I don’t know if it was the wine or the sangria that had me out last night but one minute I was posting pictures to my Instgram story and hours later I’m waking up wondering when I fell asleep. After finishing my post I didn’t go back to sleep until about 5am and I had an 8am wake up time (which didn’t happen, I woke up around 8:30am instead). I kept thinking when I woke up, “Who has been in my room because I know I turned the bathroom light off” but upon getting up the sunlight from outside was so bright it lit up the bathroom (so the light wasn’t on).

I hurried to get ready and shot out the door to catch my Walk Black History in the Streets of Porto tour at 9:30am. Thankfully our meeting location at was at a church Paróquia Senhora da Conceicão which was a 12 minute walk from me (this is a 200 year old church). I at least wasn’t the last to arrive but the majority were there. Our guide was Kai who is from Cape Verde we learned quite a few things from her one being that Portugal had a major role in establishing the transatlantic slave trade and how they’ve colonized 5 African countries.

It’s interesting the Portuguese felt as if they weren’t as bad as Britain because even though they raped and established families with slaves that made them less evil…no. No one likes having the conversation especially those that were responsible but refusing to acknowledge it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. As a mostly Catholic country there are less black people in Porto than Lisbon and things related to our hair are far and few here (and expensive).

We went through an area with a few black owned beauty shops, a specialty store a barbershop, coffee shop and art store. The barbershop is quite popular thanks to the soccer players that like getting their hair cut there specifically. With signed jerseys on the roof you can tell a few teams have been through there. The coffee place was cute and my dolce de leche was good (while EnVogue played in the background).

I met 2 sisters from Jamaica but they live in California and Bonnie lives near the water in NC. As we walked the Porto streets we came across a crowd taking pictures at the Chapel of Souls which is a church with beautifully decorated tiles outside of it. Kai mentioned how some things like the design of a boat or placement of a tile people assume someone of Portuguese decent did/created it but it was really a black person.

In the African Art store we talked about how if we as humans learned to express ourselves better by being honest and stop trying to tell someone else how they should feel that we could start to move the needle forward. The question was also raised if we as black people will ever get a fair shot at a starting point as our white counterparts.

I forget the portuguese name but in the early 19th century Porto had a human museum with black people on display for months at a time unable to leave. The only food and drink they got were thrown to them by onlookers (my blood began to boil hearing this). Then Kai explained a story about how passive her response was to a white man telling her, “She speaks well for a black person”…if it were me an argument would be incoming because what?!

Our tour ended at the art store and we all went our seperate ways. I explored the area and popped in a few pharmacies (I’m looking for this perfume I got in Italy. I ordered a big bottle a while ago and it came from Portugal but I want a small purse size bottle like my initial one). While walking around I came across a big grocery store which was good because I wanted to get a few things (a bottle of wine being one).

Afterwards I headed back to my Airbnb to drop my things off and then it was back out the door. My last activity today was entry into the Livaria Lello which is a famous bookstore (supposedly thanks to JK Rawling). The staircase design I’m sure is the main attraction. I arrived around 3pm even though my ticket was for 2:30pm (you have to buy a time slot ticket). My ticket came with a book  so I went in looked around, took some pictures and ended up asking an associate for help. She pulled out a book by a well known Portuguese man which was a poetry book. I got that and headed to Betrand another bookstore that was recommended for a history book.
Along the way of course I popped in and out of stores that seemed of interest to me. I ended up getting some dark chocolate limoncello candy, and plenty of uniqie magnets and bookmarks. Thankfully I was able to find exactly what I needed in Betrand and afterwards went back to the Airbnb. I de-briefed for about an hour and a half and posted the 1st half of the day’s events. I needed to figure out what I was going to get for dinner.

I went on the hunt on Google Maps to see what was nearby within walking distance with good reviews and then I came across Churrasqueira Paraiso 1 (they were described as a barbeque restaurant). As I translated the menu I found something I wanted and it was only a 3 minute walk from me. I orderes a full grilled sea bass and it came with potatoes and veggies all for under 20 euros. When I got the meal it looked massive and when I took it back to the Airbnb it was huge and looked delicious.

It will be hard for me to go back to the U.S. and dine out because “I could get more for less in Porto.” I demolished that meal as besides a butter croissant and an iced coffee that’s the only meal I had that day. Now I’m wrapping up my write-up for the day trying not to enjoy this wine too much until I’m done or I’ll be done. I’ll then post the remainder of my photos/videos of the day in my story. I have 2 wine tours tomorrow that will take up most of my day. Aside from that I may go check out this garden I’ve been hearing about. Tomorrow is my last full day in Porto and I feel like I just got here.

Wilson: A black owned business where we got coffee

The hype is for Livraria Lello the bookstore