It was such a perfect, carefree day. We had no plans or sightseeing goals other than to spend the day wandering around Porto, Portugal. It was our last day in Portugal, and surprisingly, I did not have a full blown itinerary scheduled for us. We set off on foot down the cobblestone and railed street downhill from our airbnb. At some point, we meandered to the eastern side of the map, where I think there was supposed to be a beach of sorts, so I made that our destination. I remember we walked quite far and was sorely disappointed by the “beach” which was little more than the ocean meeting the edge of a long, ancient stone wall. It was windy too and all our photos had windswept hair flips aka extremely messy hair blown every which way across our faces.
We came across this stone ledge along a high part of the city, where it was apparent all the cool kids hung out. The view was stunning. In our usual cool ways, we tried to act gangsta and head-nodded at the punk Portuguese teens. They wore ripped black clothes and cutoff jeans, clustered around drinking Portuguese beer and smoking cigarettes. Loud punk music played on their retro, beat up boom boxes. We did our best to blend in by also buying a beer (to share) from the local shack and hopped on the ledge, swinging our legs — being real cool, chatting about our lame parents, the neighbors’ sex lives, and futbol. Then, we realized we didn’t have a bottle opener so had to go back to the store sheepishly and ask them to open the bottle for us…. real cool.
As the day neared sunset, we got on a tram that took us back to the main part of Porto. We saw a boat/ferry and decided on a whim to take it across the river. I can’t remember now, but I think we were trying to go to this northern part of the map, that had some supposed tourist spot. It was very underwhelming. We ended up going uphill on very residential and local streets, practically walking inside random Portuguese homes. Needless to say, there was nothing there.
The best part of the day was the laughter and jokes we shared. I distinctly remember this is how the “In Portugal, one must be able to parallel park a cargo van uphill, backwards, on uneven cobblestone” got memorialized on our dinner napkin. Multiple times we were thoroughly impressed with how well drivers managed to navigate the ridiculous streets. We enjoyed probably a bit too much Port wine during our meals, and I was so close to finally getting you to try a piece of sardines.
It was a day very dear to my heart because we shared so many topics and feelings quintessential to our friendship. On this day, we debated the merits of Moana and Frozen. Hands down, we both loved Frozen and sang Let It Go on repeat so many times during our senior year. We loved this song because it was so applicable to all aspects of our life then (and even now) — whether the dumb boys, flaky friends, heartbreak crushes, impossible essay prompts, or job searches — we learned to let it go. Anyways, we both watched Moana earlier in the summer, but separately. So I asked whether you liked it. Again, I can’t remember exactly anymore, but your answer was so hilarious that I only remember laughing so hard my stomach cramped. We were on a quiet, random street, so luckily did not draw any attention at the outburst. You were thinking very hard how to answer that you seemed…to like Moana more….but Frozen was better…basically, with your furrowed brow, your very serious analysis came out absent-mindedly. As I questioned how your nonsensical logic worked — because clearly Frozen was better — you ultimately admitted you hadn’t even paid much attention to the actual Moana movie, being far more distracted by the company of the boy you were with while watching the movie — a boy who turned out to be a jerk like every other boy so far; that such an association influenced your (false) belief that Moana was better was the worst reason ever! That cracked me up even more and we laughed for several minutes straight. The conversation ended with us agreeing once again that Frozen was the superior movie and that boys were dumb. It did not deter us from belching out see the line where the sky meets the sea, it CALLS MEEEEEEE and no one KNOWWWWWWS how far it goesssssssss
See the lights as it shines on the sea, it’s blinding, but no one knows, how deep it goes
[cue: hair flips and shouting into the wind]
