Street Art: Porto, Portugal

picture taken in the city of Aveiro, north of Portugal 

In 2014 the city of Porto created a program to allow street artists to use specific walls or spaces and abandoned houses transforming them with urban art. Since then, graffiti and other interventions alike have been seen as art, and their authors artists. Tourists from all over the world are drawn to Porto street art, which led to street art tours.

Miragaia

The free street art tours have maps and guides. Your guide can be a student from the Visual Arts School or the street artist himself. The tours have a specific date and time, but nothing keeps you from doing it on your own. 

power box

power box

Palácio de Cristal

Before I heard there was a program allowing the artists to use some specific public spaces, I just thought how fun and creative those interventions were. With my camera at hand I started shooting the arts that most caught my attention. However, if you take one of the tours you will be able to find some hidden street art really worth seeing. Remember you have to be into those things, otherwise you'll just say it's vandalism.

Jardim das Virtudes

Unfortunately, Porto does have plenty of vandalism, which is sad to see, but don't mistake a rebel prick for an urban street artist. The artists have many techniques and a story to tell behind every mural, besides, many of them are really making a living out of it. 

So, jump on this photo safari in Porto with its giant murals, funny art ideas, power boxes turned into paintings and so much more!

Sé area

Sé area

Sé area

                   

Weird things I learnt backpacking

They may be funny or gross, but 100% true!

1. Pee standing: ok, I'm a girl, I sit! But the restrooms are most of the times dirty, or smelly or simply without a toilet seat. So, I saw myself obliged to learn how to pee standing, or better yet, half way up. Not very worthy of a lady, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

2. Can't watch a movie outdoors because it's freaking cold even in the summer: summer events are great in Europe, but one needs to understand what summer feels like in Europe. I'm still adapting to the hot months (bear in mind that my benchmark for summer is Brazil) and learning to enjoy myself outside when it is 25 degrees (not my idea of "oh, so hot"), but when the temperature drops to 16 at night and there is an outdoor-movie event... I'm sorry, maybe I'll enjoy it next time...

3. You find new uses for things: this is the best one. How creative can one get when one doesn't have that many options. Here's an example: I turned a coffee filter into a napkin and a snack wraper. I recommend it!

4. You'll be hungry more times than you can possibly imagine: boy, this one is hard! You're backpacking, eager to learn, visit and taste new things. But in my case, learning and visiting are on top of my list, and I end up neglecting the eating part. In all my trips I remember starving at some point. That's why now I know, I always have to carry some type of snack with me.

5. Rain water is drinkable...I think: you're thirsty, it's raining, you're wearing one of those disposable rain ponchos, nowhere to buy water at the moment. Well, just put your hands together under the poncho forming a bowl and there you go: a few sips of relief.

6. You'll miss wearing flip flops: you must wear comfortable shoes when backpacking, in fact, you must wear comfortable shoes all the time. But it comes a time that you are a little fed up of wearing socks and shoes, socks and shoes, socks and shoes. You'll definitely miss the flip flop toe-freedom.

7. You'll wear sneakers to the limit: a link to the one above. You WILL wear your sneakers to the limit. True story: after backpacking a little the latch from one of my sneakers got loose. I just kept wearing them and walking always making sure that it was still there. One day, as I was leaving the supermarket, I looked down and that was when I saw my bright yellow sock, no latch! I started laughing because it was so ridiculous! But ok, never mind, let's move on. Then, what do I see ahead, about 600 meters away from the market? My sneaker latch trying to cross the street! Just, pretended nothing was happening, I picked it up, and later at night my husband sewed it up for me. 

8. If you don't wash your undies everyday, you may one day end up not wearing any at all: I guess this topic doesn't need much development, but backpackers, bear in mind that: if you carry one piece of underwear to each day, that means 7, don't panic on Sunday evening saying that you don't have clean underwear to wear on Monday. To paraphrase Dory: just keep washing, just keep washing...

9. You'll say that things that cost more than 1 euro are expensive: backpackers are in their essence low budget travelers, that means every saving counts. Our eyes sparkle when we see things at the supermarket that cost cents!

10. You'll discover body odors you've never smelled before: backpackers walk a lot, repeat clothes a lot, wear the same jacket, buy cheap deodorants (please, don't do this), take public transportation... I'm sorry to tell you this but one day you'll discover body odors you've never smelled before.

Disgusting, right? I know...I told you things would be funny or gross, boys and girls. So, I'll give you a nice bonus one:

11. You'll learn to trust complete strangers: this is one of the nicest things that happen in the life of a backpacker, meeting new people and simply trusting them. They may want to get to know your story as much as you want to know theirs. They'll feed you, offer you rides, help you take the bus, and sometimes only smile acknowleding your presence. You'll learn to trust complete strangers and this will definitely change the way you look at people and the way you see the world.

BERLIN: the tour for nerds

I am a huge fan of free walking tours! I started taking them more than six years ago and now when I am planning a trip one of the first things I research is: are there free walking tours?

They are usually in English, but some also offer it in Spanish, French or German upon group request. Many of them don't request reservation, just your punctuality at the meeting point. They guide you and your group, around 15 people, through the city's most important sights, and some hidden gems too, always full of information and curiosities. It usually takes 2 hours or more, with a short stop for coffee, and at the end of it you give them a tip if you think their tour was worth it. A little secret: it always is!

When my husband and I planned our trip to Berlin, we could only think about the history immersion we would have in such an important scenery of  World History, and a free walking tour, would be the best way to go.

It really is a tour for nerds, and if you are really into history, the free walking tour may even include a space for Q&A.

We decided to take Sandeman's New Berlin Free Tour. Our meeting point was in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Just by being there your mind starts to flash you images of how that space was during the Third Reich. Countless pictures and plenty of history from our guide Sam, who, by the way, has a PhD in History. How awesome is that?! We could listen to him for hours because he guided us in Berlin with a strong passion for what he was talking about.

