Porto is "the city that works", priding itself on a gritty and workmanlike attitude. The local saying is "Coimbra studies, Braga prays, Lisbon parties, and Porto works". Thus its attitude appeals to these two travelers from the working city of Houston . It also has a more "Atlantic" weather, and as you will see from some of the photos, rain and clouds are common.
The main square Praca Liberdade is attractive, and like Lisbon, not unpleasantly noisy. It is lined with the usual high-end shops and airline offices, and one amazing site:
The "Imperial McDonalds", so named because it occupies premises of the former "Imperial Cafe". Our earlier post on "Big Mac Arbitrage" notwithstanding, we would not wish you to conclude we seek out and document every instance of the Golden Arches on our travels. We offer these images simply for enjoyment, as the most elegant McDonalds we have ever seen. We declined the Big Mac and continued exploring Portuguese cuisine. Bettie had grilled sardines and pronounced them very good; I took her word for it without performing personal verification. But the photo demonstrates that Texas does not have the biggest of everything.
Our Hotel Internacional was located just off the square. The interior was all tile and old-world mansion, but lacked new-world Internet.
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