Sept 16, 2026 Tour to Braga and Guimarães

Our last tour began early today. Loaded bus at 7:45am. Our first stop was Braga at Bom Jesus do Monte (hilltop sanctuary with a dramatic stairway (+500 steps)). We then toured the Sé de Braga. It is the oldest cathedral in Portugal. The gardens were beautiful!

Hats off to our tour guide, Simone. She told us historical information from over 2000 yrs in 2 different languages. Neither of which was her primary language of Portuguese. She translated in English and French.

We had a wonderful lunch in Braga at Félix Taberna. Mary had cod prepared “our way” (Braga style) and loved it. I had pesto pasta that was amazing. We also shared an order of Padron peppers and a salad.

We headed for city # 2, Guimarães. Guimarães is known as the birthplace of Portugal. The first king of Portugal was born in Guimarães. Independence of Portugal was declared in Guimarães. We toured inside the Castle which is actually a fortress. Nice views from the fortress.

We finished our evening in Porto at a wine bar, Wine Affairs, across from our apartment building. I had Sangria, MJ had red wine. We shared a cheese and meat board and tomato toast. It was really nice.

Segway: From September 14, 2026. Had to post this as it was so funny! In the village of Fafião there is a water fountain. It has a catch basin beneath. The dogs are allowed to drink from their basin. A neighborhood lab actually jumped on in as we stood there filling water bottles!