Igreja de São Lourenço

Today we had a free day to explore the city. Unfortunately, it was going to be raining heavily for most of the day. After conferring with the others, six of us headed off for the Paläcio da Bolsa (stock exchange) down by the river. We stopped to have a look at Porto Cathedral and decided to go in, as the rainfall was getting heavier and heavier.

Sé do Porto (Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady) is a Roman Catholic church located in the historical centre of Porto. It is one of the city’s oldest monuments and one of the most important local Romanesque monuments. Work began on it in 1110 and was completed in 1737. The Cathedral contains elements of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque styles. There are 30 main churches in Porto. While there, we ran into Mark who decided to join us as we headed down towards the water.

We left the cathedral, and of course it started to rain again. We were walking down steep and narrow laneways as water gushed past us. To say we were getting wet was an understatement. To make things more uncomfortable the humidity was at about 100%.

We stopped for a drink at a little bar to get out of the rain, and then headed off again for Paläcio da Bolsa. When we finally made it to the big square opposite, where there is a large statue of Henry the Navigator, we found a huge line of people waiting to get in, huddled under umbrellas. So, we decided to head into a restaurant across the way called the Hard Club, located in what used to be a market. The restaurant was spacious and comfortable and could accommodate us so we settled in for lunch. We had a great time, with fabulous food, wine and company.

On leaving the restaurant, we could see that the line for Paläcio da Bolsa was just as long and it was starting to rain again! So we abandoned the idea of visiting it today. We headed down to the river to check out some stores and then a number in the group decided to go to a museum. Ian and I instead went to Ag Jewels, owned by Pedro and his wife Paola, where I found some gorgeous earrings and some other bits and pieces.

Ian and I then decided to walk back up to our hotel. Again on the way home we had to seek refuge as the rain was so heavy. We stopped for coffee and cake at a lovely café before the final walk up the hill to our hotel. We had a bit of a rest before going out for the final group dinner.Read more