Greetings from Porto, whose lanes are lined with colorful textiles

Key points

• Greetings from Porto, whose lanes are lined with colorful textiles Esme Nicholson/NPR Linen lines the lanes of Porto's old town.
• Up high, fresh laundry quivers in the breeze like bunting, pegged precariously to twine stretched taut between windows.
• And at street level, linen scarves, cotton aprons and tea towels adorn the entrances to souvenir shops, many of which are run by Bangladeshi immigrants whose home country shares Portugal's rich tradition of textile manufacturing.
• As I thumb the tea towels, I'm struck by stark sentimentality.
• I think of the drawer of tea towels at home, a motley mix of mementos from my own vacations and those I've inadvertently inherited.