About 9 months before making my big step and moving to Australia, I grabbed a chance to go see and explore a bit of Portugal. At that time my brother was living there, so it was a perfect chance to drop by for a visit and use up his spare room and enjoy the free accommodation (thanks bro :D ).
I invited my amazing friend Simona and she immediately said yes! She always wanted to go to Spain and Portugal was just as big of a dream so she couldn't say no.
On the day of our departure, things didn't go so well. We had a bit of communication malfunction, and kept going to the wrong spot to pick her up with my car. Long story short, I spent about an hour too long for that and let me just say, I have never driven my car as fast as on that day. I mean come on, we had a flight to catch! You gotta do, what you gotta do! :D ( I really miss European driving! )
Well, we made it and the flight from Bologna to Porto was about 2 hours long.
We were staying in Braga and most days we took the train that took us to Porto (approx. one hour each way). It seems like a long ride, but it was a smooth ride and we really wanted to be near the sea more than inland.
A few interesting facts about Porto:
It is the second largest city in Portugal (after Lisbon), with a population of around 240.000 (Porto city) and 2.4 million (metropolitan area).
An internationally renowned Port wine, is widely accepted as the city's dessert wine (as it is made along the Douro river which runs through the city).
It lies at an elevation of 1.172 meters above sea level.
It is one of the oldest European centers (history dates back to around 300 BC with Celtic and Proto-Celtic people being the first knows inhabitants).
Between year 1958 and 1960, the Formula 1 Portuguese Grand Prix, was hosted on the streets of Porto.
Some of the food highlights , everything was so tasty, from the healthy to not so healthy, it was always a win!
One day we also went to coastal town Viana do Castelo and were impressed by its architecture and all the amazing ocean views.
We also had a chance to listen to "The Beetoes" :D
And explore some of the nearby parks and other sea views.
It was an amazing week and it is a very special memory as it gave me and Simona a chance to truly enjoy some great times before leaving to my Australian adventure. Last time we saw each other before taking off, we agreed to not say goodbye, but to say I'll see you later.
Thank you for all the special moments my dear friend. I'll see you later!
Thanks for watching, see you later Hive tribe ! :D
Kat