After nearly six hours of walking in the hot sun, wandering up and down alleys, and desperately trying to find Wi-Fi, I arrived at Azulmarmol.
I had spent a ton of time looking for a tile shop in Porto. And actual tile shop, not something designed for tourists. I found Azulmarmol, which appeared to be tile shoppy enough and made it my quest to find it.
I walked nearly six miles through the city, backpack in tow, looking for the shop. My phone died along the way, making it even more of an "adventure".
By the time I got there, I was sweaty and sunburned...
... and it was closed.
Thankfully, it was only closed for another hour or so. I killed time at Bolhão Market, which I knew about from my research.
(In true Melissa fashion, I forgot about the market, and then found accidentally.)
When I finally got in there, I walked away with three different sets of tile (just four tiles each) for my kitchen, my bathroom, and my father's cabin up in the Thousand Islands.
I spent the rest of my trip with that additional weight strapped to my back. I must have wrapped and re-wrapped that tile a hundred times, either to show someone else I encountered on my trip, or to readjust my bag. It nearly burst open and I nearly had to ditch my copy of Anna Karenina.
(To be fair, my friend Annabel told me it was not a good choice to bring that book along.)
By the time I got back to North Carolina, I had nearly dislocated my shoulder.... but I had a lot of pretty tile to show for it.
Drifty Rank: 9/10 drippy bottles of cool, crisp water.
More Tile Shops in Porto
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