"You´re not in Kansas Anymore..."

I don´t think English people realise how lucky they are... the ease with which they can travel onto the European continent in the 21st century is astounding. Airlines like Ryan air and Easy jet sell one way tickets to Florence, Prague, Berlin, Paris (and on, and on, and on...) for as little as 79p and you just pay airport taxes on top of that! -- how can such deals be resisted?? A four day trip to Porto, for example, winds up cheaper than a trip of similar length to Manchester, when you take into account the cost of accommodation.

And thus, Bri and I set out for Porto this last Tuesday, for a four-day city break. Would you believe, two hours and five minutes after leaving London Stansted airport and we were in Portugal?!?

I was really looking forward to my first opportunity to get out on to the European continent. My only concern was the language barrier. I am afraid that languages don't come naturally to me, and this would be my first visit to a non-English speaking country, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Armed with a phrase book and a very bad accent, we made our way into the city centre.

The bus ride into central Porto was fascinating... one of the most dominant features of portuguese architecture is tazulejo (or tiling) and 85% of the buildings - whether they be homes, office buildings or public buildings such as churches - use this feature. It was so different to anything I'd seen before, and meant that even the more run down areas we passed had a beauty and character that I have not seen in areas of similar wealth in England or New Zealand.

Arriving in central Porto, the bus dropped us off, and it was a short, confusing wander to our hotel which was right on the border of the World Heritage zoned Historic City Centre. The city was everything Id dreamed of a European city to be - cobbled roads, central courtyard areas dotted with cafes and umbrellas, and sneaky little lanes that were begging to be explored!

We soon found out that the language barrier was not going to be a problem. Every single person we encountered spoke English. I felt guilty - as though I was in their country and should be making an effort to communicate in their language, but as soon as I pulled out the phrase book they would just speak to us in English - I guess it was easier (and much faster!) for both them and me. We did pick up a few key phrases though - hello, thank you, please - just to feel as though we were making an effort.

One thing I was not prepared for was the weather. It rained (I'm talking torrential, bucketing rain) from the first afternoon we arrived until our last afternoon in Porto. Europe has always been a bit of a fantasy destination for me, and with fantasy destinations you imagine fantasy weather (sunshine or snow - nothing in between!) - can you believe we even packed our togs!? Alas, it wasn't to be... one person we met told us that this is the worst weather they have had for this time of year that he can remember!

I can't say that Porto was a city of must-see attractions, rather it was the type of city that you visit just to wander the streets, to soak in a culture that is so different to your own. For four days we wandered, poking our heads in to museums and churches, sampling Port and other Portuguese specialities, window shopping the latest European fashions, and then before we knew it, it was time to go home... a 2 hour and 5 minutes flight later and we were back in England... a whole world away.