It has rained overnight but is OK for our walk to the metro to get to the meeting place at São Bento station.
It is just as well we are being taken everywhere as MF is not well - we think probably the oysters from lunch yesterday.
So first up is Braga, regarded as the religious capital of Portugal and the 3rd largest city. It is only about 50 kms from Porto but we take a while to get there as, once off the freeway, it is a narrow winding road to the Bom Jesus do Monte ('bom' means 'good' in Portuguese). This beautiful church is famed for its Baroque stairway that climbs the side of a steep hill and depicts the ascent to heaven. There are great views out to the city below and lovely gardens, grottos and fountains.
My notes say to have coffee at the Brasileira cafe but we don’t have time and it was busy. I manage to buy a little cake to take away instead.
We then walk through the attractive town to the cathedral which is the first cathedral of Portugal - constructed in 1089. It is a mix of very different architectural styles: Gothic, Manueline and Baroque.
We stop for lunch - a bit of a time-waster although the group is a pleasant one and we meet some nice people. Particularly impressive is the 80 year old Australian woman - travelling with just take-on luggage - and a real goer!
One of the options was cod - I have just worked out that the translation is Bacalhau and probably accounts for why I keep seeing this word on so many restaurant signs!
The group is very big and has English and Spanish people so our guide André does a pretty good job at doing his spiel in 2 languages.
We are collected by bus and once more set off to our next stop: Guimarães which is considered to be the birthplace of Portugal because it is believed that the first king Afonso Henriques was born here, at the castle.
We visit the castle. There is a little rain but it lasts only a minute and the sun comes out. We have been lucky with the weather.
We walk back down through the attractive town with some free time to look around.
From the city, you can see the Santuário da Penha built in 1946 atop the hill but we don’t visit it. You can take a cable car up for the views.
By the end, with MF having stoically managed the day, I think we have covered a sufficient number of religious monuments.
When we arrive back at São Bento station, we take the opportunity to view the magnificent azulejo tile work that adorns the walls of the entry and represent moments in the country's history and rural scenes showing the people of various regions.
We have also come here to scout out where we are to depart from tomorrow morning.
It is a nice evening. We walk back (up!) to our apartment (our Andante cards having now expired), collecting some light dinner for me to heat up later (nothing for MF). The city is full of crowds and initially this evening it is quite noisy in the street below where we are staying.
There are many students out and about wearing black capes which are the academic uniforms referred to as the capa e batina and originate from a tradition that started nearly 500 years ago. It is part of the praxe or university initiation ritual when freshman parade through the streets at this time of the year.
Despite being on a tour and being driven hither and thither, we have still walked 10.5 kms.
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