We picked up our hire car and as usual the woman at the rental company was a bitch! Nevertheless we got our car and headed out of Porto as quick as we could, after a few laps of the city!
Out of Porto our fir
st stop was for coffee and information in a nice little town called Braga. We sat in a café on a pedestrian street, under the old arches into town, sipping our coffees and relaxing. As we did so the local butcher rolled a trolley full of baby piglets past ready for sale and eating… mmm… bacon, ham, pork! The town looked nice, old cobbled roads, but still decorated brightly from a recent festival. The information office was useless, but the walk around town was worth the stop.
Just out of Braga is the Bom Jesus which we semi stumbled across. It is a big church high up on the mountain, looking over Braga town. We drove up and visited the church before walking down the Baroque stairway that climbs 116 metres. The different levels of the zig zaging stairways had chapels, statues and water fountains as well as great views of the surrounding area.
Back on the road we headed to Lindoso in the Peneda Geres national park. We had visited another information place along the way, Ponte de Barca, who were much friendlier and had booked a house (Casa Assento) for us to stay in for the next two nights. The house was in the traditional style of the old Portuguese country houses and was at the base of a castle. We had views out over the valley, lake and mountains below. We sat by the castle with drinks to watch sunset before eating chicken and chips (Portugese style) which we had picked up on the way into town.
The next morning Lyn (and everyone else) slept in! Damien was first up and went for a walk around the town and castle. The castle is surrounded by Espigueiro’s which are used to store maize after it is harvested to keep it dry. They are very old and look a bit like an above ground grave. When he got back everyone was still asleep. Eventually he had to wake them!
Once we got moving we headed out to find the start a walk through the national park. This turned out to be a difficult task, even after getting a map from the tourist info. The track was not well made and the markers often difficult to find. Almost at the point of giving up, after trying various trails that all led to dense forest, prickles and dead ends. We retreated to the local café. After a coffee, some helpful words of advice and a dodgy hand drawn map on a napkin from a local we found our 
way. While the walk was not a stunning as some walks we have done, it was interesting. It took us into the valley, along a creek to the ruins of a power plant and water canals. Climbing out of the valley we got some nice views. We had our packed lunch at a local swimming hole by a small waterfall. It was nice and had a few people around swimming, but we wanted to finish the walk and then come back for a swim. The next part of the walk took us further up into the mountains above the town. We met a friendly but scary looking cow with huge horns along the way. The mountain was more exposed to the hot sun than the earlier walk, but was still nice, much of it was on old stone horse cart trails and along old rock walls. The end of the walk was through small vineyards, which we sampled some of the grapes. Another interesting part of the walk was the end which left us in the top of the village meaning we wondered past all the local plots and houses, which was nice to see. The walk had taken longer than we had thought so by the time we got back to the car we decided it was a bit late for a swim, but a good time for a beer! 
The rest of the evening was spent by the BBQ! The house we were in has a BBQ so we had a cook up. First we collected wood, then we lit it on fire (the best bit), then we watched it burn with a beer, once the coals were just right we cooked the pork chops and chicken drumsticks and then of course we ate them (which is also the best bit!). After a few glasses of port the day finished as it had began, everyone was in bed while Damien had a few extra glasses of port (although this morning it was coffee).
Alarms were going off left, right and centre the next morning to avoid sleeping in again. We had a big driving day in front of us. We drove through the other side of the national park in the morning, which was a really nice drive. Many dams, mountains, forests, narrow roads and small villages. We had hoped to stop in Germil for morning tea, but it was so small that it didn’t even have a sign and we drove straight through it not realizing. This is even more amusing to us that we missed the town, as the town is only about 200m long but it took us about 15 to drive through, as a herd of cattle were being moved and we had to sit in the car and wait for them to pass around us. Instead we stopped in a campsite café outside of Campo de Geres, which is on a big reservoir although we only saw it coming into the camp, not in the actual campsite. We also had a stop along the way at a lake we saw on the side of the road, which we made our picnic lunch spot.
Our destination was Guimaraes. After finding a place to stay and a carpark we went for a walk around town. It i
s a larger town but still very nice. It has a Castle, Palace, remnants of a city wall, stone squares around town and numerous churches. The next morning we were up early and headed to the Palace. Being Sunday it was free entry before midday so we wanted to beat the crowds. The palace is made of stone bricks with a large central courtyard. It is also very decadent with nice paintings, tapestry and furniture. 
