The Bearded Globetrotter

Today was the first day of rain we had – but not a heavy rain / just on and off drizzle – and we didn’t let it slow us down 🙂

We took a train to Guimaraes whose historic town center is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a great walk around with a visit to a museum with a bunch of Catholic relics and paintings from a church (some interesting interpretations in some of the paintings!).

We had a bite to eat and walked up to the Palace Duques de Bragança (The Dukes Palace) which was a preserved medieval palace with furniture and tapestries throughout – really interesting walk through and the stained glass in the chapel was stunning!

We also visited the Guimarães Castle with great views of the surrounding area.

Chilled out with a pastry and people watch for a while, before we headed back to Porto on the train.

We had an amazing dinner just steps from the hotel – remarkable not only for the food, but also for the company. Wine, food, port, and fun all around made for a great capper to a great day.

Tomorrow is our last full day here, and the weather looks pretty icky – so we will see what awaits us! Now…. To the pics!

P.s. while eating dinner we were treated to a university initiation for new students. They are not yet “freshmen” until they are initiated, and there are different ways that happens (but apparently not as physically or mentally damaging as it can be in North America, seemingly more harmless)

Enjoy this video of the encounter 😂