Walking Up and Down the Streets in Porto

On Monday, we wanted to get our bearings so we walked - uphill and downhill on a bright sunny day. Our apartment is located in a perfect spot for doing this, very close to the big Se Cathedral in the upper part in the City Centre and to everything else in the Historic Centre.

A logical walk would be to go up the main boulevard and then do a big square to the university and back. But we didn’t do this, we just wandered up and down hilly streets taking in all the interesting sights.

We popped into the local McDonalds, the ‘Imperial MacDonalds’. Not the usual humdrum hamburger joint as you will see. The name “Imperial” comes from the Eagle, which decorated the facade of the original building when it was the Imperial Cafe. There is some amazing art deco stained glass, a beautiful ceiling and of all things ... chandeliers! In a MacDonald’s! Haha.

The old buildings here are quite high (4 or 5 stories) with fancy metal balconies and interesting doors. There seem to be lots of parks and squares and places for people to sit and have an expresso.

Vaughan went to visit an interesting cafe called The Majestic. The Majestic is considered one of the most beautiful cafés in the world. The locals call it Porto’s crown jewel. Opened in 1921, with a belle époque architecture, it was the place where artists met up. Chris and I will have to make a point of visiting it.

As we walked, we were always able to see a very high church belltower, that is set on a hill to make it taller, called the Clerigos Church and Tower. We could see it from any spot so it gave us a good point of reference. You can climb its 230 steps which we may do later in the week.

We ended up at the Lions Square at the University of Porto. It is a happening place with students, cafes, street performers and music. It is a great place to stop for lunch or a pastry with a coffee or a Super Bock beer.

Lots to see and do here, for sure!Read more