Next we visited the Castle which is next to the Palace in some nice gardens. Castles always seem more interesting and less crowded than palaces. This one is always free to enter but today was free to climb to the top tower. The castle is semi ruined I suppose but has been restored so that you can walk around it and climb the tower. The top gave nice views over the town and Palace below. It is actually father’s day today so we called it ‘Dads Castle’.
I hope you don’t get the impression that all we are doing is eating and drinking over here! Before we left town we had coffee and Portuguese tarts. Our destination today was Obidos, but before we arrived we stopped for a father’s day picnic (same as any picnic really except there was beer involved). We also had a side trip to Nazare beach. Our brief visit here consisted mainly of a big traffic jam as we drove past the bullring just as crowds were gathering for a bullfight. We eventually made it up to the lookout which gave great views of the coast line and beach below. We also met some friendly Dutch campervanners, visited the old church and got ripped off at a market trying to buy cashews.
Obidos is an amazing town. It is small with a very narrow cobbled main street. The entire town is surrounded by a wall which is still intact. There ar
e only a few entry and exit points through the wall. These are extremely narrow corners which made for some interesting driving. We got in late after all the sightseeing and eating earlier in the day. After finding a lovely pension overlooking the main street to stay in and getting the car through the walls, it was well past beer o’clock! We had a father’s day dinner in a little restaurant ran by a very friendly man. The food was good as were the beers and wines that flowed.
Next morning we were up early again to explore the town a bit more. There were many shops that the girls liked on the main street (just watch out for those bus tours!). We also walked around the city on top of the wall. This was great, very high and narrow in places with no safety rail, just how Christine likes it! This had views of the town and the plains outside of town.
After coffee and cake with our friendly little man from last night we back on the road headed for Lisbon. Lisbon is the capital and biggest city in Portugal which made finding a carpark and accommodation much more difficult. We eventually managed, much thanks to Mum randomly sticking her head into a hotel (Hotel Roma) to find our if they had apartments. Turns out they did! They also had a garage for 10 euro a night right in the centre of town. We took the scenic tram around town the first night and hopped off when we saw a busy looking restaurant for dinner. It was a bit too busy as the service was almost nonexistent.
Out of Porto our fir
st stop was for coffee and information in a nice little town called Braga. We sat in a café on a pedestrian street, under the old arches into town, sipping our coffees and relaxing. As we did so the local butcher rolled a trolley full of baby piglets past ready for sale and eating… mmm… bacon, ham, pork! The town looked nice, old cobbled roads, but still decorated brightly from a recent festival. The information office was useless, but the walk around town was worth the stop.Just out of Braga is the Bom Jesus which we semi stumbled across. It is a big church high up on the mountain, looking over Braga town. We drove up and visited the church before walking down the Baroque stairway that climbs 116 metres. The different levels of the zig zaging stairways had chapels, statues and water fountains as well as great views of the surrounding area.
Back on the road we headed to Lindoso in the Peneda Geres national park. We had visited another information place along the way, Ponte de Barca, who were much friendlier and had booked a house (Casa Assento) for us to stay in for the next two nights. The house was in the traditional style of the old Portuguese country houses and was at the base of a castle. We had views out over the valley, lake and mountains below. We sat by the castle with drinks to watch sunset before eating chicken and chips (Portugese style) which we had picked up on the way into town.
The next morning Lyn (and everyone else) slept in! Damien was first up and went for a walk around the town and castle. The castle is surrounded by Espigueiro’s which are used to store maize after it is harvested to keep it dry. They are very old and look a bit like an above ground grave. When he got back everyone was still asleep. Eventually he had to wake them!
