PORTO - Portugal - page 341

• At the north end of the square, branching off to the left of the blue-tiled church, is...
▲ Rua de Santa Catarina —Porto's main shopping street is busy and (mostly) traffic-
free by day, quiet by night. A stroll along here gives you a sense of today's Porto—as
well as yesterday's, including the venerable Art Nouveau Café Majestic, the circa-1900
hangout for the local intelligentsia, a block down on your right. Step in. Porto's pet name
for a little coffee is cimbalino —named for the traditional Italian espresso-making ma-
chines. Outside Café Majestic (on the nearby corner), the FNAC department store has
an Art Deco glockenspiel performance (daily at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 18:00) in which
Henry the Navigator, St. John the Baptist—Porto's patron saint—and two poets (who look
like Lincoln and Einstein) parade around.
The Rua de Santa Catarina sidewalk is a good example of calçada á portuguesa,
Portugal's unique limestone and basalt mosaic work. It's handmade and high-mainten-
ance...but apparently worth the effort and expense to locals. Notice all of the shoe stores.
Along with wine, textile and shoe factories power northern Portugal's industry.
• If you head up the street two blocks and turn left on Rua Formosa (note the Pearl of the
Market shop at #279, filled with traditional and edible souvenirs), you'll run into the...
▲ Market (Bolhão) —Porto's vibrant traditional market still thrives, despite competition
from newer shopping malls. This is a great place to wander—especially in the morn-