WordCamp Europe And My Birthday In Porto, Portugal

In June Cate and I went to Porto for WordCamp Europe. You may have gathered that from the title. It was our first time in Portugal, and we LOVED it. The city of Porto is wonderful, inexpensive, with great food and beverages, good street music, everything.

Let’s start off with WordCamp and talk about my birthday at the end.

WordCamp was just as amazing as I expected it to be. Not only did I get to see friends I hadn’t seen since Before, many of them were from places in the world I wouldn’t normally get to, so it was extra special. Friends from places like Nepal, India, Italy, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Luxembourg. South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and many more. Lets get on with the pictures!

Porto has many rivers in it, and on our first night in town we went on a river cruise party with GoDaddy and Pagely.

There was an upper deck that was quite small, a middle deck where most people hung out, and a lower deck with a very loud band and some food.

Rahul Bansal in the center wearing a pirate hat. Josh Strebel in the foreground

There's my friend Rahul looking piratical.

A city full of rivers is a city full or bridges This one is a walking bridge at the bottom, and a train bridge at the top.

This is a view from the top deck.

I simply stuck my phone over the rail and clicked to get this one. This is almost home.

The event itself was really fun as well. Lots of old friends.

Contributor day was very well attended.

The talk at the end was also well attended.

There was a party way out on the end of a pier on a rooftop. To get to the top you walked this huge spiral walkway around and around the building.

The spiral walkway.

A view of Porto from the party rooftop.

These two mansions were across the street from our hotel. This view is the from the bar on the top floor of the hotel.

My Birthday!

In July 2021 I turned 50. We had been planning for a few years to something big, but when the time came we couldn’t go anywhere or hang out with people. So it was a normal birthday year. Takeout ribs, good movies, etc.

In 2022 our life situation changed a LOT. Cate got a job so we had some more financial freedom, we were moving out of the house, so we had some physical freedom, and someone was paying us to go to Portugal and hang out with friends. Not a bad deal. We considered hopping over to Scotland for a whiskey tour, but the place I REALLY want to visit was going to something like $5000 for the trip.

So instead we decided to stay at an AirBnB in Porto for an extra week. When I stayed in Barcelona I really loved staying in the old part of town, so we did the same thing in Porto and it was GREAT.

Our AirBnB was quite small, but very modern and came with a washer and dryer. Also a big TV. It was within easy walking distance of a grocery store and about five different restaurants. One of our favorites was an Indian place.

Porto was VERY inexpensive. We could take an Uber all the way across the city for about $3, and we went to a FANCY “Mexican” place, where they come out and ask what they can cook for you etc. That and a fancy bottle of wine was $55 for the two of us.

We really enjoyed walking down by the river. We walked down there a couple times, and took an Uber a couple times. They’re very different experiences. The streets are very very narrow and very very steep.

And finally, some pictures.

Porto from the roof of our Hotel

A narrow street that ends in stairs and has a walking bridge over it with stained glass.

This narrow street ends in stairs, and there's a walking bridge over it with stained glass walls.

A view across the river, boats on the other side

A view across the river. The long white boats are river cruise ships.

A double decker bridge with a train on top

This is the bridge where people walk on the lower level and the train is on top.

The "houses" were all very colorful, and very crowded together

This is an ancient arched walkway under an elevated street.

The symbol of Porto is a highly colored rooster. These two are watching the river go by.

This is a replica of the kind of boat that used to go up and down the river carrying Port wine.

A small stone cave inside a bigger one with water in it.

This was inside a cave, and this was a place they got water for use in winemaking.

Barrel about 12 feet hight and 20 feet long, on its side.

This is a barrel they aged Port in. There's a door on the front for people to crawl in and clean it.

This is a little electric car. Two seats and a max speed of about 35mph. but perfect for Porto streets.

Stairs going up between two buildings with a castle at the top

This was a street until it came to the hill and then converted to stairs. There's a genuine castle at the top.

There were peacocks all over the event venue, yelling all the time.

This is a francesinha, the official sandwich of Portugal. It's generally meat, cheese, bread, and gravy, but each neighborhood and area has its owntake on it.

Handpainted tiles are something Porto is known for, and they cover buildings and streets with them.

This one got carried away.

The Romans built quite a bit in Porto. This is one of their walls.

A very average street in Porto. Narrow and steep. Along this street are both shops and apartments. Some people's beds and dining room tables are literally 3-4 feet from cars going by.

This is an awkward angle, but it's a sidewalk going around a corner. The sidewalk is about 3 feet wide and there's no curb. It's also on a very steep hill.

This is a map of the Portuguese world. Goa in India, Brasil, etc.

I ordered a Blue Hawaiian and it came with a sparkler burning in it.

My Birthday!

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