Day 4 Sept 30 - Porto

Today we had a free day in Porto to explore the city on our own. We started out with breakfast at the hotel then grabbed a map and started to wander the city.  First we had a look at the Sao Bento railway station which became our landmark to find our way back to the hotel. We then wandered the maze of steep streets of Porto. We found our way to the lower deck of one of the main bridge to the south side of the river which is a different city called Gaia.  Gaia has a number of Port wine cellars and is the main docking port for the river cruise ships. We discovered that most of the port cellars and museums were closed until later in the afternoon... so we continued to explore around the narrow, steep streets until we reached the top of the main bridge.

We then walked across the top deck of the bridge which gave us a nice view of the Douro River and Porto. On the way down to the river we stopped off at a great little cafe where we had a bite to eat. It was a great find as the food was delicious.

After lunch we wandered to the riverside on the Porto side of the river which is known as the Ribeira area. This is quite a touristy area with a number of hotels and cafes which offer food at typical touristy prices (and quality we're sure). This area is made up of medieval streets and contains ancient and colourful homes.  It is considered the most picturesque spot in the city and was declared a Unesco world heritage site.

After having a look around we headed back up the hill towards our hotel and in search of the book store where JR Rawlings wrote some of the Harry Potter books. We finally found it after a bit of a search. It has a very interesting staircase. We were not allowed to take pictures in the bookstore however if you Google Harry Potter Porto Library there are lots of pictures.

After our walk around we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for supper with Filipe.