zebec

'Brigado, very Nice report Ms Go! Gotta love Mr Go's “juice wasn’t worth the squeeze” text. LOL!
So glad that your earlier research did not go to waste--good for you guys to have been so persistent.
My fave fotos of yours so far are: the rabbit-cum-corner, the dual porto glasses and the tile depicting the peasant woman looking back at the viewer.
But I am confused. Did you not allude to a 'scary near-accident' or somesuch? Did I somehow miss it or are you yet to address that?

If ever you two might be interested in buying local music CDs as mementos, the following two musical acts are worthy. Lisbon's 'Dead Combo' play an appealing sort of noir, spaghetti-western guitar instrumentals (any title would do), while the late, great 'Madredeus' were quite different. The latter featured exquisite folk music, a crack back-up band with a superstar female vocalist. Their Greatest hits/Best Of is soooo atmospheric. Like standing outside a Portuguese church somewhere, surrounded by moody morning mist.
I am done. the Gos TR

ms_go

I'll bet it was amazing to the be the only visitors in that grand building. It seems quite busy now.

Re: the rabbit, we just saw "art" on the wall and didn't realize it was a rabbit until looking at it in the iPhone while taking photos. The "incident" is still to come, but soon. I'm on day 5 now - that happened on day 7. And thanks you for the music recommendations - always welcome here!

On to Braga

For the middle portion of our trip, we wanted a base to visit Braga and Guimaraes, and maybe a bit further afield in the Minho region. We could have flipped a coin as to which city to stay in – but we had picked Braga back in 2020, so we decided to stick with that.

Braga is only about an hour from Porto, and we had three hours between picking up a car at the Porto airport and check-in time at our Braga apartment. We decided to check out the town of Barcelos, which dates to prehistoric times and still has a medieval core. It’s a center for handicrafts, and there’s a big weekly fair on Thursdays (we visited on a Monday). It was a nice place to stretch our legs for a bit. We had lunch in a small place where we ordered the daily lunch special and weren’t sure what we’d get (it turned out to be a pasta and meat dish).


The Barcelos Rooster is a prominent symbol, both for the city and Portugal. Legend has it the rooster saved the life of a traveler convicted of theft by crowing his innocence.


Barcelos town hall - and lots of birds


Torre da Porta Nova is one of the last remains of the old city wall


Templo do Senhor Bom Jesus da Cruz


Inside the church


There's a big market here on Thursdays, but it was very quiet on Monday


Art somewhere on the walls


The Barcelos Earl’s Palace was built in the early 1400s. It fell into disrepair over the ensuing centuries, but the ruins are now a national monument.


Remains from the Earl's palace


Another rooster - they're all over town

ms_go

Braga has a long history that dates to the Roman era – and earlier. It has a mostly pedestrianized city center with a medieval core, including important religious and cultural sites. It’s also home to several universities, so there’s a young, vibrant feel. As we discovered, the food scene isn’t bad, either (Marta had told us we’d enjoy the food in the Minho region). We didn’t put too much advance work into choosing restaurants, but using The Fork and some other resources, we had three very good dinners during our stay.

Our accommodation for three nights was an apartment on the wide, landscaped Avenida da Liberdade – modern and spacious, with a washer/dryer (very helpful), but in an older, historic building. The manager has arranged parking with several public parking facilities a few blocks away for 10 Euro per day. Barely over $100/day.
Se Apartamentos—Avenida Residence

That beautiful blue sky we had in Barcelos turned to rain once we were settling into Braga – but then cleared by the time we went out for dinner.


View off the back terrace of our apartment of Basilica dos Congregados


Our apartment is on the nicely landscaped Avenida da Liberdade


Arco da Porta Nova


Cafes waiting for patrons - we enjoyed a break here at a more sunny time


Igreja do Hospital ou Igreja de São Marcos behind the city sign


Dinner at Colher d’Pau - this is mushrooms, and they were fantastic


Another take on breaded, baked bacalhau

KarenWoo

Ooh, Braga looks very interesting. Was 3 nights a good amount of time? Did you visit Guimares?

ms_go

We really enjoyed the vibe of Braga. Someone early on suggested that three nights was too much - most people spend one day seeing both Braga and Guimaraes. We thought it was nice to have the time to visit with one day for each. The drive between the two is about 30-40 minutes. There are also public transportation options, but they are a little longer than driving.

