Livraria Lello

I’m back in Porto tonight having got the the very efficient Alsa Bus from Santiago. I was thrilled to have finally crossed Vigo’s suspension bridge the Puente de Randa. I got plenty of exercise hauling my case a couple of kilometres uphill to the hotel I stayed in when I arrived in Portugal for the first time two weeks ago.

A quick walk around most of the key sights including the marvellous São Bento railway station where I discovered I can get a €7 tourist train ticket that I can use anywhere in North Portugal for a day. The hitch is you have to use the slow urban trains but it sounds interesting. The extra is the station with its elaborate 19th century tile work.

The queue for the Lello Bookstore, it’s apparently considered the third best bookshop in the world, no idea which ones are ahead. Apparently J K Rowling used to the visit the place when she was teaching and it became the inspiration for some of the scenes in Harry Potter. I bought a copy of The Little Prince in a Livraria Lello edition.

I wandered down to the Ribeira area beside the Douro River had a bite to eat and enjoyed getting moderately lost in the labyrinth of streets.