We slept for over 12 hours and woke up refreshed. We were thrilled to have an espresso machine and lots of coffee, which went well with the cake our host’s wife baked. Off we went down to the Metro to take the train to the beach. Our goal was to find fish street for lunch. Using Google maps it took us to Tito ll where we had a grilled one kg Pargo, a sea bream, which came with boiled seasoned potatoes and grilled veggies, salad and a delicious bottle of house white wine. The fish was deboned at our table and portioned to our plates. The wine cost a mere 8 Euros ($12). The total was 63 Euros. It will go down as one of our best meals out.
Then we headed to the beach which was incredibly wide with powder like sand. We walked to the end while picking up small shells, weathered stones and a piece of green sea glass. I was looking for any that would be suitable for the necklaces I make. It was time to take the metro back.
We were warned about the parade which would be coming down our street throughout the day. Our host said, don’t be afraid as there would be a lot of people and lots of beer. Tens of thousands of people to be exact. It was a sea of people as we exited the station. We watched and took pictures and videos. We squeezed our way home to continue watching from our windows.
The level of excitement was beyond anything we had ever seen. Marchers and floats, colourful top hats and canes, black robes, strange costumes, coloured canes, loud singing, hugging, What was going on? It was an academic celebration.
Queima das Fitas, is the biggest student festival in Porto. With tens of thousands of family of the students and spectators, lining the parade route to celebrate the ritual burning of the ribbons representing each faculty of the their University and colleges. it takes place at the second semester. Some of faculties which are represented are Humanities, Law, Medicine, Sciences and Technology, Pharmacy, Economics, Psychology and Education Sciences and Sports Sciences and Physical Education.
The parade came down our street with dozens of elaborately decorated floats, each in the colour of their respective faculties. It was a spectacular event like we have never seen before. It started up at 2pm and continued to 8pm. The graduating students had top hats and canes in the colours of their faculty. The canes were used when they were congratulated with three taps on their top hat.
Different year students wear and play different parts: the graduates (the last year students) wear a top-hat and a walking-cane, both the colour of their faculty; the sophomores wear the traditional costume with their capes fully crossed; the freshmen (who after being greeted by the mayor become sophomores) wear funny/silly outfits (usually with carnival props related to baby-costumes) the same colour as their faculty, sing songs as loud as they can, do some sort of group dances, usually get hazed a little bit, and when they get to the Town Hall have to crawl on their hands and feet to walk by the mayor.
When it was all over, a massive crew gathered up glass bottles, followed by street sweepers, power washers which swept beer cans, garbage, and debris off the sidewalks so that the street sweeper machines could gobble them up. They were followed by smaller street sweepers picking up anything that was missed. Some floats had draft beer on tap while others had cans of beer and were often handed to those in the crowd. Many were drinking beer as they proceeded down the road. Open drinking was not an issue. Lots of police were present throughout the route. From our window, we saw a graduate kneel in front of a policeman who congratulated her, tapped her three times on her top hat and then got a huge hug. No bad behaviour, just joy and fun, hugging, kissing, and hand shaking. It was a love fest like nothing I have ever witnessed. So happy to have been here at such a festive time.
Nice way to celebrate higher education!
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