Kate’s blog
Portugal
While studying and interning abroad, I knew that I wanted to travel. The first place I decided to go was Porto, Portugal. It was somewhat of a random decision, I had never heard anything about Portugal from any friends or family, but it was a place close to Spain, and near the coast, so I decided why not? It looked pretty from the photos and other interns were going, so I booked my flight and packed my bags…
Thank goodness I made that spur-of-the-moment decision to go to Porto, because it was an absolutely wonderful city and perfect trip.
The group I was with and I were there for three full days in total and made the most of every day. The first day consisted of a boat tour, lots of exploring, delicious food and admiring the famous Portuguese tile. One of the trip highlights was a Porto wine tour, where we got a historic tour of the city while tasting Porto’s famous Port wine. The tour ended at a beautiful lookout point over the whole city at sunset, and left me speechless (literally).
On our last day, we took the historic tram to the beach where we walked along the coast and stared in awe at the beautiful blue water of the ocean. It was easily one of my favorite places I have ever been, and the locals treated us with such kindness. Locals gave us recommendations for food to try and places to go, and even started to teach us some basic Portuguese phrases. The city felt very safe and lively, a great size and atmosphere to explore for the weekend. The airport felt very easy to navigate and transportation was very accessible. All in all, a wonderful trip in a great city. It’s places like this that remind me of the beauty everywhere in the world, no matter what country or city or town, each place is unique and memorable for its own reasons. To anyone studying abroad in Spain or to anyone getting the chance to travel in Europe, I would highly recommend going to Porto! I hope to go back someday but for now, Obrigada Porto!