Once we got moving we headed out to find the start a walk through the national park. This turned out to be a difficult task, even after getting a map from the tourist info. The track was not well made and the markers often difficult to find. Almost at the point of giving up, after trying various trails that all led to dense forest, prickles and dead ends. We retreated to the local café. After a coffee, some helpful words of advice and a dodgy hand drawn map on a napkin from a local we found our 
way. While the walk was not a stunning as some walks we have done, it was interesting. It took us into the valley, along a creek to the ruins of a power plant and water canals. Climbing out of the valley we got some nice views. We had our packed lunch at a local swimming hole by a small waterfall. It was nice and had a few people around swimming, but we wanted to finish the walk and then come back for a swim. The next part of the walk took us further up into the mountains above the town. We met a friendly but scary looking cow with huge horns along the way. The mountain was more exposed to the hot sun than the earlier walk, but was still nice, much of it was on old stone horse cart trails and along old rock walls. The end of the walk was through small vineyards, which we sampled some of the grapes. Another interesting part of the walk was the end which left us in the top of the village meaning we wondered past all the local plots and houses, which was nice to see. The walk had taken longer than we had thought so by the time we got back to the car we decided it was a bit late for a swim, but a good time for a beer! The rest of the evening was spent by the BBQ! The house we were in has a BBQ so we had a cook up. First we collected wood, then we lit it on fire (the best bit), then we watched it burn with a beer, once the coals were just right we cooked the pork chops and chicken drumsticks and then of course we ate them (which is also the best bit!). After a few glasses of port the day finished as it had began, everyone was in bed while Damien had a few extra glasses of port (although this morning it was coffee).
Alarms were going off left, right and centre the next morning to avoid sleeping in again. We had a big driving day in front of us. We drove through the other side of the national park in the morning, which was a really nice drive. Many dams, mountains, forests, narrow roads and small villages. We had hoped to stop in Germil for morning tea, but it was so small that it didn’t even have a sign and we drove straight through it not realizing. This is even more amusing to us that we missed the town, as the town is only about 200m long but it took us about 15 to drive through, as a herd of cattle were being moved and we had to sit in the car and wait for them to pass around us. Instead we stopped in a campsite café outside of Campo de Geres, which is on a big reservoir although we only saw it coming into the camp, not in the actual campsite. We also had a stop along the way at a lake we saw on the side of the road, which we made our picnic lunch spot.
Our destination was Guimaraes. After finding a place to stay and a carpark we went for a walk around town. It i
s a larger town but still very nice. It has a Castle, Palace, remnants of a city wall, stone squares around town and numerous churches. The next morning we were up early and headed to the Palace. Being Sunday it was free entry before midday so we wanted to beat the crowds. The palace is made of stone bricks with a large central courtyard. It is also very decadent with nice paintings, tapestry and furniture. 
Next we visited the Castle which is next to the Palace in some nice gardens. Castles always seem more interesting and less crowded than palaces. This one is always free to enter but today was free to climb to the top tower. The castle is semi ruined I suppose but has been restored so that you can walk around it and climb the tower. The top gave nice views over the town and Palace below. It is actually father’s day today so we called it ‘Dads Castle’.
I hope you don’t get the impression that all we are doing is eating and drinking over here! Before we left town we had coffee and Portuguese tarts. Our destination today was Obidos, but before we arrived we stopped for a father’s day picnic (same as any picnic really except there was beer involved). We also had a side trip to Nazare beach. Our brief visit here consisted mainly of a big traffic jam as we drove past the bullring just as crowds were gathering for a bullfight. We eventually made it up to the lookout which gave great views of the coast line and beach below. We also met some friendly Dutch campervanners, visited the old church and got ripped off at a market trying to buy cashews.
Obidos is an amazing town. It is small with a very narrow cobbled main street. The entire town is surrounded by a wall which is still intact. There ar
e only a few entry and exit points through the wall. These are extremely narrow corners which made for some interesting driving. We got in late after all the sightseeing and eating earlier in the day. After finding a lovely pension overlooking the main street to stay in and getting the car through the walls, it was well past beer o’clock! We had a father’s day dinner in a little restaurant ran by a very friendly man. The food was good as were the beers and wines that flowed.Next morning we were up early again to explore the town a bit more. There were many shops that the girls liked on the main street (just watch out for those bus tours!). We also walked around the city on top of the wall. This was great, very high and narrow in places with no safety rail, just how Christine likes it! This had views of the town and the plains outside of town.
After coffee and cake with our friendly little man from last night we back on the road headed for Lisbon. Lisbon is the capital and biggest city in Portugal which made finding a carpark and accommodation much more difficult. We eventually managed, much thanks to Mum randomly sticking her head into a hotel (Hotel Roma) to find our if they had apartments. Turns out they did! They also had a garage for 10 euro a night right in the centre of town. We took the scenic tram around town the first night and hopped off when we saw a busy looking restaurant for dinner. It was a bit too busy as the service was almost nonexistent.
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