After pretty much falling asleep this morning around 7am, I got a good 5 hrs of sleep and woke up around noon. I felt like I felt the loss of an hour as time went forward here last night. Myself and a few others from the tour and dinner last night were planning on going to the block party Naky told us about. I got myself ready and messaged Tiffany letting her know.

Before Ubering I went online and got an esim so I can have wifi and internet where I’m going since it’s out of the immediate area. I also stopped by an ATM to get cash as most ATMs I had seen so far weren’t working or weren’t part of a bank (if it’s not a bank ATM I consider it sketchy especially on international trips). I ordered an Uber and was on my way.

Once the Uber dropped me off I looked around and something just seemed off. This block party goes from noon-7pm but I didn’t hear any music (only from a neighboring cafe) or see any black people. I looked at the flyer and address again and although I was on the right street I was in the wrong neighborhood. Now this was totally my fault as I should’ve paid more attention with the directions.

After paying nearly $28 to be taken to the wrong place (no fault of the Uber) I refused to catch another one back so I looked up the bus/train route and began walking to the stop. The stop wasn’t far just up the road but of course the journey would take longer to go back. I didn’t mind though as I hadn’t heard back from Tiffany so I assumed she wasn’t coming.

Once I got on the bus she messaged me and said she and a few others would get there around 4pm. I told her I went to the wrong place and should be there by 4pm as well. I had to transfer from the bus to a train. Once off the train it was about a 15 minute walk. I actually did end up making it around 4pm and was surprised. The block party was a corner party. There were 2 tables at the time with clothes, a rack of dresses and jackets and some records. For food a woman grilled some pork sandwiches, chicken and sausage and there were vegetarian options available along with a Cape Verde dish.

I’m very skeptical eating out internationally now (restaurants are one thing but street food)…I’ve got to be careful. But that was all there was (at least at this point) to the block party. I got a chance to meet with and speak to the organizer who said this is the 1st one of its kind so I hope it grows year after year. He (the organizer) told me there were some restaurants over to the side that had drinks so I grabbed a cider.

I sat and listened to the music as I people watched. 30 minutes after I was there 2 other girls from the tour last night showed up. We talked for a bit and they were in contact with more people who were coming. Tiffany messaged back saying they were lost (at least that didn’t make me feel so bad for getting lost earlier). I told her by the time they arrive I’ll likely be gone. I waited until 5pm and then I left walking back to the train station.

Going back I did the train/bus option again. After I got off the train I had to transfer to a bus. I just happened to look up how long it’d take to walk the rest of the way to my Airbnb and it said should take about 28 minutes so I decided to do that. On my walk I passed a curry restaurant and figured I’d get some naan to go with the rest of the to go duck meal from that winery in the Douro Valley (yes I still have it). I also ended up ordering an appetizer since I was hungry and hadn’t eaten.

After I got my food I proceeded walking to my Airbnb. The walk was nice and on the way in I stopped at a market to get more water. Water and wine have been my main drinks while here. Back at the Airbnb I put on my lounge clothes, ate, poured me a glass of wine (yes I still have that bottle I bought in Porto) and watched some Netflix. That’s going to be it for today because tomorrow I’ll be on a tour of different cities most of the day.