Both during our walking tour of Mindelo and in our free time in Mindelo after our tour, we poked our noses in quite a few places in the city. It's an interesting city and much more lively and inviting than most of the other cities that we visited. This post will be some of the places that we visited in Mindelo.

We started in several markets. Below was the fish market but since we've seen many fish, fruit, and vegetable markets, I'll move on.

We visited Star Square or Independence Square in the central city. It had fruit and vegetable vendors but local crafts people and souvenir vendors occupied the most space.

We visited the National Center for Arts, Crafts, and Design. It was basically an art gallery and was quite extensive with at least two large buildings and a plaza between them.

We stopped for a drink and some snacks at Le Gout de Grills restaurant. It was upstairs overlooking the harbor.

Our local guide said that Mindelo has a very elaborate and pretty fantastic Carnival celebration every year. It's a combination of African, Brazilian, European, and Caribbean. We visited the preparation area which is on Beach Street and is the former location of the city's police department.

Mindelo struck me as a laid-back city where the people were pretty happy with their lives.

Mindelo was quiet when we arrived early in the morning but that didn't last. Well before we left, the streets and sidewalks were very busy indeed.