✨ Beneath the Stones of Porto: A Journey Remembered by the River ✨

A solo journey experienced and written by Alétheion Solara

April 2nd -Porto day one- Emotional overload

I landed on Porto airport, while waiting to exit the plane, I checked my phone. I was on this trip by myself and Seraphina messaged me and asked me if the flight went well and how Porto felt. It’s not something I’m used to, to check in how I feel.

My feelings were only subtle before my spiritual journey or even almost non existing. But this was a great reminder to do so, and I did after I exited the plane. While I walked to my taxi to go to my hotel it felt all quite neutral. I didn’t have high expectations although it was profound what drew me to Porto. I learned about a significant past live I must have had here and wondered if there was something there for me now. 

As the taxi drove me from the airport into the city I felt a tension build up in my head. I checked-in to my hotel and although it rained I immediately walked to the city center to see if there was any remembrance. Luckily for me I brought a long raincoat, it was stormy with some strong winds and some heavy rain. I only checked which direction south was from my hotel knowing it would lead me to the center.

Taking off, I just followed my intuition and let the city soak in. I wandered down the hill to the south-east of the city center. My feet walked me to the Douro River that splits Porto in two. When I got there it started to rain heavily and a stormy wind made it feel cold. But when I arrived at the river with the view to the other side of Porto my emotions were running wild. I felt emotional and cried like I was at a funeral of a beloved one. A deep remembrance of loss, longing and devotion all mixed in a emotional soup. 

Although my headache got worse I stayed to roam around and visit the Porto Cathedral. I tried to meditate there trying to soften my emotions, but it was to busy with tourists. I didn’t sense anything profound and thought the paintings were strange. They all had the same frame but the image in it was different at each wall. After my visit I went to a corner and got a view over the Douro again.

Here it was again like a lightning bolt hit me with emotion and I teared up again. Feeling heavy full emotion and my headache getting worse I tried to eat something. But the city centre was so busy full of people, my headache was getting worse and worse. I had a few bites but started to feel nauseous so I decided to go back to my hotel.

When I arrived I had a shower where the emotions got the better of me again. I cried like I haven’t in a while and my mind didn’t understand what was happening. I’ve been away from Seraphina for 12 weeks before with even approximately 8 weeks without the ability to contact her (marines). So it couldn’t be the fact that I was on my own. I started trowing up and with the pounding headache I know what this was since I’ve had it before, migraine. The only solution I’ve found is sleeping so I got into bed and try to sleep. I slept through the night with about four moments that I woke up shortly. Normally the migraines disappear about 3 hours after I go to sleep. But this time they held on until 04:15 when I finally woke up and noticed my head was back to normal again. I slept until 07:36 and felt much better when I woke up. 

April 3rd -Porto day two- Mapping around 

A nice breakfast, at a place that Seraphina found for me online, with a little sun on my head made me regain my strength. I felt good and was excited to explore Porto. Despite my strong emotions yesterday and terrible migraine I was intrigued about what would surface.

Instead of following the stream of tourist I let intuition (again) guide me where to go. And yes if you told me this one year ago, that I would follow my intuition, I would laughed at your face. But here I was, standing in a city I have never been before (in this lifetime) and I felt I knew my way around. I roamed around a bit trough the city centre until I got to the river market. I took a small break and sat on a ledge looking at a statue called: Jardim do Infante Dom Henrique. Immediately I had the sense that I’ve been at this square before and it was a former place of trade. I took the time to write my journal about my experience yesterday and saw the statue as a sign for my next direction. It pointed south-west leading me to the Douro.

The weather was great, sunny with an 18 degrees it was perfect. I followed the coast to the west and enjoyed the more quietness since I walked out of the city centre. I stopped by the coast with some nice view over the Douro for some water. Checking-in with myself, I didn’t feel the heavy emotions from yesterday. Today felt lighter and more exploring. After a while I reached a lighthouse that was on the corner of the Douro leading it in to the ocean. It was the Ferolim de Felgueiras.

But on the right of it was a fort that intrigued me more. After checking the lighthouse and enjoying the sea bashing to the shore I walked to the Foz do Douro Castle. I wandered around the fort with a sense of familiarity. There was a specific area I was drawn to, but unfortunately this was closed off and being used by the Portuguese commando regiment. Looking at the shore I saw the mount of the river. This would have been a great departure point for any ship. I carried on, following the shoreline until I reached another fort. Forte De São Francisco Xavier Do Queijo. I got inside but did’t find anything profound. 

I sat at a park to take a break and felt my legs were getting tired. So I checked my whereabouts and saw it was 7,2km walk back to my hotel. So I decided to walk back in that direction. Meanwhile I had a short check-in with Seraphina who held the fort at home with our dog and cats. And after a little detour in the city and some diner I got back in my hotel. I walked a total of approximately 27km but I was happy to see a lot of Porto in one day. 

