the Newark airport. The bus was delayed, it was SO hot and the traffic was cray. Luckily I had left super early. As I exited the bus at my terminal I suddenly had this sinking feeling of dread as I realized that I hadn't checked to make sure I had my passport. Since the trip to get there had taken about 3 hours there was no way I could go home and get back in time for my flight. 

Tender Mercy: I had my passport. Present Jenny was very grateful to past Jenny. And God. 

Since I got to the airport so early, I got dinner, called a friend and just chilled. The flight left near midnight and the old portugese woman sitting next to me was so adorable. As I approached she was like, "you falla?" and I was like, "no, I don't falla." 

She kept speaking to me in Portuguese anyway. 

When we arrived in Portugal I was exhausted because I had stayed up most of the flight watching Captain America: Civil War.  It was a free movie and I really struggle to sleep on planes so #NoRegrets, but it meant that I got to Europe pretty exhausted. Exiting the airport (which was eerily easy- the customs was practically non-existent) I waited for the metro into the city. 

It was SO adorably small. I have pictures but (sad day) I accidentally deleted most of them. Below are the ones I was lucky enough to salvage. It's fine. Sometimes I think people spend way too much time on vacations taking pictures and not enough time just basking in ambiance and enjoying a place. 

I got to my stop on the metro and exited to find myself staring at this gorgeous church. 

Just casually sitting there

The thing about Porto compared to many other places I've visited, most people didn't speak English. And I was an idiot and had forgotten to write down the exact address of my hostel. But after wandering around crowded cobblestone streets for awhile and asking random people for directions I finally found it. It was too early to check in, so I dropped off my suitcase and headed out again. I wish I hadn't been so exhausted but even so the city was unreal. Like I said above. Just kind of casually beautiful. Even the slums were so quaint and approachable. I say 'slums' because there were abandoned old graffitied buildings and people who clearly were living in or close to poverty but the vibe of it was so different than anywhere I had been before. 

Its sort of like the tropical version of Dutch Canal houses

I was experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance from traveling so much in that past week (Wedding in STL, to moving to NYC to Portugal knowing I would be in Spain the next day was a lot) so it was kind of hard to take everything in. 

My plan was to meet up with this free tour at around 3. When I looked up Porto before going one of the big things that popped up is that it has one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. Naturally I was like DONE. I have to go to there. So I did, but to be honest it was a little bit of a let down. The place was pretty but it's gotten so famous for being famous that it is just swarming with tourists and it was so hot and crowded. Still, I'm glad I went. Here are some pictures: 

I don't look tired at all right? ;) 

J.K. Rowling used to live in Portugal and apparently this staircase served as
inspiration for the rambling, nonsensical staircases found around Hogwarts! 

Sweaty but happy on the second floor of the bookstore 

According to the internet, this is what the bookstore looks like when it isn't bulimic with visitors: 

My gratitude to the websites that provided these images

So you can see why I wanted to go. And I'm glad I did. Just wish it had been less crazy. After that I went to meet up with the tour and it took a little while to find the meet up point and when I did it felt kind of weird because I was just waiting on this small residential street. The guy never showed and I wasn't too upset about that because I was getting sketched out. So instead I just wandered around and when I got smart I started following tour buses around. Obviously they were faster than me, but when I saw them turn I would turn on that street when I got to it too. I figured they would lead me to the best spots. It was a remarkably unplanned trip but that added to the adventure.

I'd never been to Southern Europe before and the
sun and palm trees give it a totally different vibe! 

 I asked the tourist office for directions and got the most confusing response. Amidst a hand drawn map that made no sense, the only understandable component of my instructions was to turn left at the McDonalds. 

BUT THERE WAS NO MCDONALDS! 

It's fine. I got there eventually. And I took the long way which was more scenic ;) 

For instance look at this amazing panorama of the city!

As my friend Liz once said, "sorry for all the selfies, but I was by myselfie" 

This is real life. 

Remember what I said about Porto having the most beautiful slums?
Here's a part of one of them- a majestic hill covered in ivy with small little houses underneath

I walked across the main bridge which gave some amazing views. It was truly breathtaking I just stood there staring for awhile. Unfortunatly the pictures either got deleted or are on my other camera and I'm too lazy to get them. But here are some pictures from the internet that give you an idea. My view was somewhere between the two both as far as perspective and coloring goes. But it was breathtaking and traveling on my own made me really wish that I had listened to my Papa and actually learned how to take real pictures! 

Unbelievable right?

This was more the coloring that I saw it in

After the bridge I went back to the hostel and went to bed really early in preparation for my 4 am departure the next day. I left the city exhausted but so happy to have gotten my brief chance to explore it