Bartlett School of Planning's First Year's Field Trip to Porto
Louise Oswald's diary documenting a three-day trip to Portugal with her BSP coursemates and tutors.
The Bartlett School of Planning (BSP) hosts a compulsory field trip for all first year students and this year, our field trip was incorporated into the urban design module- Introducing Urban Design.
This year we were fortunate to go to Porto, Portugal.
There is a video montage uploaded to The Bartlett youtube account should you wish to watch that.
This is a review of everything we (and I) did on this field trip„, It was one of my favourite experiences and ways of learning.
Day One
Having had all of our flights and accommodation booked for us by the BSP (thank you so much <3), we were responsible for getting to Gatwick by ourselves ready to meet our tutors for 7:30 am.
Getting the tube to Victoria to get the Gatwick Express, checking our bags in, going through security and patiently impatiently awaiting the reveal of our gate.
We arrived in Porto, meeting the remainder of our tutors at the airport, we then got a coach to our hotel where we were checked in and given a couple of hours to settle and grab some lunch.
With some classmates, we walked down to the riverside and grabbed some lunch…very delicious and with amazing views of Gaia.
That afternoon we had a short lecture on the history of Porto given by a local urban designer.
Day Two
We were up early for our hotel breakfast and ready to meet our tutors ahead of our walking tours. Our cohort was divided into four groups, each having a tour led by a local, someone familiar with the area’s history. Since this field trip was part of our Urban Design module, in which we are to develop a proposal for a public square, the tour was comprised of many of the public squares within Porto. My tour guide took us on a bit of a detour to see the views overlooking the Douro River.
I, along with some classmates, had decided to spend some time in Gaia before getting the cable car back to the top where we’d get the metro back to our hotel.
A social dinner was arranged by UCL for us all to attend, alongside all of the tutors. We had gone to Casa da Musica, where we had the restaurant all to ourselves and were served a delicious three course meal.
Casa da musica also has a terrace where you can overlook the city. Seeing it lit up at night is beautiful.
Our last full day in Porto.
With our class split into 2, we engaged in an urban sketching class with a very skillful urban sketcher from Porto. He was very talented and dedicated to improving his sketches. We sat at Praca Dom Joao I and sketched fragments from the built environment. It was another beautiful day in Porto and so the only issue with sitting there for long was the complains of the sun being in our eyes„„
And once again, we had the afternoon to ourselves. My friend and I had decided we would visit Sao Bento Station, the train station that our tour guide had mentioned the day before for its beautiful interior. I had then insisted on having another pasteis de nata by the riverside before scouting out a place to buy vegan ones to bring back for my sister! (And yes, before you ask, they do make vegan pasteis de nata and they are just as good if you ask me!).
The sunset was so beautiful, the beach looked gorgeous! We had a stroll up towards a restaurant we had seen online and concluded our beach tour with a delicious pizza!
Thank you to everyone that helped arrange it, and thank you to Elisabete who so kindly introduced us to her home town!
If you are reading this as a prospective student, let this be an attractive opportunity that Bartlett’s School of Planning has to offer! It was an unforgettable experience and an exciting way to learn and take inspiration from.