ChristopSim

Oh, I love Braga! I haven't been there in so long. Your photos brought back memories.

ms_go

Glad you're enjoying the photos, ChristopSim. There are more coming.

Braga is perhaps best known for the Santuario do Bom Jesus do Monte, a pilgrimage site and UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is about 5 km from the center of Braga, on the slopes of Mount Espinho. We could actually see it in the distance from the windows and terrace of our apartment. There's been a church on the site since the 14th Century, but the current structure was commissioned in the 17th Century. A series of staircases lead up to the church at the top, with symbolic fountains and small chapels along the way with terra-cotta scenes representing stations of the cross.

You can drive to the site or take public transportation, and there is a 19th Century water-powered tram that will take you to the top. We chose to walk -- all the way there from the city center, and all the way up the staircases, and then all the way back. It was a nice walk, through some parks and residential areas. Despite the nice day, there weren't too many people there. Some were locals who appear to take advantage of the stairs for daily exercise.


We started our day fortified by this Portuguese specialty - the pasteis de nata (egg custard tarts) - from a local bakery.


The walk to the sanctuary takes you through some residential neighborhoods. There are some lovely homes along the way.


The lower staircases are tiled and slope gradually up, with small chapels along the way.


Terra-cotta figures in one of the chapels


The upper staircase is steeper with some notable fountains


View from one of the landings on the way up


The tram that you can take to the top, if so inclined


View over Braga from in front of the church


At the top


The church - no photos allowed inside


Behind the church, there is a park with some walking paths and a small lake

ms_go

The rest of day six in Braga...


Pedestrianized center


Jardim de Santa Barbara and the medieval Archbishop’s Palace


Braga Cathedral


Cathedral courtyard and cloister


Praxe is a student-run tradition in Portuguese universities to initiate freshmen into academic life.


We ran into them everywhere.


There are various small museums around the city. We visited the Raio Palace (House of the Mexican), built in about 1754 under the design of Andre Soares. It was the family home of João Duarte de Faria, a wealthy merchant and member of the Knights Templar.


Inside the Raio Palace


The most decadent thing we ate on the entire trip - Arroz de Carabineiros at Santo by Chef.

Next up, a day trip to Guimaraes.

KarenWoo

The Sancturary do Bom Jesus is stunning! Love that staircase! If we return to Portugal, we will definitely have to include Braga.

Looking forward to your report about Guimaraes. Do you prefer one city over the other?

Melnq8

Waiting for Day 7 with bated breath...

ms_go

Not really. We enjoyed them both but have a much better feel for Braga having spent three nights there.

Soon!

Guimaraes is about 30 minutes from Braga (driving). The city dates to the 10thCentury. It is where the first king of Portugal was born and the first capital of Portugal in the 12thCentury. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the preservation of its medieval architecture. Like Braga, much of the historic center is pedestrianized. We parked in the garage attached to a large shopping mall – about a 10-minute walk from the historical center – and then meandered our way to a tourist information center to get a map.

.
Walking into the old city of Guimaraes


Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira, gothic church dating to 950


Old arches inside show various stages of building


Inside the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Oliveira


Up close with the organ


Medieval streets in the center are probably packed during peak season, but quiet during our visit


A very stately building


Castelo de Guimaraes, 11th Century fortress (renovation ongoing inside)


Igreja de Sao Miguel do Castelo, medieval Romanesque-style church


Inside the Paco dos Duques de Braganca - Ducal palace and history museum - massive tapestry in the welcoming room


Inner courtyard of the Ducal Palace


Bedroom in the Ducal Palace - trying to decide if this looks comfortable?


It was sunny and just warm enough for lunch on the square by the medieval town hall


Courtyard in the Museum de Alberto Sampaio


You can walk along the remaining section of the old city walls


Lobo Machado House, late 18th Century - it now houses and archaeology center


Jardim do Largo da Republica do Brasil


A fixer upper if interested in investing...


