Porto and the North

The Cais do Marégrafo is located in Foz, close to the mouth of the River Douro. The low building was originally a customs post but has now been repurposed as a coastguard station along with the former telegraph tower.

You can just about make out the bare granite of the Sao Miguel-o-Anjo Lighthouse behind the tower. Built in the 1520s this is a very primitive lighthouse - although strangely there is very little sign of where the actual light would have gone.

The Place Pinto Leite, previously known as the Casa do Campo Pequeno is another wonderful example of faded grandeur in Porto.

This imposing house was built to the order of Joaquim Pinto Leite in the mid 19th century. He belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Portugal.

What happened between this time an 1966, I'm not sure. However this is when the state bought the house to turn into a Music Conservatory. This happened in 1975 but in 2008 the building became empty.

The Jardim do Largo da Maternidade Júlio Dinis, which translates to the 'garden of the maternity square of Júlio Dinis'. The square and garden part are quite obvious, but who was Júlio Dinis?

A view across the River Douro as it nears the end of its journey to the Atlantic Ocean. This is the last section of the river between the Arrabida bridge and Foz do Porto.

On a sunny day like this with clear blue sky the water looks fairly tempting. However, I don't know what the water quality is like these days, probably much improved, but I would still guess it has a fair way to go before I'd want to swim here!

Looking down Rua dos Clerigos into the dip at the bottom of Avenida dos Aliados before the road rises steeply on Rua de 31 de Janeiro. At the top of the hill is the Igreja de São Ildefonso and the azulejo facade in the middle is that of the Igreja de Santo António dos Congregados.

This really is very much the centre of the old part of Porto with the town hall being just to the left and Sao Bento train station just to the right.

Traditional black and white paving on Rua de Miguel Bombarda in Porto. Known as calçada, this type of paving is traditionally used on pedestrianised areas and squares. 

This isn't the most flamboyant example you'll see in Portugal, you'll have to got to Lisbon for that, but it look nice - especially on Google maps!

Rua de Miguel Bombarda is fairly central and branches off from Rua de Cedofeita. It is known as something of a hub for art  galleries and the likes.

A souvenir shop in Porto. This one is located next to Clerigos so features a few more Clerigos-themed fridge magnets and statuettes than most.

The rest of the stuff is fairly standard; lots of azulejos themed designs, the obligatory Barcelos cock bottle openers and a bunch of tram-related nik-naks!

A closer look at some of the classic blue azulejos tiles which are so iconic to Portugal. This particular example is very well known and can be found on the side of the Igreja do Carmo in Porto. The tiles were painted by Carlos Branco to a design by Silvestre Silvestri and are more recent than most people think. The actual Baroque style church was built in the 1750s but the tiles, for which it is best known, were only added in 1912.

The design on the tiles is said to reflect the founding of the Carmelite Order on Mount Carmel.

Rua Santa Catarina is Porto's main shopping street. situated on this long, straight pedestrianised street are all the big high street names like Body Shop, Fnac, Zara and Adidas. It is also home to the Via Catarina shopping mall which contains plenty of other big brands. As you can see Rua Santa Catarina gets pretty busy on a Saturday afternoon.

The Fonte dos Leões (Lion fountain) sits in the square next to the Igreja dos Carmos. Built in the 19th century, this octagonal Romanesque marble fountain features 4 lion statues, although they are actually appear a little griffin-like with their wings.

The backdrop are the wonderful azulejos of the Carmo church. Dating back to 1912 these tiles depict the founding of the Carmelite Order and Mount Carmel.