The bonfires saint

In the eve of June 23rd, all city business closes early, the stage for the band are mounted in the various parishes of Porto ready to accommodate the thousands of people who will be congregating on the streets. The main arteries of the metropolis are closed to vehicles, sidewalks and roads now belong to the people and their Johannine reveries. After a sumptuous dinner well watered with wine is departure time towards the riverside to watch the fire fireworks in honor of the saint. Before midnight thousands paper balloons are inflated by the flames of lighters, which rise, rise and rise until they seem more of a star in the firmament pitch. There is unrest in the air, the time is approaching ... The barges in unison give the signal for the start of the fireworks display. The Douro River wins a stage role as thousands of rockets nail the sky with sparkling balls. Again and again. After what seems like an eternity of color and light, when you least expect Dom Luís bridge filled with a flood of light, a waterfall that descends by its antiquated irons that is accompanied by shouts of admiration from thousands, then a salvo of rockets resonates at a dizzying pace almost deafening ending the show. Spontaneously erupts suddenly a big round of applause, but the party is not over yet. The night is still young. Time with friends to go to the best place to drink some beers and dance, and all roads lead to the best dance place of the city with the best bands of popular Portuguese music, the Miragaia dance. To get there it takes an iron will, because the crowd is compressed so chaotically thru the extremely narrow alleys of the Ribeira and what looks like a very easy and short route becomes a litmus test of endurance. But this is all part of the experience, and also taking a punch on the head from the famous hammers of Saint John. It is an indispensable utensil for spontaneous fun and very noisy which is used by both kids and adults alike, well, if someone before does rube a smelly leeks on your nose. That night anything goes, so do not take it hard, play and let yourself go up the stairs of Miragaia for some mighty dance moves, you'll see that it hurts nothing ... yet. After twirls, twists and turns, nothing better than walking along the waterfront, from Fontainhas, another of the mandatory stops in direction to Foz. The route will be lit of families, friends, neighbors and strangers in mild conviviality and of course there is always music to brighten the spirits drinks for the quench thirst and fritters to kill gluttony. All go to the point where the river meets the sea towards the bonfires that are Johannine tradition is to jump and when fatigue becomes established already time to go home, because the first rays of sun of the newly 24th burn the tired eyes. It's time to sleep after the longest night of the year. Good morning.