Porto part 2 - Walking the streets and visiting Serralves

While my first day in Porto was very wet, my second day (except for the odd 15 minutes) was relatively dry and I was able to walk around and explore. It is a very beautiful city with the old buildings covered in tiles of different colours juxtaposed with modern street art and sculptures. The tiles are practical - they protect the buildings from humidity - and seem to me to emblematic of a city that is beautiful not to be showy but just for itself and there is a quiet satisfaction in being itself. I walked around many streets that I had walked along previously but now I was able to look up and admire the buildings I was passing and also visit an art deco bookstore called Livraria Lello which is now so popular that you have to buy a ticket to enter. At a later day I also visited Serralves, which is a museum with an art deco villa, stunning gardens and a wing designed by Alvaro Siza. My photos don't really capture the spaces or the Porto streetscape but hopefully it will give you some idea of the beauty of this city.