April 4rd -Porto day three- Close to virtue

Since I walked and saw a lot yesterday I decided to take it easier today. I booked a ticket to visit the Livaria Llello. The library that supported to be the inspiration to the harry potter books (not worth is by the way). And enjoyed a slow morning breakfast. Just before the library I already noticed that my emotions were back heightened again. There was a man playing the trumpet nearby that stood beside Igreja dos Clérigos. So i didn’t know if it was the trumpet or the church but I felt touched by the moment. Although I didn’t felt the need to go inside the church.

I sat down for a short meditation in a park with giant sycamore trees to ground. A seagull came up and kept me company and some flashes of emotions ran trough me again. I let my intuition lead me again and it drew me to Parque de las Virtudes a park with different levels and some old structures. I had i strong feeling I had been there before and took my time to roam around in the park. It helped that the sun came trough and the rain finally stopped. 

In the park were all kind of natural walls with cracks in them. They looked liked a perfect hiding place for something valuable. I had the sense to search around a bit and even took a brick out were one was lose. Unfortunately I found nothing. After a while I took the earlier visit of the seagull as a sign and let them lead me across the bridge to cross the Douro.

I walked up to the Monestery of Serra do Pilar. Unfortunately It was closed and decayed like a lot of old buildings and churches in Porto. I wandered around it and looped back besides the Douro. On the side was again this old walls with what it looked like a smell emblem. I had seen fragments of this kind of natural stone walls during an earlier meditation back home. So i had the strong feeling to see if there was something hidden within. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything here as well. Without needing a map I found my way back at the hotel. And did roam the city while walking approximately 13,5km. 

April 5th -Porto day four- Strong feeling of treasure

My final day in Porto. Since I had a strong feeling in the Parque de las Virtudes I had decided to go back there. Yesterday evening at diner something remarkable happened. I was wearing a pendant of a boulder-opal. It tapped really softly against the table when I sat down and broke in two pieces. I was shocked since it didn’t hit the table hard at all and I just had it for a week since my previous one broke in two pieces as well. But since I was drawn to find something in the cracks I thought it might be a sign to put something in the cracked walls. 

At the park I found some markings on a stone that led me to believe there must be something hidden. It was around 09:30 in the morning so it was still quite in the park. I started digging in to the wall and pulling out sand and stones. Unfortunately I found nothing, and by the time I was finished I saw people coming up to me. They looked the other way, looking at the view. So i got up slowly without making a sound and got away without them noticing me there. But the whole was there so I wanted to get back to it to stew it back. I sat by a little fountain waiting for them to go away. But they took there time so I decided to enjoy the sun and meditate for a bit. 

After approximately 45 minutes in meditation it felt like someone or something pulled on my pants at my shin. I opened my eyes and saw the coast was clear. I got back to my digging site and started to put some of the dirt and stones back in the created whole. Then a salamander popped out and looked at me. He looked me straight in my eyes and I was fascinated. After a short stare he wend back to the whole but he looked over his shoulder just before he got back in. The pause and interaction with the salamander made me think of the idea of putting the broken shard of my boulder-opal here. So i placed it deep inside the whole before I put more rocks and dirt back into its place.

I went out of the park to eat something since I had gotten hungry. I left through another entrance and passed this building that was abandoned. I was struck by remembrance knowing I’ve been in that building before, for some kind of gathering. 

After lunch I got back to the park and sat across from a fountain that I did pass-by unnoticed. The geometry struck my and I immediately noticed some irregularities. I checked all cracks to see if there was something hidden. Although I felt strongly pulled to it I didn’t find anything. It was a Saturday so to paint you a picture. I was wondering around and looking into these cracks making sure I didn’t caught any attention. Since it was prohibited to touch the walls or remove bricks because of there old age. I even climbed the fountain to check the small opening at the bottom of the frame. And i managed to stay unnoticed. 

Before I left the park I checked if the fountain was opened up before for the installation of a pump or something. But it was just gravity that provided the fountain of his water from a water basin on a high-level. And it was beside this basin I found another interesting crack where I thought I had to check.

One final place before I would leave the park. There was also the circular symbol market in stone that I saw before. I sat under a tree/bush that provided some cover and I pulled out some stones. After a while I could reach with my arm into the wall to the back of the stone where I felt something. It felt like a pouch or such. I pulled it out and got whipped some slick and dirt of it. It was like leather and when I opened it there was a dirty cloth inside. I got away the cloth and saw that I found an old book. In rough shape but it looked like an old book.

I got away from the scene since it was still busy in the park and a few blocks away from it I checked the book. It was a Portuguese book from the year 1792. A true treasure, something that was unthinkable before my journey of remembrance here in Porto. I don’t think it was the treasure I was looking for, but I was destined and detriment and would not go back empty handed. 

What the River Never Forgot 

I walked not to remember, but to be remembered 

By stone, by wind, by the hush of a name unspoken. 

The Douro did not call me back — it waited

In each step, a silence stirred.

In each breath, an oath awakened. Not to find what was hidden. But to find who had hidden it. The treasure was never beneath the earth. It was the gaze that could see through time. 

The pulse that still beat, beneath the dust of forgetting. Now I walk, Not as the seeker — 

But as the one who buried the stars and came back to light them.