Porto Scenes, 2

Continuing our fine first day in upper Porto...

Note: 1) much of the old city is under wraps, renovation; 2) the up and down
nature of the place; 3) the azulejos on the churches (and later, public buildings);
the azulejos are the beautiful blue tile painting thingies...of which we will see
much more; typical Portuguese everywhere

Street scene

Artsy juxtaposition of tourist train and Carmelite churches and azulejos

U of Porto Old Main; nice gift shoppe

Wait, are we in Cuzco?!

Dublin?!

Over the top azuleja wall on Carmelite churches; there are two of them, a boys'
and a girls'...more on this below

Detail

Inside, the usual South American gold leaf everywhere

Plus, in both churches, life-sized religious mannequins in
interesting poses

The city had a law, story goes, prohibiting his and her churches
from sharing a wall--go ahead with whatever filthy thoughts you
may have--and thus, between the church of Carmo and that of
the Carmelitas, there is a 1 meter wide 3 story apartment that
was occupied, so we have read, until the 1980s; perhaps by
persons of bi-sexual orientation?

Plus the usual gold

Full frontal of the Carmelite churches

More art deco; by my count, construction cranes outnumber churches in Porto
by 2:1

Interior of yet another interesting building

Tuk-tuk Central; as in Lisbon, Porto has a fleet of tuk-tuk tourist taxis; all-electric,
too, which is good, since tuk-tuks generally are powered by super-polluting 2-cycle
engines...

Inside the Clerigos church (but not tower)

Another beautiful old building; couldn't quite tell whether it was being
renovated or demolished

And more azulejas

Lunch At Porto's Cafe Majestic

It was lunch-time, we were hungry, I wanted to try Porto's decadent francesinha sandwich, and the Majestic Cafe, the city's best belle epoch cafe was nearby. Plus, the Amorino's was just down the street. Unbeatable combination.

1923 newspaper review of the new Majestic Cafe

Loved the "obstinate aged listlessly passing the time away" bit

We shared an order of the francesinha with frites

Agreed, it looks like it might be a caramel flan...however, what's in there is...
a foundation of Texas toast, a layer of sliced steak, a layer of sausage, a layer
of ham, all slathered in melted white cheese, then launched into a sea of
tomato/peppery secret sauce; perhaps the original heart attack on a plate; another
"once in a lifetime experience," we agreed

But the decor was great

Tooled leather bench seating throughout

On, we waddled, to dessert at Amorino's

Porto Scenes, 1

We had a fine first day in Porto, Portugal's 2nd largest city. Greater Porto is built on the steep slopes descending to near the mouth of the Douro. On the south side is the city of Gaia, where the port (wine) warehouses lay, at the bottom. Porto proper is on the north side, with the oldest neighborhood, the Ribeira, on the river. One gets the impression that in Porto there are no real directions apart from up and down. We spent our first day in upper Porto. The campground attendant had wisely advised us to take the bus, #906, all the way to the end of the line, Trindade, at the top, and work our way down to the river. Not up. This is what we did, although we got only as far down as the Bento train station, with its incredible azulejos (later post).

Just off the bus, looking down the Placa da Libertade; beautiful buildings, much
construction and reconstruction; typical

Now in the Mercado do Bolhao

Interesting; seen bettter; mostly cheap cheap tourist crap, port samplers

In the garlic department

Out on the street, interesting architecture

Street scene; note Amorino's on left: dessert!

Art nuevo here and there (see next post)

Another street scene, beautiful Friday afternoon

Art deco too

Jacarandas working over-time here too

Lurking behind the trees, the best art deco McDonald's ever,
so far

At the bottom of the Placa Libertade

Looking toward the Clerigo church and tower; no, we did not
climb the tower; this was after lunch (next post)...

Plaza da Libertade again

Even in the upper town, beautiful old buildings all around