Portugal...O Norte

Good morning all!

Please excuse my silence,  am a little behind on blogging, thank goodness I have a lovely notebook, so I know what I'm writing about...this will be the first of three entries about wonderful Portugal, and though I'm in the south now, am casting my mind back a week or so to when I was in the north, where I was in three towns/cities, which although close together seemed to be startlingly different from each other...

I didn't actually get to see much of my first stop here, Viana do Castelo; it seemed a little austere, perhaps just the contrast from Spain. We arrived very late, with rather frazzled nerves after the very long wait in Vigo...it's a funny thing about travelling, and have been able to see the difference as most of it has been alone....when you travel with somebody, the good bits are better, having someone to share it with, but the bad bits are worse, for the same reason. It's also a little hard when you are on a particular personal mission, trying to balance that with someone else who is on holiday, but that's also made me appreciate the travel on its joyful side, and not get too fixated on the working side...all in all it has been a good balance to travel both ways.

There is an independent yarn shop in Viana, Casa Justo. Looked brilliant in the window...but was closed that morning due to staff illness...so just as well really. I'd rather miss a shop than catch flu from it! So I do visit the shop that is open, called Lola Botona....and this gave me very mixed feelings. I got a bit of rosarios4 yarn, an amazing Portuguese brand, which I will use on a scarf fringing, but it isn't going into the blanket, because this is not an independent shop....it is part chain/part franchise and is based in Spain. On the website, it stated how this system makes it easier for small haberdasheries and yarn stores to survive.....but at what cost...this place had no character, it felt like the Clinton Cards of haberdashery. It took literally 10 minutes to pay, as the woman working couldn't work out the computerised till....is this helping independents to survive as a franchise? It looks and feels like takeover to me, but I'm willing to be proved wrong if anyone knows any different.

That day, we moved into Guimarães, the birthplace and original capital of Portugal as a state. This isn't on the coast, and isn't part of this journey really at all, am here to see an exhibition, contextile, a textile art Bienal, which I was selected for, with 49 other textile artists from around the world. I went to the centre and had a quick look around on arrival before it closed, to go back properly the next day when less tired. I instantly felt unworthy of being in it, and was almost scared....it felt a bit odd.

The next morning was my birthday....which I'm not keen on. Not because of getting older, though of course I am, but I just always feel a bit of pressure. I don't like red letter days...Valentine's Day is the worst night of the year for romance, Hallowe'en is the worst night of the year to dress up, Christmas Day itself is ok because I like eating, but the run up is ridiculous....I do like Bonfire night though, you can't really go wrong with pretty lights and a big fire....but other than that, I'm rather go out and have drinks and a dance with close friends on an unplanned Tuesday than celebrate a red letter day. My birthday is also world mental health day...which is particularly ironic for someone who gets very wobbly on that day anyway.

So I go and see the exhibition properly. On the way, I met one of the women I met on the door yesterday, her English is about as good as my Portuguese, but we both speak French so we have a lovely talk and walk,  and she gives me a t-shirt from her boutique (Guimaraes is indeed pretty posh!) She tells me that my sculpture is the most popular among kids and teenagers and how it's great to talk to them about the subject matter of it....she feels it perfectly illustrate a how human desires are limitless...once you start on that path, possessions and achievements will never be enough. I feel pretty flattered but also amused- my piece is very clearly the most naïve one there in terms of art....perhaps my mind is pretty adolescent....at 44 I think it's possibly too late to grow up anyway! Anyway, I feel a bit better looking around the exhibition properly and taking photos...it's really well set out and some beautiful work there...

My first impression of Porto is that it is tourism central...and what can I say about that as I am visiting Porto, and staying in a serviced appartment. There are lots of posters around about a protest- ' for our houses, for our lives' Porto is experiencing an incredible tourism boom, and it IS hard when you begin to feel that your city belongs a bit less than it did to you. Property must have gone through the roof....but there are also a lot of derelict buildings in the city. Gentrification, airbnbification....these are complex issues that I don't have any answers to. But it is easy to see why, Porto has that buzz, it's exciting, unique and fascinating. The graffiti and the atmosphere really reminds me of London in the late 80s/early90s....things are happening here....I just hope it isn't big business that will reap the economic benefits of this, leaving locals dispossessed, moving to Clacton, blaming immigrants and voting UKIP....because that is how these things happen.....

To have three nights in the same place feels like luxury....not having to pack immediately after unpacking....so I take advantage and retreat into loud music on my headphones....it's birthday self-care (though maybe not for my ears....but years of standing in front of drummers have possibly ruined them anyway!) I have lots of musings about different things...thinking about people who aren't here anymore, about losses to suicide, about toxic masculinity and it's affects on everyone...competitiveness (the gentrification thing really got me thinking about this...my lovely friend Sam Amant made an incredible song about this issue....Winners make Losers....she's right, as she usually is)....about how the gay community really suffers from this hypermasculinity. It's interesting, as I listen to lots of very good hip-hop...which also has a big tinge of this hypermasculinity...how similar it is. Many gay men complain that rap is homophobic, but so many gay men are rapperphobic. They are missing out. So many similar issues, of selfworth, image and reputation; men are often not kind to themselves or each other, or anybody or anything else for that matter...toxic masculinity is harming us all..and you learn a lot about life from good rappers....I'm feeling philosophical, and will end this ramble right now, and move onto the rest of Porto!

The next day was a quiet one, but still on the subject of masculinity really- went to see the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition, which was amazing. Had never seen any in real life before....the light and shadow are just incredible....and so is the food in Porto. It was a grey day mostly, and the beach really looked like Brighton, weather as well as architecture.

The next day was a triple whammy of knitting shops. The first, Retrosaria das Flores, was a beautiful haberdashery, run by the lovely Cristina. I got a really nice market yarn, and it came with a story- it's called lã poveira, and it comes from a small fishing vilage nearby called Povoa do Carson. It was very poor and the fisherfolk used to go up to the hills and take away the waste yarn, spinning it and mixing it with whatever they could find to sell to make ends meet. Cristina is a genius, and has also made a beautiful model of her shop which is on display....just gorgeous. I also visited the lovely Elisabet, at Companha das Linhas....and bought a criminally small bit of trapilho from her fabulous collection....oh for a magic carpet to take things back!

The last one was possibly the highlight of my whole trip. Ovelha Negra (black sheep) was always going to appeal to Billy Black! But this is a beautiful place, with incredible window displays and a wonderful selection. Joana who runs it and Joana  who works there (pictured here) are just two of the loveliest souls I have ever met. We talked about so many things, about the gentrification of Porto, about London, about politics, and our fears of the far right destroying Europe. Portugal is, so far, very safe from that but in the first round of the Brazilian elections, the expats that live in Portugal voted for that awful man who looks set to win now, Joana tells me in shock. But we move onto happier things, different ways of knitting. The Portuguese do their tension differently, either round their neck, or through a pin on their chest. This is only done in Portugal and in Turkey, no one knows quite why. They gave me one of the special pins, and am going to give it a try. I was pretty tearful leaving, these women were so kind, so passionate about what they do. People like this are the antidote to toxic masculinity, and we need them.

Anyway, over and out, wishing you love and light, Billy xxxx