Today was kind of a spare day for exploring Porto and environs. We started with a walk to downtown Porto and made our way toward the 
Livaria Lello (Wikipedia, TripAdvisor). This is a landmark old bookstore where allegedly J.K. Rowling drew inspiration for Harry Potter (or did she?), particularly the moving stairs in Hogwarts. She had lived in Porto before moving to Edinburgh where most of the first books were written. The bookstore has become quite the Harry Potter tourist attraction and there was a 
long line outside and about a 30-minute wait to get in. We dutifully stood in line, which was at least shaded and pleasant. Once inside, the shop is very pretty but still rather crowded, especially around the stairs where everyone wants a photo. I did my bit and played tourist, then we browsed the shelves for a while to make the time invested seem worthwhile. 
Neither of us bought anything, after all though the selecti
on was an interesting mix of Portuguese and English (and a few other languages) titles.
Laurie had heard of a shop featuring Portugal crafts that was in the vicinity so she went searching for it while we were in line for the Livaria Lello. After about 10 minutes she came back and reported it was around the corner…in fact is was also the set of windows we had been standing in front of for most of the time we had been in line. It was named A Vida Portuguesa (TripAdvisor) and we went in after finishing at the Livaria. It’s a very nice store with a wide assortment of mostly high-end crafts, household items and kitsch from all over Portugal. It was even more fun to browse there. Laurie shopped a bit more diligently than I, and came away with some odds and ends for herself, Maggie and the boys. I wish I had bought some of their sea salt flakes which I seem to have a hard time finding anywhere.
We headed back to Liberdade Square to catch the 500 bus to Matosinhos. David, our PortoWalkers guide, had mentioned this route which goes along the river and coastal beach to a market, 
and we had heard good things about the beachfront area called Foz. The bus itself was a very nice, modern double decker and we snagged seats up top. The ride to Matosinhos was about an hour but was waterside most of the way; it was quite interesting to see some real city life on a Sunday. Being a warm, sunny weekend, the beaches through Foz and especially past the City Park were quite busy.
There is a fisherman’s market in the port area of Matosinhos that is supposed to be well worth a visit, with many stalls and nearby restaurants, but we knew it would be closed on the Sunday. So we got off the bus a bit before the market and wandered the streets looking for a restaurant that was especially well-rated, the Restaurante Lage do Senhor do Pradao. I was once again betrayed by the lack of wifi and not really knowing where I was going, so we rattled around for a bit, getting hotter and hungrier.
All the while we passed (and smelled wonderful aromas of) fish being cooked on sidewalk charcoal grills of various restaurants. There were many of them on each block, often right next to each other. We didn’t see this style of cooking anywhere else on the trip, but it was dominant in this Matosinhos neighborhood and boy it smelled good. We eventually found our target restaurant, only to learn it was closed for a couple of weeks of summer vacation. But there were several others across the street that looked busy and good. We found a table inside one but I’ve lost track of the name and can’t find it on any listings…a symptom of a surplus of good restaurants, I guess. We ordered a fish platter that turned out to be about six different kinds of fish, all grilled, along with grilled veggies and potatoes. 
The fish were mostly delicious, especially the John Dory and the sardines. Laurie said the lenguado was not as good as the Gaia restaurant a few days before, but it was all pretty wonderful to me. The wine was nice and cold, and the overall price was reasonable. We got an education in fish types from the friendly restaurant host and from the helpful photos on the wall. Altogether a very pleasant lunch and well worth the trip.
The only downside was we were sleepy and a bit dragged out after the lunch and had no more patience for wandering further in the heat. So we found a bus stop for the return ride. The bus came along soon enough and was empty so we got the top front seats (which made Laurie happier for carsickness prevention). We’d originally thought we’d stop in Foz to wander some and catch one of the antique streetcars back into downtown Porto, but the air conditioning of the bus won us over and we stayed on it for the full ride.
Back in old town Porto, we revived ourselves with a stop at an ice cream parlor, of which there were many. Laurie got me pistachio and while it was tasty, it didn’t hold a candle to ice cream of San Sebastian which is still my gold standard. 
We walked back to the apartment for a short rest before venturing out to watch the sunset from the overlook at the nearby monastery of Serra do Pilar. This former monastery was also a fort during British occupations and retains a commanding view of the river, city and Ponte Luis. That evening’s sunset was mainly special because it was our last one in Porto. I took dozens of pictures trying to catch the seagulls at the right moment. I never really got the shot I wanted, but it was fun trying.
After sunset, and still pretty full from lunch, we thought we’d try to find some light dinner on the Gaia side of the bridge, without venturing down to the waterfront. There was very little in Yelp or any other guides to point us, but we headed up the main drag, the Avenue de Republica. There wasn’t much happening on a Sunday evening. We soon saw a small bar/restaurant, the Cafe Avenida, that had cluster of men watching a soccer game on TV. It turned out to be a match between Real Madrid and Manchester United, two of the best teams in the world. The game was playing on multiple TVs in the place, and there were maybe 30 men watching intently but they stayed oddly quiet. I wasn’t sure if Portuguese fans are more reserved, or maybe they don’t like Ronaldo (both of which I doubt; we passed multiple stores dedicated to the local team, FC Porto, though I can’t say I say I saw much evidence of a cult of Ronaldo). It remained a mystery until I did a little research for this post and found that the game had actually been played 5 days earlier — we were watching a replay. And it was the Super Cup, which I’d never heard of…a pre-season opening game between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League from the previous season. Who knew? The guys in the bar, I guess.
This was my last chance to try a Franchesina, but I just couldn’t bear the thought. I went with a burger instead and shared the fries with Laurie while we nursed a couple of beers. A quiet, simple meal for our last night in Porto.
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