Portugal, day una

Not knowing much about the language (or anything, for that matter) hasn't been an impediment so far. Everyone can speak some level of English and is very friendly and helpful.

We headed to Guimaraes today. A largish small town about one hour north of Porto by train. A city covered in churches. All of them closed to tourists today. Sunday!

This town however, has a couple of crowning glories, a 14th century granite palace and a 10th century castle. Here is a view from inside the palace courtyard.



And here is the castle.



We headed back to the station, only to find we had a 2 hour wait. We had seen a church on a distant hill but considered it too far. On the way back to the station, we noticed on the side of a bus that there was a gondola ride to the top. Off we went. Once again, a very lucky find for the intrepid travelers. It was much more than we had anticipated with huge numbers of locals spending their day on the hill, enjoying the many cafes, restaurants and walks. We even jumped on the motorised mini tram for a quick trip around the various sights. One thing of interest, the portuguese countryside seems to be covered in gum trees. We must look into that.



Thought for the day. Never assume public toilets will have a bog roll and never underestimate the value of carrying your own tissues.

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Location:Guimaraes