Free Walking Tour in front of the Berlin Wall

In a little more than 3 hours we visited the Brandenburg Gate, Hitler's bunker, the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, SS Headquarters, The Berlin Wall, the TV tower, Pariser Platz, Lufwaffle Headquarters and Humboldt University.

The experience of being at a place that staged so much history and tragedy is something that touches you. To see the Berlin Wall right there in front of you and to imagine how life was at that time is just impossible. Without a doubt being close to the Berlin Wall is an unforgettable experience. All the region of the Berlin Wall carries a sad, silent and respectful air. The Museum of Terror was built behind it, and when you're there you see many students of all ages, many tourists, and utter silence. Pictures, videos, texts, miniature models, newspaper clips and Hitler's voice giving speeches. To listen to that man's voice while you are in front of the Berlin Wall, brings you an indescribable feeling. You feel like you are mourning the people who had to live through that time while it's so hard to believe that that unfortunately happened.

Needless to say that that was the part of the tour that left a mark in me. Our guide said that Germans know what happenned and everything is still there to remind people that it is extremely important that we learn from the past. They built an underground memorial with a glass roof in front of the Humboldt University. The memorial is bookshelves with no books, because of the book burn that occured in 1933 when they burned 20 thousand books following Hitler's orders just because they weren't in the nazi's terms.

It really is a tour for nerds and I recommend you get to do as many tours as possible - there are others, but they're all paid; all on my list when I go back to Berlin. Then, on the next day I suggest that you pick your favorite stops and go again with free time to really dive in to history. 

So, that's it my fellow travelers, I hope I've inspired you to hop on a plane and go take a walking tour in Berlin!

Are you ready to stay at a hostel?

Low-budget accomodation: HOSTELS

I had never stayed at a hostel before, but when I decided to backpack in Europe, I got the feeling that these two words always go together: if you backpack you sleep at a hostel. So I decided to give it a try and enjoy my adventure! Let's see if after reading this you'll be ready to stay at a hostel or not!

My husband and I were backpacking in Europe going to Berlin and would stay there for one night only. First I looked for an Airbnb host downtown Berlin, but did you know that there aren't any? It's forbidden, that's why you'll only find hosts some miles away from downtown. A hotel was out of the question, so I downloaded the Hostelworld app and started my research.

Since it was our first time at a hostel, we are married and not 18 anymore I had some demands for our first stay:

a. breakfast included;

b. sheets and pillows included;

c. downtown area;

d. near a subway station;

e. English spoken;

f. cheap.

So a because we were in Germany and none of us know any German to go out in the morning to buy something to eat, b because yeah the cheapest ones charge you or just don't have sheets and pillows on the beds, c and d because we only had a day there, e well, I just mentioned this above and f it's a hostel, right?, so cheap is what I want.

When looking for hostels the feedbacks is what I'm interested the most, and many of them complained about bad smell, dirty facilities and loud noise. Because of these things I set my budget a little higher. 

I found a hostel that covered all my demands and had very good reviews St. Christopher's Inn. We just wanted a cheap and comfortable place to crash; our aim wasn't a party hostel, but they also have a very nice bar for you to mingle. By the way, it's the same place they serve breakfast.

I booked via the app 2 beds in a 16-bed bedroom! We paid 16 euros each with all the perks mentioned above. Here's a picture of our bedroom, well, part of it:

As you can see, the pointy yellow arrows are showing the things that I thought were really cool. My bed was on top, my husband slept on the one behind me, and there was a large drawer for you to store your bags, but no lock, so you have to have your own.

The drape gives you privacy, the beds have pillows, sheets and a comforter. There's a tiny light at the bed for you to do your readings, and your own outlet to charge your devices. Loved it!

The way the bedroom was organized was really nice because it didn't look like there were 16 people in there. The bathroom is separated, on the hall you see signs to show you where the bedroom is for room numbers x and room numbers y, but don't mind that because since there are only two stalls, you can just look for the next one available, nobody likes to stay in line to use the restroom... For showering, only one stall, or you can go to the unisex shower, then there are more.

The hostel is quiet and people respect your privacy. It's possible to hear people on the sidewalk talking and having drinks, but that didn't disturb me. What DID disturb me was a couple who kept talking, and eating, and coughing, and calling their family on the bed right under mine! That freaked me out, but I didn't say anything to them, I was leaving the next day, so I didn't want any problems. But that's not all! Their sneakers smelt REALLY bad! Oh boy, that was the worst! I put some VapoRub on the area above my upper lip so I would smell that instead of their feet! Urgh!

Breakfast on the next day was simple, but good. It goes up to 10 o´clock, so you see many "sleepwalkers". Fruits, bread, juice, coffee, butter, cheese, jam and hazelnut cream. That was good enough to start the day!

We wanted to spend some extra time in Berlin before taking our bus, which was leaving only at night, but we didn't want to be carrying our backpacks. When we asked the receptionist about lockers, they mentioned we could use the ones next to the hostel. It was a room full of lockers, small and big. They cost 2 euros for four hours, I think, but I remember it was a very reasonable price. We used one locker for both of our bags. And you don't even have to be a guest at the hostel.

As you can see, it is possible to find a good comfortable hostel, even if you're not there to party, have a good night sleep and go on to your next destination. I don't think I'd recommend staying at a hostel for many days, I think one night only is enough, but hey, that's just me. If it weren't for the talking smellersons it would have been great, but they upset my night sleep.

Hostel, good. Experience, interesting. Travelers, some of them don't shower. Please do!

Are you ready to stay at a hostel? Have you already slept in one? I'm sure everybody who has slept at a hostel has a story to tell. What's yours?