These tanks, dating to the Middle Ages, were for washing, dyeing and drying leather to make clothes

It was now getting later in the afternoon, and having seen much of what we came for, we headed back to the parking garage and our car. What happened next warrants its own post.

ms_go

Our visit to Guimaraes ended with a bang.

Still on the outskirts of the old city center (I wish I could tell you exactly where), we were on a very narrow street, sloping slightly downhill toward a small intersection. I’m bad at estimating distances, but we were likely around 30 feet from the intersection. There were old stone buildings, a couple of stories high, on all sides. The sidewalk, like the street, was very narrow, so I was walking a step ahead of mr_go. I was navigating toward our parking place, so looking at my phone. I didn’t see this materializing.

He, on the other hand, saw a small white van coming from the other direction, on the other side of the intersection. Suddenly, it speeds way up and swerves, now heading directly at us. I heard him yell, then he grabbed my shoulder to stop my forward movement. I lost my balance and fell – landing on the sidewalk on my left elbow. I looked up just in time to see the impact. As the van reached the intersection, a white sedan entered from the side street (the van’s right, our left) and T-boned the van, sending it airborne. It hit a wall, flipped on its side, and began sliding up the street where we were. The sound was deafening, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The van finally came to rest maybe about 10 feet from where I was on the sidewalk, too stunned to move. Glass, pieces of reflector and construction supplies were all over in the street.

After helping me up, he went up to the van, expecting the worst – and heard laughter from inside. It was two construction workers, and fortunately they were able to crawl out the window and seemed to be relatively unscathed. The woman in the car was also uninjured but quite rattled. For what it’s worth, it looked like the van had a stop sign and the car did not. There were a few people in the area who also saw this happen. The police arrived fairly quickly. We hung around for a while, but no one seemed to want to talk to us, so we finally left. We still had a 30-minute drive back to Braga, fortunately in light traffic so not too stressful. Then we made a beeline for a bar. My elbow BTW was fine – just a stinger that went away in a few minutes.

We are grateful no one seemed to be injured – but it was a very close call.

Melnq8

Holy smokes! I think I'd head for a bar too. Glad no one was hurt.

ms_go

I sometimes think about things that could happen while traveling and do worry about driving issues – but being in the crosshairs of someone else’s auto accident hasn’t been a consideration, until now. I keep thinking about what would have happened if we were 30 seconds ahead in our pace back to the car.

To wrap up this portion of our trip quickly, we’d like to give props to Tabuas, copos & outras cenas – a very nice tapas restaurant where we had dinner.


Marinated mackerel on a roasted red pepper on brown bread - I'd have seconds on this



Interestingly, we saw few other tourists in Braga. But we learned that like some other Portuguese cities, it has a fairly active expat population. We happened upon two different groups of American expats (in the same bar) during our stay there and had some interesting conversations.

Next stop, three nights in the Douro Valley at the fantastic Casa do Visconde de Chanceileros (thank you, Maribel).

zebec

'Holy smokes! I think I'd head for a bar too. Glad no one was hurt.'
I'm with Mel. Wow wow wow. So glad that no-one was hurt, including two intrepid travelers and their elbows.

We now have something in common this way MsGo. On Xmas Day '88, my pal was driving our rental on the notorious highway just outside Coimbra, a freeway that Lets Go described then as 'one of the most dangerous routes in Portugal statistics-wise'. Young idiot driver passed us illegally and immediately had a head-on with an oncoming vehicle. The idiot's vehicle careened an arc through the air like a James Bond stunt. Incredibly, everyone survived.

Curious now to read about Maribel's recco in the Douro.
I am done. The Douro

KarenWoo

I am amazed no one was seriously injured! You and your husband were very lucky, too! I would head to a bar as well!

ms_go

zebec, that sounds terrifying at highway speed. Overall, we didn't find the driving to be too bad - but there are idiot drivers everywhere.

