Que ciudad más genial...

I want to live in Porto. Forever. Or at least Portugal. I would take any small town, any place that I can learn Portuguese, eat and learn to cook food like that, become involved in the port wine-making process, and just live the life that Rachel and I saw in Porto this past weekend. The janitor at my school told me that it's a city that's a bit "descuidada" or "uncared for" and I think that has to be the reason I fell in love with it. 


It was raining when we arrived and took the beautiful and convenient (and cheap!) Metro into the city and found our way - a bit lost, mind you - to the hostel, Magnolia Porto Hostel, right off from the very downtown area. Keep in mind that "downtown" is not a bustling metropolis, but a cute, homey, comfortable little world. 


Our first day we did the walking tour, seeing the blue tiles (azulejos) covering houses and city buildings...

little bakeries with wonderful (and cheap!) treats...

and of course finishing the day with two port wine tastings at the free ones, Taylor's and Croft...

I proudly converted Rachel into a port drinker and we enjoyed an amazing pairing with two types of port and two gourmet chocolates - a tawny port with hazelnut chocolate and a ruby port with a dark-chocolate-covered-strawberry ball. So so so good. We spent as much time as we could manage savoring the delicious experience, and headed back towards the famous sandwich, the francesinha, a very meaty treat (and one without bread, if you're Rachel! Celiac)...

We headed to the Atlantic coast on Saturday, where I waved to my parents across the big pond and ate some delicious fish fresh from the ocean with a new Australian friend we made at our hostel...

We made some good Portuguese friends and experienced a typical bar experience with them, in which you get your drink inside and everyone just stands outside in the street to enjoy it. 


When I got back HOME to Madrid (which was a very exciting feeling, having this be "home"), I stopped in at Kate and Katie's Thanksgiving dinner at their place and hit the hay to prepare for a BIG week...


Monday I worked and didn't have to go to one class thanks to their exam, Tuesday is the national holiday associated with Constitution Day, Wednesday my 8:30am class has an exam so I won't be there and will just work later in the day at school, Thursday is the holiday for the Inmaculada, and Friday is a good ol' puente to connect the holiday to the weekend! I had hoped to go to the beach with Annalisa, but won't be able to make it back for work on Monday and have to learn how to grade exams for when my main teacher leaves for maternity leave in February (she wants me to teach whoever the new teacher is how we do things).


I hope you are all enjoying a good Christmas season! I love the lights, the treats, and the thoughts of all the family that I am going to be seeing in the next month and hope you are all enjoying curling up with a hot beverage and dreaming of some vacation time. Lots of besos!