This morning we slept in a bit and had a late breakfast at Mercado Bolhao, a market with dozens of fruit, vegetable, cheese, meat and fish stands. Paul got an assortment of fish, while Miss M and I enjoyed quiches, a sweet potato and rice ball, raspberries and figs. 

We walked through a shopping district, down Rua do Formosa, Rua do Santa Catarina, popping in and out of stores and to the Santa Catarina shopping mall.

Next, Capela das Almas (Chapel of Souls) which is famous for its exterior walls covered in over 15,000 blue and white tiles. 

Down Avenue dos Aliatos for a brief rest at the hotel, and then we ventured out again – this time to Livraria Lello, a beautiful bookstore built in 1906. It’s so popular we had to purchase entry tickets and then could apply the ticket costs to Liverio Lello edition books. A great marketing strategy!

Next stop: Torre dos Clérigos, an 18th century baroque church, where Paul climbed the 75m bell tower.

After dropping off today’s purchases at the hotel, we stopped at a nearby cafe for a snack and then walked down to the waterfront to watch the street performers. We decided to get another snack at Bar Ponte Persil under the bridge. It had such a pretty view so ordered “Persil nachos” and received – bowl of Doritos with a dipping cup of guacamole. Oh well!

Porto has been in the mid 70s since we arrived and feels cool compared to Lisbon which was very hot in the sun, and cool and windy at night. Miss M and I definitely didn’t pack for the cooler weather but it’s given us an excuse to shop. 

For dinner we went to Casa Quedes, the place where Paul brought us take-out from the night prior. Miss M and I had papas bravas (spicy potatoes) and burguer da casa (burger with soft sheep cheese and caramelized onions in port wine.) Paul started with what looked like a kufteh covered in spicy hot Cheetos but in fact it was roasted pork rissol with caramelized onions in port wine. Then he had a D’uoro Guedes sandwich (roasted pork, cured black pork, buttery cow cheese, caramelized onions in port wine and arugula) with fries. Everything was soooo good!