During my sophomore year at UNC, I decided to take Portuguese. I had contemplated taking Spanish, but a friend who had a great experience taking Portuguese suggested that I take it instead. I spent the following three semesters taking Portuguese. Mastering the conjugations and vocabulary; I never truly got the pronunciations right. In these classes, we would have cultural projects where we would learn about countries that speak the language and do a project about planning a visit to one of the cities. One semester, my class studied Portugal. My project focused on Porto and the tourist sites within the city, the most famous being Livraria Lello.
For those who are not aware of this landmark, I will explain. Livraria Lello, one of the oldest bookstores in Portugal, has beautiful, unique stairs that curve around the store. It is also known as the inspiration for the magical stairs in Harry Potter because the author of the series used to live in the city. Due to its unique architecture and inspiration for a popular series, it has become one of the top tourist destinations in Porto.
Flash forward two years to my semester abroad. Having studied Portuguese in school, I desperately wanted to go to Portugal, specifically Porto. So, at the end of April, my friend and I visited both Porto and Lisbon.
While in Porto, my top priority was to see Livraria Lello. I had done so much research on it in the past that I desperately wanted to see the stairs in person and not just on Google Images. Due to it being so popular, we had to buy tickets for a specific time slot and wait in line when our time slot came. It was definitely a long process, so I recommend to anyone visiting Porto to plan ahead and pre-schedule their day around visiting Livraria Lello.
The wait was definitely worth it. As you can see in the picture, the stairs and the bookstore were incredible. After walking in, I stood in awe for the first few moments, just taking in the scenery. Being able to walk on the stairs felt so surreal at that moment. My sophomore self would have never imagined she would be on the very stairs she was reading about in class, but here I was in Livraria Lello. It was truly such a special moment.
It is crazy to think about how something like a Portuguese project would impact my life. In truth, I would not have had a strong interest in visiting Portugal without taking those classes at UNC, let alone Livraria Lello. It showed me the importance of what we learn at university and how it impacts us, big or small. That Portuguese class gave me an interest and experience I will never forget, and I am so grateful for that. So if you are ever in Porto and have the time to visit Livraria Lello, it is amazing to see, even if you aren’t a Harry Potter fan.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more of my adventures.
Mary Kate Burns 