Porto
I was jogging as if nothing had happened, and suddenly I saw this big tree blocking the path I usually take.
We’ve been getting “Severe Weather” and “Coastal Event” warnings for a few days, and today we woke up to severe winds. Then, about noon, the weather started to return to the norm, and I could even run at the end of the day. Things were not so normal, though. There were branches and scattered materials everywhere.
Porto went from wildfires to storms and strong winds in the span of a few weeks. It seems to me that Mother Nature is pretty unhappy with us humans.
It rained for a couple of hours early in the morning, but it was enough to bring Porto’s sky and sun colors back to normal. Concerning the wildfires, I’m not an expert and have no idea how effective the rain was in reducing or extinguishing them. The only thing I can say is that the map on fogos.pt shows a significantly smaller number of ongoing fires plotted. But let’s not forget that firefighters are the real heroes here. They work hard to protect us. I greatly appreciate it, guys. Thank you!
😞 The sun is still covered with a red hue, as it had been yesterday. Thankfully, rain is expected within a few days. I’m hoping it will help put out the fires.
I took the picture below this morning at around 8:30 a.m., and, so far (5 p.m.), there have been no visual changes. The sky has been this unusual orange hue since yesterday because of the wildfires that have burned an estimated 38 square kilometers in the central and north regions of Portugal 😞, according to Google Maps. Even the moon appeared red last night.
Some of the fires are close to us here in Porto, but the Aveiro district has the most area affected. Seeing the devastation on the news is heartbreaking. My thoughts are with the firefighters and everyone affected by this disaster.
When I asked Voicenotes to describe the picture shown in today’s video, I wasn’t expecting so many details.
As you can see below, it got very few things wrong. For example, the “I❤️🐘🏠” (I love Evernote Home) was hilariously converted to “I ❤️ 🦛”. As for the chemical structure, it is indeed caffeine, but the sticker is on my tumbler, not the laptop.
As a side note, that is a goodbye photo. On that day, I was told that the Starbucks would be closing for a period of 18 months. Like what happened when I lived in Boston, it took me a few weeks to find the best Starbucks in Porto to take breaks from working at my office.
This one had a fairly evenly split number of local and international customers. It was never full of tourists, and, at the same time, that peaceful feeling of listening to people speak so many different languages was still present. Then there were the enjoyable conversations with many baristas who started talking to me because of the sticker with a caffeine molecule on my tumbler. One even asked me if I was a chemistry professor 😄
I’ll now have to go on a new quest to find another similar fun place. Maybe it’s the Universe’s way of reminding me that change can bring unexpected positive outcomes.
Have a lovely week, Vlad.
I always order #coffee (black) when I go to a coffee shop to work. I don’t even know what the other options are on the #Starbucks menu 🫣. But #Porto it’s so hot 🥵 and I had free beverages available on my card. So, I asked for anything resembling a milkshake and this is what I got 😊
There's only one thing powerful enough to disrupt Porto's famed São João street festival.
Starting tonight, June 23rd, at 9:45 pm and lasting until 1 am tomorrow, lighting paper hot air balloons will be allowed over Porto. And, trust me, they will fly in herds. The white dots in the image below from 2019 are not stars. Each one of them is a balloon that someone lit on the streets of the city.
This unique permission reflects the scale of the famed São João street festival, as even the airport airspace will be closed during this period. But balloons are only one attraction at this incredible party. As you can see in the image below from last year’s Porto downtown, the entire city takes to the streets until the wee hours of the morning.
If Porto is on your wishlist for future trips, I suggest keeping June 23rd in mind. Believe me, you won’t regret it.
The only thing powerful enough to disrupt the tradition for two years in a row was the COVID-19 lockdown. And this year, it will once again interrupt it, as COVID-19 has finally caught up with me. I began feeling sick on Tuesday, and although I’m much better now, there is no way I’ll risk making other people sick. So sadly, it means there will be no festivity for me this year.
I hope everyone has a great São João and I look forward to next year’s celebrations.
No check-in, boarding or any other lines to wait in. Not even security check. Super quick boarding and deboarding. There is a lot of lag space, even in the economy class. And, to top it all off, there is the departure and arrival in the city center. It is impossible to not love trains.
PS. 👆 That’s a Supernote.
Getting away from the problem for a while often leads to new insights
Taking a break is as important as getting into the flow
It’s my belief most people come here for the free Wi-Fi. Not me. I have an office, that is also my studio, and even a comfortable home office. But I do my best to come to this Starbucks at least once a week to edit a video.
Why?
I call it my Coffee Office Day. And last Friday was a special one. The city streets are not empty anymore. On contrary, everything is getting back to normal. I’m hearing people speaking English, French, Spanish and some other languages I have no idea what they are.
Welcome back, Porto!
Randomness
Have you read The Click Moment, from Frans Johansson? One thing I’m looking for when I come here is getting away from my comfort zone.
You need to take time, even schedule time, to explore things that are not directly related to your immediate goal. You need to take your eyes off the ball in order to see and connect with the possibilities around you. —Frans Johansson
The Flow State
There’s more. When I’m here, I seldom ask for the Wi-Fi password, or connect my phone to the computer. My goal is to avoid online distractions, and, at the same time, enjoy people speaking a multitude of languages. I love to edit here. As soon as I sit down and open my computer, I enter the Flow State. It’s magical.
Flow is great, but one has to escape from it once in a while to avoid exhaustion and to break the blind alleys’ paralysis. At my office I have a different strategy, but here I do it by raising my head and looking around for a while. It never fails. In essence, this is how the Pomodoro Technique works.
During that moment, I try to guess what a person is doing. Is he working? Is she messaging a friend? Where are they from? I’ve seen it all. From job interviews to friends from different countries meeting accidentally.
It takes no more than a couple of minutes. Suddenly everything becomes background noise again, and I’m back to the computer.
Something tells me I developed this ability when I lived in Boston, back in 2015. But this is a story for another day.
Have a nice week!