Praça da Liberdade

We had been on the go since before 9am, and so we decided to locate cafe Santiago which Rui had told us made one of the best Francesinhas in the city. Francesinha, which mens little Frenchie in Portuguese, originated in Porto, but can be found throughout Portugal. Since we arrived in Portugal, everywhere we have gone people have told us that we must try this Porto speciality sandwich. The sandwich is basically a heart attack on a plate. It comprises of layered meat - wet-cured ham, linguiça, fresh sausage, steak and roast pork - in a sandwich that is covered in melted cheese, topped with a fried egg, and sits in a hot tomato and beer sauce. All of this surrounded by fries! We decided to share one, and I had to admit it was surprisingly tasty, although I won’t be ordering another one for a while, or maybe ever again! We also shared a Portuguese hot dog, which has a Portuguese sausage with cheese, onion and the Francesinhas sauce - it is cut into small segments and mush easier to eat.

After lunch we decided we needed to do some walking, and so we checked out the Avenue dos Aliados, which is a large square with lots of hotels, banks and the rather fancy looking town hall. We then made our way along Rua Santa Catarina, checked out the Majestic Cafe, and bought some Portuguese chocolate before then making our way back to our apartment. We had dinner at “Grade A” restaurant, one of the recommendations from Rui. I had seafood rice, which was delicious, Ian had Dover Sole, and we had a bottle of rosé with it. It all was excellent.Read more