Travels in the 2nd half

Chocolate sardines in beautiful tins   I love being able to spend several days visiting a city, it gives me the chance to explore the local culture. My stay in Porto, Portugal gave me exactly that opportunity, and here are some of the things I was able to enjoy. Mercado do Bolhão At the heart of the Bolhão neighborhood is a shopping district that is centered around the Mercado do Bolhão (Bolhão Market). Many of the streets have been pedestrianized, and they are lined with stores selling everything from tourist goods to high-end fashions.    There are also street musicians, playing for donations, providing a musical background as you walk along.  The Mercado do Bolhão has been on this spot since 1839. Originally an outdoor food market, its structure was constructed in the early 1900’s. The building now climbs 4 stories, housing shops and restaurants on it upper levels, with a large open food market on its main floor. Because int is built into a hillside, there are en...

Last week, I described the start of my walk through Porto’s Old City, from my hotel to the São Bento train station. This week, I am continuing that trek through Portugal’s second city.   The São Bento station sits at the bottom of a ravine, but my next stop was up at its top, a climb of over 20m in a distance of 600m.  I was headed to the Portuguese Center for Photography. The center was founded in 1996, as more and more of the photographers who had been exiled during the Salazar regime returned to the country. The museum is housed in the former Caderia da Relacão, a former prison. Center of Portuguese Photography by By Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via wikimedia   The main exhibition on display was Despojos de Guerra (Spoils of War) by Leonel de Castro. These photos document the injuries that occurred during the various wars of liberation in the Portuguese colonies in Africa.    The second exhibit was photos taken during during the revolution of April 25, 1974. Th...