You can't have a bad night in Barcelona. In fact, I had such a great time last night alone that I'm sitting in bed at 3 p.m. nursing my hangover in the dark. Our Spanish friend Julian took us to a bar where they had a beer pong table set up. Innocently enough, I agreed to play a game. Four victorious games later, I boldly declared my 'patriotism' for America, and made a glorious exit from the bar. I found a Taxi home and somehow stumbled into bed. I'll probably be here for a while. While eating some stale bread and 2 euro Chorizo, I fondly remember the delicious food and elegant McDonald's of Portugal, which brings me to today's topic.
Portugal, overall, was pretty alright. The people were disgustingly friendly. The Portuguese I met were friendly, helpful, and charming to the point where you wanted to hate them for being so nice. Hindsight and some serious Wikipedia'ing helped me gain some insight into the Portuguese culture. Here are a few things I learned:
The Portuguese are bad asses. They come from a long history of explorers, colonization, and fighting other European powers for their homeland. Just check out this picture of some giant monument.
At first glance it might just look like your average monument, but it's not. This monument (Praça de Mouzinho de Albequerque) in Oporto commemorates the Portuguese who fought off all of Napolean's army back in the day in the Peninsular war, keeping Napolean from capturing Oporto. Let's take a closer look.
Oh wait, is that a lion beating the shit out of an eagle? Yep. That lion looks like he just walked out of Narnia, and he's pissed. Lesson learned - don't screw with the Portuguese. Unless you want to get curb-stomped by a lion.
The next thing I learned about Portugal was through the graffiti. Graffiti is pretty popular in Europe, but you don't usually see it in the more touristy areas because cities work really hard to cover up their 'ghetto' underbellies. That's one of the things that made Oporto cool - it seemed like they didn't try to cover up anything. Oporto itself, in the area we stayed (not the touristy, grandma's wine tasting ribiera area) was really honest and down to earth. It was gritty, and open. Oporto was like that guy you meet in the dorms that everybody feels like they've known for their whole life. Oporto is definitely that stoner guy with the goofy grin and unwashed hair you always see in the dining commons that always says hi. I mean, someone had to be high for all of this graffiti.
We went to the thieve's market, which is exactly what it sounds like. The thieves market is a giant outdoor market, where thieves and people go to sell their stuff. It's like a huge flea market, but in Portugal.
The thieve's market helps to explain the humility and candid nature of Portugal. People steal. People want to make money. So people go sell their stolen stuff to make money. It's really just simple logic. It's honest. There were police there, but they were just making sure no one got stabbed. With no one trying to hide anything, it became a lot easier to enjoy.
On a final note, Portugal helped me realize how hard cities work to make it look like there’s no one living there. In America, (Cádiz too), we had street cleaners and garbage men and all sorts of infrastructure built around hiding the dirty laundry from our daily lives. But isn’t that why we travel in the first place? We travel to see old monuments and museums in order to learn about the people who lived there, not just to stare at old rocks. Oporto, and most of Portugal, was humbly exposed, and you could look beyond the old buildings and cobblestone streets to see the people that had lived there for centuries, and continue to live there right now. Portugal, is standing there, with it's underbelly exposed, waving from the soft serve machine in the European dining commons. Hang loose Portugal, and spark up another doobie, you deserve it.
Word of the Day: Obrigado (Obrigada if you're a girl) - Thankyou
Obrigado es una palabra Portuguesa para decir gracías. Obrigado is a Portuguese word to say thankyou.