Many visitors take a day trip to the Douro Valley from Porto. Being the wine lovers that we are, we thought it would be nice to stay there a few days and explore. That would also give a more relaxed, “rural” aspect to our trip. We also like to hike, and it is possible to do so in this area from some of the estates – although by the time we got there we realized the weather was going to have a say about that!

In 2020, we were set to stay at a very nice Quinta near the town of Peso da Regua, one of two prominent towns along the Douro. In replanning this trip, we decided we’d like to be closer to the smaller town of Pinahão.

Our destination was about a two-hour drive from Braga, depending on the route. We wanted a lunch stop somewhere in between. I read a few blogs and found a rave recommendation for Amarante. The historic old part of the town has a 16th Century church with a famous organ, as well as a medieval bridge. We found it a charming place to stop, stretch our legs, and then have a light lunch. As has been the case on this trip, the weather seemed to change on a dime. It was cloudy but dry when we arrived. Then the sun came out while we were walking around. And it was raining fairly hard when we finished lunch.


Amarante from the river-side parking area


The medieval bridge, leading to the 16th Century Igreja e Mosteiro de São Gonçalo de Amarante


Baroque facade of Igreja e Mosteiro de São Gonçalo


Medieval fountain


Inside Igrej de São Gonçalo


The famous organ


Lunch was here - simple but nice sandwiches

The one-hour drive between Amarante and Pinahão was not exactly an easy one. Part of it was on the autoestrada, and traffic was fairly light – but it was pouring rain at some points to the point the windshield wipers were barely helping. Once we got off the highway, the rain abated, but the winding hills started.


The drive between Amarante and Pinhao - this doesn't look good, but better on this day when it was "warmer." Two days later, this area had snow.


Once off the autoestrada, the rain gave way to clearing skies and views of the Douro hills

The Europcar agent in Porto had urged us to upgrade our vehicle when we told him we were going to the Douro Valley. We were skeptical that this was a pitch to get more money, but he explained that the “economy” car we’d rented came with a one-liter engine, and that wouldn’t be good on the hills. You know what? He may have been right. If you’re going to drive in the Douro or mountains of northern Portgual, a small car is good, but a small engine is not.

KarenWoo

Enjoying your latest installment about Amarante and the drive to the Douro Valley. Good tip about needing a larger car for the Douro hills. Even though I am sure it was worrisome driving in that pounding rain, snow would have been much worse.

Even though I don't know when we will return to Portugal, I have a list of places I would like to see, including the Douro Valley. I am always going back and forth in my mind about seeing the Douro Valley as a day trip or overnighting for a few nights. I think you and others have me sold on staying overnight!

ms_go

Thanks, Karen. Wait until I introduce you to Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros

ms_go

When looking at accommodations, we considered staying at several wine-producing estates near Pinahão but in the end chose Casa do Visconde de Chanceileros, an 18th Century manor house. The proprietor purchased it several decades ago when it was in significant disrepair. A lot of investment, care and love has gone into this property, which is exquisitely designed and furnished, inside and out. There are about a dozen rooms of various types across the estate. We chose the junior suite, which is huge – not just a room with multiple sitting areas, but also a very large sunroom and a similarly sized patio. So many little touches – not the least was the bottle of port in the room which was refilled daily. And a wonderful and friendly staff.

It is about 10 minutes from Pinahão via a small, winding road, but the drive didn’t seem too bad as there was rarely any traffic (nevertheless, maybe not a drive we wanted to make at night, in the dark). Breakfast is included with the room. A four-course dinner is available for 50 Euros p/p with wine and port (40 Euros p/p without). We thought about going into Pinahão for dinner but never really felt compelled to do so after the excellent dinner on our first evening there.

It was still low season during our visit, and only two rooms were occupied each of our nights there. Unfortunately, it was too cold to use the pool or even spend much time on our patio - but we still loved our stay.


The panoramic view from our terrace - I'm afraid we're never leaving!


When it's too cool outside (as it unfortunately was), our suite had this lovely sunroom


Views around the estate


More views


The flowering gardens


Dinner setting


Night one entree, steak and peppers


Our dinner companions - the house pups