Porto, Portugal
While we were hoping the sun would continue on from Marrakech, unfortunately that wasn’t the case at all. But in the small town full of beautiful museums, cathedrals, and streets lines with winerys, there was no shortage of places to explore.
We arrived at our hostel around 3pm and skipped the walking tour to go grab some food from the famous Cafe Santiago. In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the Francesinha Sandwich I got. Between some hearty bread they’d managed layer 5 different types of meat all the way from steak and sausage to complete mystery meat.
With stomachs filled, it was time for some exploring. We decided to wander through the (extremely steep) streets to a cathedral that had caught our eye earlier in the day and after some serious deliberation (which I’ll admit included google imaging the inside of the building), we decided we were too stingy to pay the 7 Euros to go inside.
But the outside was beautiful!
Not quite sure where to go next, we made the safe bet to head down to the Luís I Bridge, because you can never go wrong with bridges. And I’ll admit, the landmark was pretty spectacular, but even cooler were the little alleyways and staircases that led down to it!
Next we visited the place I was most excited about – Livraria Lello, a bookstore frequented by J.K. Rowling. After queuing up in the longest bookstore line I’d ever seen, we were finally able to see the elegant staircase and shelves lined with books that very likely helped inspire Hogwarts.
During our time in Porto we also crossed paths with a really interesting shiny store that we originally guessed to be either a candy shop or a boojie toy store. It turned out to be about as far as possible from both – a sardine shop. And from the photos below I’m sure you can see where our shock came from. We never quite figured out what Porto’s obsession with sardines is about, but I’ve decided there are some things in life I can go without knowing.
Of course, we couldn’t take a trip to Porto without educating our palates through a wine tasting tour of the Calem Winery. And as it turns out, a lot more goes into creating wine than I had ever imagined. After being toured through Calem’s cellars and appreciating the years of hard work stored in giant barrels, we sat down in front of our wine and faked being adults as well as we could by doing that swirly thing with our glass. What was meant to be a short tour was extended by a long conversation with our fellow wine tasters from all over the globe.
Wine, as we found out, was not all Porto had to offer. The water’s edge was overflowing with interesting restaurants that seemed to be built into the hillside. I had the best portobello mushrooms of my life paired with a perfect cheese board.
The rest of our time in Portugal was spent walking around and exploring whatever we came across. Despite the fog, we were lucky enough to admire the views and appreciate the historic town of Porto.
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona was the obvious choice for Halloween and it didn’t disappoint. A group of us from DIS rented out a small airbnb to use as our home base during the trip while we explored the city. It seemed like everyone from America was there and most of our time was spent running into friends we hadn’t seen in months. Despite it being my second time to Barcelona, the beauty of the city didn’t fail to impress. We spent hours walking around appreciating the architecture and my friend who was studying abroad there gave me a great tour. And of course, the trip wouldn’t be complete without paying a visit to La Sagrada Familia and other Gaudí buildings.
Overall, the week was a great success and surprisingly nothing went terribly wrong! My travel week ended the best way possible with a nighttime picnic in the bunkers overlooking the lights of Barcelona.
The Pursuit of Hygge 
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