Sunday, May 26, 2019

Braga and a night at a pousada


I can't lie -- I didn't want to leave the wine barrels and the quiet life at Quinta da Pacheca. While we were there, guys had been working on both rebuilding a section of wall and others were working on digging and setting up fence posts in a field. As we were leaving, we got to see them planting new vines in that same area and can attest to what the wine tour guide had noted about the soil being rocky. Looking at the soil (I realize this isn't a great picture), it's hard to see how a small vine can survive there, but clearly they do.




Our next step was Braga, which involved a train that connected in a suburb of Porto called Ermesinde.  While it was a decent sized train station (5-6 tracks, I believe, with escalators versus only stairs), the area has clearly seen more prosperous days. Our inbound train from Regua was delayed by enough minutes that we missed our connection, but another was coming through in about 30 minutes, so we set out to find some coffee.

One thing we have both commented on is the quality of espresso-based coffee drinks. They are consistently good. The drip coffee, though? Not so good. What is interesting to me, though, is that there is almost always an insulated pitcher or other container of hot milk to add to your coffee, which is nice.

Anyway, we found a coffee shop (which also sold lottery tickets, which was clearly convenient if the steady stream of people there for that purpose was any indication -- the jackpot was at something like EUR 57 million, so I get why that would be enticing). I went up to use my Portuguese and order a cappuccino and -- one of my favorite Portuguese phrases that makes me feel like I belong -- a meia de leite (cafe au lait). I didn't really see a price list, but considered that since we were at a train station there would be the public area premium for people passing through that didn't know where to go locally.  Yet at the same time, some of the special combos they were advertising like a croissant and coffee for EUR 1,50 made me think perhaps it wouldn't be that expensive.  But I figured it would be at least EUR 2 for both, so I handed her EUR 3.  She looked at me funny and handed me back EUR 1,20 in change.  What?!  Yeah. EUR 0,90 each. Amazing.  PLUS it was really good.

The local train to Braga was uneventful. Braga is the third largest city in Portugal and wasn't really covered in the tourist-type books I had looked at, though I had found some information online and we set out to check them out. There is apparently some sort of Roman history here with various cathedrals and castles and there was a Roman festival going on -- though I confess that I found a woman in Roman attire speaking on her cell phone a bit odd.

We were able to see most of the sites within less than an hour.  There is a beautiful stone entrance to a pedestrian-only walkway, Arca da Porta Nova. The medieval Jardim de Santa Barbara outside the Medieval wing of the Episcopol Palace that is bright and well-maintained with a central fountain and which was once part of the Convent of Remedios.  There was a plaza with a large BRAGA sign (think IAMSTERDAM) and, of course, Raio Palace. I had wanted to see the Bom Jesu do Monte which looks pretty amazing -- lots of steps (because, you know, Portugal and hills) criss-crossing and supposed to have a gorgeous view at the time -- but didn't see an easy way of getting out there (three miles outside of town) in an expeditious way.










I was more nervous this day than most because the hotel for the night was somewhere in Amares, but I couldn't exactly figure out how to get there.  It was clear that Braga was the closest train station and Google Maps said that Amares was about 25 kilometers beyond Braga. It appeared that there may be some bus service to the area, but it wasn't clear where the bus would stop in relation to the hotel and whether there might also be taxis when we arrived that could help get us there.  So I really wanted to make sure that we started to get there long before it was dark, hence my willingness to skip Bom Jesu.

What to do? In a moment of Americanism, I wondered to my phone whether Uber might be available (it certainly had not been in Regua).  Why yes, Uber is indeed available. Really? So we hailed an Uber that was there in five minutes. The driver was from Brazil but with my limited European Portuguese, we got along okay. He said that he's only lived in Braga a few years and wasn't familiar with Amares, but had GPS, so....

He seemed a bit concerned about where we were going.  We were climbing and going through some narrow village streets and he kept asking if we wanted to go into the city center or some larger roads, but we said to keep on and follow the GPS (though he seemed to have some difficulty doing so, missing a couple turns). Did we want to stop and take some pictures? No, we're good.

We finally arrived at the destination and noted that we were there but he seemed confused and asked a taxi driver next to where we had parked where the pousada was. The taxi driver said that this was it.  Oh.  He seemed both surprised and impressed by it.

Pousadas are large mansions, palaces, or other interesting locations of historic interest that have been transformed into lodging. As soon as I read about them, I had decided that we should stay at least one night at such a place. The one I selected is Pousada Mostiero Amares, which is the former convent of Santa Mario do Bouro. Beautiful grounds, lots of massive stonework and a moss-covered courtyard giving the appearance of ruins made for a stunning setting. While the food wasn't the best I have had in Portugal, the dining room itself was just cool with all the stone work, including a gigantic table that won't be moving anyplace anytime soon.










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