Porto City Walk

We decided to do one of the Porto city walks recommended in Rick Steves' Portugal book, so we headed over to our nearest Metro stop, Casa de Musica, about 1/2 mile from our apartment. We're out on the edge of town in the Boavista area, so we changed trains once at Trindade, and reached our destination at Sao Bento train station. The Upper Porto walk started not far from there.
We walked down Avenida dos Aliados, past Liberty Square, where the statue of King Pedro IV, a hero in the 1832 Civil War, resides. We saw the Imperial McDonald's, one of the fanciest McDonald's in Europe. We saw buildings with a variety of tile colors, and an outdoor arts and crafts market in a little square. We stopped at Padaria Ribeiro for a pastry and coffee. We walked past the University of Porto, and watched for students in black robes, known as "bats".

Colorful tiles on the apartment buildings surrounding a market square

Statue of King Pedro IV

It's hard to see, but there's a guy on the top floor lowering a bucket full of tiles or
concrete to the guy on the truck bed. No elevator in this old building, I guess.

We toured the Carmo Church and monastery, which was once inhabited by friars, and to the left of it the Carmelite church and convent, with a house in between them, known as the world's narrowest house. One curiosity was a nook where you could see the back of a kneeling statue of Jesus, and could touch his foot. I tried to get a good photo, but it's hard to see.

There's a short door in between the two churches,
which is the entry to the world's narrowest house.

The foot of Jesus, seen from the back, in the narrow house

The statue of Jesus carrying the cross, from the front, in the Carmo church

Statue of the body of Jesus lying down in a lighted casket, below His mother.
We saw these in several churches.

A wax leg on the altar

There is a secret passage behind this tiled wall. I guess the hinge might be a giveaway.

A display of ornate vestments in glass cases, and in the middle,
enclosed conveyances to transport high ranking priests, which would be carried by servants.

The Porto trolley

We went to the Lello bookstore, said to have inspired J.K. Rowling's description of Hogwarts. We had to buy tickets for 5 euros at a shop nearby, where we could store our backpacks, and where they had a replica of the Platform 9-3/4 sign, and a shopping cart with appropriate Harry Potter ephemera set up. I posed for a picture there.

Off to Hogwarts 

Then, we stood in line to get into the store. The wait wasn't long, and the store was a marvel, so we were glad we'd done it. And, if you purchase anything, your 5 euro entry fee is credited toward the purchase. I think there are so many lookie-loos taking photos, who d0n't buy anything, that the entry fee brings some money into the wonderful store. Afterward, we got gelato at the shop next door. No need to be hungry during our wanderings.

Notice all of the busts of the authors denoting the section where their works are displayed

A nook devoted to Harry Potter books

Luckily, gelato shops are always nearby

Next we visited the Clerigos church, where a wedding was going on. I guess people in downtown Porto, in historic churches, must be accustomed to having tourists wander through their private events.

Clerigos Tower

Our last stop was the Misericordia Church and Museum, since the 16th century a charitable organization in Porto. We toured both, and enjoyed the artistic display of coffeepots, turned into various little sculptures.
































We ended up eating dinner at McDonald's, an embarrassing, but convenient stop on our way back to the Metro. Though the location was quite elegant, the food was no better or worse than at home.





That evening Nancy, Gail and I went to a classical concert at the Casa de Musica. It was a Schubert Mass, which included a chorale. The concert hall isn't very big, so every seat had a good view. We had great seats, and enjoyed the music.

We enjoyed the concert, but the guy in the picture is saying,
 Dang, I thought you said it was Guys and Dolls.