Portugal (1): Porto

"One is a lonely number"

I feel as though there are one of two things that can happen to you when you travel alone; you either find something or lose something. Luckily I found new friends! How cliche but it just so happened that I wasn't the only lone ranger, I guess that's what we had in common. I also think I lost a little section of my comfort zone the same section that made me feel as though travelling solo was very much a no no. To be honest I still feel a little odd if I know I'm going somewhere alone but now I've done it I guess it's not as bad. Nothing is ever as bad as the first time. It's always nice to have a bit of familiarity in everything you do, be it a friend, your favourite restaurant just something you know. This trip was everything but familiar. New people, new food, a new language (which did get a bit confusing times), new atmosphere and a whole new journey.

So moving on to the day of departure and I'm running late to catch the coach. After doubting whether I really wanted to go or not all of a sudden now there was a chance it wouldn't happen, I wanted it more than anything...typical. It's never a good idea to be the last one to get onto a coach that's taking you on a 7 hour coach journey. A whole 7 hours, all I wanted was a window seat to rest my head and sleep! Anyway cue the violins and the pity party I kind of got over it. Well I had to, it didn't matter anyway, we pulled over various times, toilet/service breaks, nursing travel sick individuals, mopping up vomit, you know the basics. A final stop to grab a bite to eat and I distinctively remmed er watching forensic crimes/science I think it's called, not really ideal when you're travelling with strangers at night.

Arriving in Porto was just a little surreal, yes I travelled in a coach but I was actually in another country. Pretty cool. A bonus for me is that it was actually a country on my bucket list of travels. They wasted no time in getting us straight into exploring the area it was going to be a long trip.