In Porto, we walked to town and ate pastel nata, Portuguese custard tarts. Then we went to the bookstore that inspired J. K. Rowlings (who wrote the Harry Potter books) about Hogwarts. It was crowded but beautiful inside. The bookstore was not very big, but there was a winding staircase to the top floor and a stained glass roof. On the bottom floor, there were books piled up to the ceiling and ladders leaning against the walls. I went a bit crazy in the bookstore, like I usually do in bookstores, and bought a book about the Iliad and Odyssey, as well as two others.

Sirius made friends with two dogs from a nearby boat called Smoot and Marina. They played on the dock and Sirius kept wanting to go and see them. Smoot, Marina, and their owner Sasha went kayaking with Dad, Jonas, and Sirius and taught Sirius how to swim. Later that day, they went for a bike ride with us. It was Sirius’s first bike ride (aside from riding in a basket in the front) and we were glad that he could do it with other dogs to show him how.

The next day, we did an overnight passage to Cedeira, Spain. Sirius was upset to leave Smoot and Marina but cheered up when we got to land. It was rainy and windy and Dad had to put the engine on Zoom because we couldn’t row up wind. We were not used to the rain and cold, coming from the Mediterranean, or the tide. Cedeira was the first place in Spain we had been last year. It was also one of my favourite places in Spain. There were more trees and greenery than we had seen in a long time and the whole place smelled like pine. We went for a hike through the woods beside the town to the lighthouse. It was a very nice walk. We went out for delicious tapas that night. The octopus was the best.

The next day was warmer, so Dad, Jonas, and Sirius played on the beach while Mom and I went grocery shopping. After we dropped the groceries off at Blue Hour, we went to the pet store, hardware store, and looked for other things we might need. Then we went out for tapas again because that would be the last time we would be in Spain this trip. Right now, we are on a passage to France!