Sport and leisure activities in Vila Do conde

During my internship period in Porto, the weather was sunny especially in July and warmer than cold winter days so I decided to visit a new city very popular for its beautiful beaches, amazing restaurants located in front of the sea and that offers a splendid view on the surfers, that constitute a local activity and a passion for many people that choose to practice it even in winter time. Surfing amazed me from previous years because in Tunisia we have a very calm Mediterranean sea and not so suitable to do the surf activity that needs more strong waves like I saw in Portugal. The Atlantic Ocean allows surfers to enjoy the most huge waves and nothing stops them in performing the best shows ever even in winter time. This amazing city is Vila Do conde that belongs to Porto district and that we can find either by car or by metro.

Important Metro stations  to visit

Many leisure activities can be offered for the health benefits and for the athletic people that prefer performing great sport activities in the large sandy beaches of this city that attracts national and international visitors. From the station of Marques where was my actual residence, I took the underground metro to Trindade then I had to change the line to take the metro line with the terminus of Matosinhos or Povoa. The cost of one way trip buy the amazing underground urbano metro is 2,80 euros and its duration is almost one hour. I could really enjoy this underground metro because the line is not fully underground, it can also show beautiful landscapes especially that the metro passes by great cities that belong to the Porto district. When arriving to Vila do Conde, I could enjoy shopping much in the superb commercial center and probably the biggest outlet, called vila do conde outlet. I could enjoy much amazing shops with my friends, they offer really a variety of amazing clothes, and we can even enjoy the restaurants and the great portuguese gastronomy. An important thing to not is that by the underground metro we can pass by two main stations that I consider much important ; the first one is Carolina Michaelis where I could find an amazing hostel that offers the most wide and organised rooms even though it is a hostel for young students but it offers all the commodities and the amazing atmosphere, i had there one of the most wonderful stays ever because it is cheap, the cost of one night is only 10 euros and in the same time the rooms were spacious and we had even the right to have breakfast that was included in the final price that was already cheap. Also i could reach this hostel from the airport of Porto so it is amazing for anyone passing by the city and that is searching for an organised and tidy hostel.

The second important station we can not miss is Casa da Música that has the same name as a spectacular Portuguese concert hall destinated mainly to the parties and to the musical activities and shows, it has a very original architecture from outside and is characterised by many auditoriums. The original structure from outside give it the name of music box, the building is very suitable to public shows and it can as well be used for educational purposes by the conferences held inside by the most famous professors or the different scientific workshops. A visit to this amazing and indeed unique building is worthy to see the beautiful and original working design and the wonderful aspect of this masterpiece.
Another very much important station we can pass by in the metro urbano of Porto is Matosinhos Where the long way beside the beach is the most famous and amazing one in Porto, and were i could see in any season winter or summer the various professional surfers that were teaching children and giving courses on surfing and that were adventuring inside the sea without any fear and searching always for the biggest wave to do an amazing spectacle and show off for people watching them, what a wonderful landscape I could admire, I could see them even doing acrobatics in water and little children were learning fast this amazing sport and leisure activity. Nothing can make these people away from their awesome passion, neither the cold weather, nor the rain or thunders, they will stay inside the sea to perform their best.

Sport activities

The beach is expanded on kilometres and people can really enjoy white sand were they can lay down and enjoy the sun rays in both its health benefits by giving activity to the vitamin D, on the other hand take some sun baths while listening music or talking with each other. Beside the sunbathing, the first thing I could notice in the sea of Vila do Conde is the various and multiple collective games that could take place especially that the city has developed a number of sport events throughout the country and also hosted several national and international events, either for European championship or world championship in the different beaches of the country, these sports are mainly performed on the white sand, such as volleyball, basketball or beach football. The beach football is also a common sport in Portugal especially that the people are very proud of their famous player Ricardo that proved his amazing skills in scoring goals in very acrobatic ways like jumping in the air and doing amazing acrobatics by his leg in the air to score amazing goals. I personally like very much this player because he proved his amazing skills in this sport throughout the years, he could score many goals exactly like cristiano ronaldo in the national team of Portugal. I could also attend inside the center of Porto a championship of tennis which is also a sport that I like very much to watch and to exercise also. The funny story is that actually two players were playing against two other players and the camera that was filming the event was flying in the air so the birds thought it was also a bird and started to annoy it in the air while doing much sounds and were so much agitated to see the camera that was very funny to see. I think that these events can be a bit expensive but they are really worthy and people can see much amazing technical skills and enjoy a great sportive game. In the case of football, seeing Cristiano Ronaldo on the field can cost up to 150 to 200 euros for a national team game played in Lisbon. I had also the amazing experience of playing to football with my Portuguese friends in the beach, we were one time having great time together and we decided suddenly to play some football on the beach, the sand was wide so we had really great time to show our skills and our best qualities and speed to score the most goals possible.

Swimming in the ocean

I had the amazing chance to swim inside the Atlantic ocean but it was really very cold even in the most warm weathers and the waves were so strong always that's why people must take big careful when swimming in this kind of seas especially that I came from a country where we are habituated to a very calm Mediterranean sea. I remember very well that one wave even drowned me inside the sea but I was trying to control myself in that way I can support the strength of the waves. My sun glasses were then took by the waves and got lost even if I tried to search for them the waves were more strong at that point. Another amazing experience i wanted to try is the view from the highest point of povoa de varzim cathedral. In the highest altitude where was built a cathedral, I wanted to reach the top by climbing more than fifty stairs, it was really difficult, my friends could arrive before me to the top. I could enjoy the garden localised near the stairs of the cathedral and I had the chance to see the most wonderful view ever on all the city with sea appearing from far away, a splendid view that left an amazing memory in my mind. Portuguese People go there usually to marry and to enjoy the best pictures in that amazing view and that beautiful landscape that showed the ocean and the green vegetation everywhere like a carpet very beautifully designed. The flying camera was also used in these events to assure the best views ever in that highest point.
When we went down the stairs we found a group of people that were participating in a local activity and preparing for a party that will held at night by the scoots. Actually in Portugal, the scoots participate in all sorts of activities to clean a region that seems a bit deserted or to prepare some traditional events for an exclusive city. the scoots also participate in the activities of medical care about people in need, in renovating some deserted and abandoned neighbourhood which is in my opinion very Nobel and educate these young people on many values and qualifications they can acquire by these volunteering activities such as increasing charity, helping people in need, cleaning the nation where they live and increasing the communication and the leadership skills.

In the end of the day, we wanted to see the party the city offered to us with an amazing show of Portuguese music that I like so much. A group of music came especially for this event to celebrate a traditional event and people were really in very festive atmosphere, enjoying every moment of that amazing night, the restaurants offered their best dishes also, actually, the local gastronomy is one of the most amazing and delicious in this amazing city where I had the luck to try some of these local plates like for example Portuguese barbecued chicken, many kind and diversified seafood, the most famous plate is francesinha, and of course bacalhau that people can enjoy in the different restaurants with great view on the Atlantic ocean. Travel allowed me not only to meet new people and participate with them in the charity events but also enjoy myself to the maximum and discover new culture and new vision of life, it also allowed me to share my amazing experiences with locals and make them like even more the adventures and the spirit of discoveries.

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