Portugal

Portugal was really fun! During the three days in Porto it seemed like we walked up and down every narrow cobbled street. When we first arrived it seemed like a small town, but we found out otherwise- it spreads out over hills, and a river cuts through it.

It's completely different from Besançon! For one thing, it's warm. People hang their laundry on lines between the apartments, you see colored flags, cats coming out from holes in the walls, and children playing in the street. The buildings are all squished together, but there's this general sense of looseness and movement; something's always happening! I felt like I could sit on a bench and just watch the city's stories unfold around me... but I didn't get the chance because we kept on exploring.

Apparently a lot of French people go on vacation in Portugal. We passed people in the street several times and I caught snippets of their conversations: "Oh là là...mais c'est long quand même!" or "Il doit être par ici, mais je ne vois pas." Wait a second... that was French! We even ate dinner in a restaurant with pretty much only French people. It was a little surreal.