Latada Parade and Visit to Bolsa Palace, Porto

After our relaxing day out at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, the Dynamic Duo had renewed energy for exploring the old town centre further. Even though we’d seen a fair bit of Porto already at this stage, I was amazed at the number of fine historic buildings we were still coming across at every turn. I think we’d need weeks to get around to seeing everything this city has to offer.

I was just having a bit of craic with the locals in the Praça da Cordoaria when we heard loud chanting and singing coming from the steps of the Palácio da Justiça (Palace of Justice) across the road. On further investigation, we discovered the source: a large group of students having their own bit of craic. As we walked on, we saw more and more students assembling around the area.

One large group was dressed in yellow with strings of yellow and grey painted tin cans strung around their necks and tied around their waists. Other students, dressed in what the Oldies already recognised (from our trip to Coimbra) as traditional student dress – black suits, shirts with black ties, long black cloaks – were wielding enormous wooden spoons with ribbons of the same yellow and grey tied around them. Most mysterious! Curiosity eventually getting the better of Her Ladyship, she nabbed a nearby student and asked him to explain what was going on.

Apparently we had stumbled across the preparations for the Latada, an annual event for students at the beginning of the academic year. Those in the black outfits were the older students who were teaching the ‘freshers’ the age-old traditions, songs and chants of their college. Each group was wearing its faculty colours. Those in blue for example, were science students. A reference going back to the age of discoveries, the blue signifies both the sea and the sky. Right, that I could relate to. The medical faculty students were dressed in yellow, which signifies urine. Ewww! Red is the colour of the law faculty, signifying the bloodshed of those who failed to get justice. Yuck! Ok. I got the picture. Enough colours for now.

Well, apart from black. That is actually rather interesting. The students’ black cloaks have become quite famous due to the fact that J. K. Rowling, who spent two years in Porto teaching English, was supposedly inspired by them when writing her ‘Harry Potter’ series. Harry and his fellow students wear similar black cloaks as part of their Hogwarts uniform.

Like Leonhard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’, these famous black cloaks are also torn. The owners apparently tear them whenever something significant happens in their lives. We also heard that the cloaks must never be washed, as this would wash away the memories of one’s student days. Charming! I am glad I kept my distance from those older students.

The Dynamic Duo ambled happily on, charmed at the sight of the narrowest house in Porto wedged between two churches, Ingreja dos Carmelitas and Ingreja do Carmo. That’s some claim to fame after the narrow houses we had already seen along the Ribeira, but coming in at a mere metre wide, it rightfully wins the title, I reckon. The Oldies were also enthralled by the stunning Livraria Lello which claims to be the most beautiful bookshop in the world. I am not inclined to doubt that claim either. It is magnificent.

It is also claimed that J. K. Rowling, who was a regular customer of the ‘Lello’ while she lived in Porto, modelled her ‘Flourish and Blotts’ bookshop in the Harry Potter series on this Neo-Gothic/Art Nouveau beauty. Judging by the length of the queues of people waiting to get in, it is certainly a Flourish-ing business!

Later in the day, we had been told, the groups of students were all going to meet at Paços do Concelho, City Hall, and ‘do battle’. I am so glad that we got there – and away again – before the battle began. The university town of Porto has tens of thousands of students, a large number of them freshers. That adds up to a lot of tin cans tied to a lot of legs. You can imagine the racket they made. No need for bird scarers around here. And I thought the klapotecs in Slovenia were bad!

Thankfully, the Oldies were also inclined to leave the students to their fun and games and move on to more sombre surroundings. The Palácio da Bolsa, Bolsa Palace or Stock Exchange Palace, oozes grandeur. And after the high jinks of the Latada, I certainly enjoyed the peace and quiet of the stately Tribunal, Assembly and Golden Rooms, the only sounds being the occasional whisper or creak of a floorboard.

My favourite room had to be the Arab Room. Decorated in Moorish style, it apparently took 18 years to complete. I’m not surprised, though. The decoration is exquisitely intricate. This room, like many of the other rooms in the Palácio, is for hire, with prices, depending on the music, catering, etc. required, up to as much as €60,000+ per night.

Well, it used to be the stock exchange after all. In the business of making money.