Porto, Portugal

A severe side-eye darts in my direction. "What?" I ask gripping the bottleneck tighly while feigning ignorance. We've been in Porto for just a week and I have yet to partake in the splendor of their wines. "You get your juice, I get mine," I said, referring to the cardboard box of apple juice lying in the grocery cart. With that, I gingerly set a bottle of red wine atop of all our victuals. And yes, the grocery shopping is now officially complete.

The wine selection in Porto is plentiful...and overwhelming. How do you select just one? Here's my process: I wait for someone to come in the aisle so that I can be a copycat. It takes mere seconds. The man is casual and aged to perfection, quintessentially Portuguese - short in stature, stalky, and warm eyes. I glance quickly and we share a brief acknowledgement and smile. He is undoubtedly an authentic connoisseur of wine. I proceed to casually stalk him as he peruses the selection. If he glances to the top shelf, my eyes follow. A look in my direction, and I'm prepared - a slight step, a perceptible head tilt, an eye squint, and a pointer finger to my lips. What shall I select? is the vibe I'm hoping to give off. And the ruse of my intense wine analysis is a success. Alas, he makes a selection and recedes into the main aisle filled with laundry detergent and herbs. I wait an obligatory 5 seconds and then promptly choose the exact wine that the wise elder had selected. Maravilhoso!

The wine aisle and cheese selection are disproportionate to the size of the market, which speaks to the equal love of fermented grapes and coagulated milk protein amongst the Portuguese. Yes, they are my new heroes! Even though it's been a few days since our arrival, we've fully immersed ourselves in the mundane: grocery shopping, the gym, and buying a pillow. Yeah, you read that right, a pillow. (And it's a damn good one that was on steep discount for 6 euro.) It all seems exciting and magical. And at the risk of sounding overdramatic, Porto is magical. It can pull off things that no other city can. Hear me out:

1. The city is littered with abandoned buildings. It's actually quite charming, coquettish even. Full-blown derelict homes and businesses side-by-side with the most eloquent, tiled facades. It lets you know that the city is serious but not pretentious. And it doesn't seem to be an indicator of a "bad neighborhood" or crime. There are just some broken-down properties. And Porto is okay with that. Respect. ✊
2. Pedestrian walkways allow cars. I am a tried and true advocate for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation. Not having owned a car in over 6 years, I'm a fan of putting feet to pavement, biking as long as needed to get to the destination, or taking the local scuttle bus even if it takes a slightly longer time. But here in Porto, some of the old brick-paved paths that snake up the steep inclines from the river to the city proper permit compact cars to drive on streets that would otherwise be inaccessible. For the most part, the cars yield to walkers, runners, and cyclists - not that they have a choice. 🚗
3. Trams run on or ridiculously close to sidewalks. Akin to the previous comment, I believe that pedestrians should be able to walk freely and roam cities without a care in the world. In Porto, electric trolley cars ferry passengers along the sidewalks to avoid congestion from local traffic (e.g., mostly cyclists in the incommodious streets). The conductors are incredibly respectful of pedestrians and cyclists alike, and brake without causing an international incident so far as I can tell. 🚃

Wandering the world is always an adventure, but this time we're doing things a little differently. We are slow traveling digital nomads. And our objective is to find the places in the world that most feel like home...and then create a home. The ease of traveling through European cities as a car-free American fills me wonder and hope. It's a dream to one day live in a place that is truly designed for pedestrians, cyclists, or avid public transportation goers. Is it Porto? Could be. Or maybe we'll also find (not-so) hidden gems in Asia, the Middle East, South America. One never knows.

Don't you just love the uncertainty of where an untraveled path might lead you? I do!