porto after 3 a.m. and why i still love it

i woke up to the sound of rain hitting the rooftops at 3 a.m. and thought maybe it was a sign. like maybe the universe was trying to tell me to stop overpacking my sketchbook and just sit here and draw the puddles. but then i saw a cat chasing a leaf down the alley and realized this was just life, not a message. the weather here is 11 degrees and clingy, like your ex’s text messages-unexpected and slightly damp. i just checked and it’s 11.04 right now, hope you like that kind of thing.



the neighbors are like humans who forgot how to sleep. one old man’s next door window is always open, and he plays accordion at midnight. i heard that from a drunk tourist who swore he saw a ghost in the same building. i didn’t see a ghost. i saw a baguette.



earlier today, i ate a pastel de nata from a café where the waitress said it was made with ‘mysterious spices.’ i asked what that meant and she just handed me another one. maybe it’s haunted. maybe it’s just good. either way, it’s 11 degrees and it tasted like rebellion.



i’m sitting on a bench next to a dumpster now. my sketchbook is open to a page with a stick figure playing air guitar. the stick figure has a sombrero. i don’t know why.




i heard that the local market here sells saffron for €20 a gram. i’m not sure if that’s true. i also heard that the guy who owns the fish shop sings opera while cleaning fish. i don’t know if that’s true either. maybe it’s all true. maybe it’s all made up. who cares?




i stopped by a yelp page for a bookstore. it’s called ‘libraria do vanish’ and the reviews say it’s a ‘hideaway for people who don’t want to be found.’ i didn’t go. i’m too deep into my own nonsense.




they say porto is just a short drive from lisbon. i don’t know if that’s true. i haven’t driven anywhere. i haven’t used a car in two weeks. i walked from the train station to the bus stop to the café to this bench. it’s all within 5 kilometers. which is nothing.





the map shows me somewhere near the river. 34.9506,127.4875. i don’t know where that is. i think it’s in china. or maybe it’s a typo. either way, i’m here.





i took three photos. one of a brown mountain. one of a man in a black jacket standing on a dock. one of a brown house. all under a blue sky. the sky is always blue here. even when it’s 11 degrees.






i’m gonna go lie down now. the accordion man might play again. or maybe he’ll finally sleep. who knows.



[iframe src="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.9506,127.4875&z=12&output=embed" width="100%" height="300"]











[img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1584802530491-65fad8b1b92c?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1080&q=80" alt="brown mountain under blue sky during daytime" width="100%" height="300" style="float:left; margin:10px 20px 20px 0"]



[img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1584802578694-123a97be5637?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1080&q=80" alt="man in black jacket and black pants standing on wooden dock during daytime" width="100%" height="300"]



[img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1584802559185-578a65c8f61b?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&w=1080&q=80" alt="brown wooden house under blue sky during daytime" width="100%" height="300" style="float:right; margin:10px 20px 20px 0"]





here’s a tripadvisor link for that café: tripadvisor.com/cafe-fantasma





yelp for the bookstore: yelp.com/libraria-do-vanish





a local board i saw: porto-board.info







tags: travel, porto, human, vibe, messy

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