And tradition's are to be kept, so J. there you go:
"It's her. I'm sure it's her" he thought
And the uncertainty he should feel was destroyed by his wish.
No stone resisted, and the soil of his insecurity was salted so it could never grow again.
While he walked up the hill in direction to the old fortress the fog was getting more and more dense, wetting his clothes and his hair, and waking him up a lot more than the litter of black coffee he had drunk 15 minutes earlier. But as soon as he reached the old walls he noticed that the fog wasn't as strong as he thought, since he could get a clear glimpse of the city in front of him.
5 a.m. and no sound besides the river to accompany him. He loved this silence, and he would love to share it with her. Suddenly he turned to the side and imagined her brown long beautiful hair, her adriatic blue eyes, her paper thin delicate lips, and that adorable pointing nose he loved so much. He imagined her, elbows on the small wall, shivering with the cold, just begging for an hug. He decided to give it to her, and, pointing down to the bridge 20 meter away from them he started:
"See this bridge? There used to be, way before this one existed, this other bridge "the boats bridge" they called it. It had a lot of boats, anchored in the river, with wood panels connecting them, and people used them to cross from this side of the river to Porto."
"Really?" She would say, semi-interested, semi-happy that the uncomfortable silence had come to an end.
"Yes, then when Napoleon troops invaded Portugal for the second time, and came to Porto, all people run through and eventually the bridge broke down. After that they build the Wellington bridge, which was a suspended bridge, and its pillars are still there, can you see them?"
"Not well, but what about this fortress? Why didn't people refuged here?"
"It didn't exist yet, it was built after that, actually there is a funny story about this fortress, remember how I told you Porto people are called "tripeiros"? "The animal guts"?
"Yes, that is kind of hard to forget, people must really not like you at all." she laughed, and her smile opened most of her face in the most amazing and beautiful non spoken invitation he had ever received to laugh with someone.
"No, no, it's exactly the opposite" he said between laughs " Actually it's a really big compliment."
"Really?"
"Yes, in the 18th century, after the Napoleonic invasions, and Brazil's independence, we had a civil war, between D. Pedro, king of Portugal and first emperor of Brazil, and his brother D. Miguel, who was married to D. Pedro's daughter"
"To his own nephew?"
"Yes… old royalty…you know, anyways, during the civil war, D. Pedro's troops arrived from Brasil after its independence and arrived in Porto, D. Miguel's troops sieged them in this fortress and hoped they would die from hunger. And Porto people who were loyal to Pedro would give the meat they had to the troops, and yet the remains. every night they would fill a boat that would cross from there to that point right below us, see? then they would climb this hill and give the food to the people in the fortress and run away. back."
"And so they would give the meat to the soldiers and only have the guts?"
"Yeap, pretty much"
"And you still eat those "trips tripes tripas" whatever they are, today?"
"Yeap, a blessing in disguise actually" he would laugh. And she would make a nausea face just for the hell of it giving it up for the same breath-taking smile she had done a few moments earlier.
He started going down the hill, turned around to the bridge and walked over, with the dream fading away, but feeling warm from its energy. A yellow subway passed and he remembered Vienna and the U6 and the times he saw that city waking up while he was already or still in the street. 3 or 4 people inside, the city was opening its eyes. The Sun rose up behind him and the sun rays lightened up everything in his sight, the riverside, the Port wine cellars, the gardens to the Cristal Palace, Arrábidas Bridge, the river, and the ocean. And right now, there was no one else he would like to share this with besides her.
The city opened another eye, and saw him there, standing on that 200 year old bridge alone, with a smile on his face, his hair wet, and those dreamy eyes. It yawned making a few seagulls fly over his head, shook its head making the raindrops fall from the buildings into the streets, and whispered to his ear:
"Another wishing-full heart right?"
"How do you know?"
"You are part of me boy, I just know."
He smiled proud for the compliment, Porto smiled proud of his son and said really quietly as if not to wake up anyone else:
"It's her, For sure, it's her"
"What if she doesn't feel that?"
"Bring her here, after she understands you here, she'll feel that…"
Then from the top of the old Sé's bells it just yelled:
"Wake up people. Time to wake up"
And to him again:
"Come on, move along now, she'll come… don't worry.She'll come, and I'll fall in love as much you did."
Walking in direction to S. Bento's train station, the trains brought the first people, that he could see coming out of the building, far far away.
A bus, two taxis stopped in the traffic light…
5 minutes later he was just part of the crowd. But now he knew she would come.
This is why you have to come down here J. An whole city is waiting for you :p
