Portugal-Universidade do Porto, Portugal

When I arrived in Porto in September, summer was still in the air. People were lying on the beach, sunbathing, swimming and every evening they met to watch the sunset. Then in mid-October there was a complete change in the weather: between all the rainy days, the sunny days have become the exception and are being celebrated accordingly. But I should perhaps first explain that Porto rain is not the same as our usual Würzburg rain. What they call rain here would almost be a heavy rain storm in Germany. Initially, I was naive and thought that with a rain jacket and an umbrella I would be well armed against "the few drops". But two minutes out of the house I was taught otherwise, I was completely soaked and thanks to the ever-present coastal wind I now have a broken umbrella. Meanwhile, I have an extra pair of dry socks in every bag because the shoes usually withhold the water masses on the roads for only a few minutes or are still wet from the previous day.

But if you think you're safe if you stay at home, you're also wrong. Because the predominantly unrenovated old buildings in the city center can't withstand the rain in the long run either. Last week, my roommate's entire room was under water because (as we discovered very late) a plastic bottle had blocked the rain gutter. On particularly bad days, it also drips into our kitchen. My Czech university friend complains that due to the high humidity his laundry no longer dries, and he now has the choice between wet clothes and smelling bad. And so it goes on and everyone has their own little "rain story". In addition, without the intense heat of the sun, it also gets cold very quickly in the house, because here also most houses have no central heating. If you don't want to freeze you have to dress very very warm, stay in bed all day with a hot water bottle or go to the café (also a good place to go if you want good internet, but that's another story). In general, you notice that people are staying home more. At any time of the day, there is now hustle and bustle in our kitchen with five people cooking at the same time, two eating, one washing up and "Umbrella" playing in the background, which has become something like our shared apartment anthem on these rainy days. Since I grew up at the Baltic Sea, I am at least a little better prepared against the rain than my flatmates. My Tunisian roommate is only used to two rainy days a year, while the southern Italians are used to two weeks. But although everyone complains a lot about the weather, the mood usually remains good.

But every now and then, of course, you have to go out to buy groceries or to go to the university. It takes me 30 minutes to get there by foot, and thanks to the not-so-optimal location of the architecture faculty, walking is always a better choice than taking three different buses, all of which are presumably late. During a small shower last week, however, I wanted to take the bus halfway, for which I then waited 50 minutes until I went home again soaking wet and frustrated. The next day, all my project partners decided that it was an impossibility to get to the university in the rain and that we should rather work from home. Even my Spanish roommate reports that she gets time off from her internship on extreme rainy days. The problem is that the roads here are already congested with traffic even during normal weather. But when it rains, there are even more cars on the roads and the buses can't get through either, causing enormous delays.

As smart readers can now imagine, it is unfortunately not really possible to go on excursions during this time. Last week, an acquaintance from Würzburg was traveling in Portugal and asked me what you can do in the rain in Porto and the surrounding area. After thinking about it for a while, I couldn't answer his question either, because my insider tip "sunset viewing" definitely falls out. And even to get into tourist attractions such as the Livrarella Lello, you have to stand in line for 20 minutes in the storm. And before that, of course, you have to have the courage to leave the house... But the joy is all the greater when the sun comes out. Everyone is automatically in a good mood and every second sentence that falls is " how nice it is in the sun" (translated into various languages of course). And the people on the street, too, seem to have a smile on their faces. Even at this time of year, the sun here still has enormous power and can really warm you up and make you forget that winter is still long and cold. The sun may please show up again a little more often.