University

We had a late morning this morning, but couldn't sleep in. Jet lag is over (for now) but disordered sleep is not uncommon when moving from bed to bed, hotel to hotel, city to city. We were still awake early.

Our tour leader took us on a walk to an area of the city we had not previously been, near the university. After seeing some sites, we entered a cafe that has been traditionally popular with students. Here we met a young man who is a fairly recent graduate of a masters program in architecture.

Joao (pronounce ju-OHM) explained the tradition of students wearing black suits and capes when on and around campus. This medieval tradition was revived during the time of the dictatorship as a way of making students "invisible." Since all were dressed the same, they were harder for police to identify at protests or when seen meeting in groups.

The tradition continues as an ongoing symbol of resistance to any undemocratic tendencies in government or society. Also, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, taught English here for a brief time. Students believe that the Hogwarts uniforms and the "invisibility cloak" in those stories were inspired by the tradition here.

Joao also spoke about the educational system and the "brain drain" facing Portugal since graduates can often find better jobs elsewhere in the E.U. than staying at home. He also mentioned challenges for students in finding housing near the university because of the gentrification of Porto and pressures on real estate due to tourism.

After this discussion our group dispersed. We walked a "garden" (city park) with beautiful views over the city. On a summer-like October Saturday it was full of locals enjoying the weather outdoors.

We walked toward the cathedral, taking a round-about route through the narrow residential streets where many buildings are not yet renovated.

At the cathedral, the line to buy admission was so long it wound around the block, so we decided to skip it. Instead, we walked back down hill through still more narrow streets until we reached the river. There we got a table at a sidewalk cafe, ordered drinks, and lingered to do some serious people watching. With tons of tourists here, there were plenty of people to watch!

Returning to the hotel we discovered emails informing us that our return flight to Minneapolis of tomorrow had been cancelled. We have to get up very early in the morning to fly to Amsterdam. From there, we're unsure what our route will be.

The day ended with our "farewell dinner" with the OAT group at a nearby restaurant. Now we'll try to get a little sleep before having to get up in the wee hours to go to the airport and on to destinations unknown.