Mike and Wendy's holiday blog: May 24: Portugal: 8-14 Braga to home

Wednesday 8 May

Went to the supermarket to buy a(nother!) new adaptor, some milk and a bottle of port (because we're short on port lol).

Came out with a beautiful yellow Le Creuset lidded casserole pan and other matching dishes 🤣, lots of wine (recommended by a local man we chatted to), some bottles of port - and some milk and a plug - plus (me) several items of clothing from the shop next door!.. 🤣🤣🤣

Next stop off was Guinamares. Lovely - another place we could have lingered.. 😁

Pope having a bad hair day 😁

Cakes made by nuns.

Braga

50 miles

Booked into the Ibis then had to go to the Mercure to park the car. Sorted - eventually.. 😁

Ate the cakes we bought in Guinamares - made by nuns. All lovely 😋 Lots of egg yolks, almonds and sugar.

Then out for a walk to the cathedral and old town.

Igreja de Santa Cruz.

Went past a large fountain and loads of students were singing and then jumping in. Seemed pretty ordered by colour.

Different faculties were celebrating the end of their exams - bit different to Coimbra where they stayed dry 🤣

Some of them wore different tricolor shaoed hats and carried canes - the yellow ones were nurses. These girls were just on their way for their celebrations 😁

Meal of frigideiras. Local product - sort of a minced meat pasty with flaky pastry. This restaurant was still making them to the original recipe of 1796.

Roman remains had been found under the floor of the cantinho during renovations and some of these were preserved under glass - didn't see them.

Thursday 9 May

We didn't see the cathedral yesterday evening as it was just closing - so decided to get up early and have another look - website said it opened at 8am. We were walking through the square as the 8 o'clock bells tolled.

Yes the cathedral opened at 8am. For Mass.. 🙄

We didn't have time to wait so we still didn't see the cathedral.. 😁

Off to see Bom Jesus do Monte before the tourist buses arrived.

We parked at the top and walked down. Didn't take the funicular.

Temperature was in the low twenties so ok for walking.

Fountains on every level - representing the five senses. Meant to promote spiritual needs rather than carnal.

Small side chapels cut into the rock show various scenarios with alabaster figures.

The building started as a small sanctuary in 1494. In the 1800s an archbishop, as part of his political agenda, decided to expand it as a pilgrimage site and call it the Bom Jesus project.

Other archbishops added stuff until it was finished in 1811.

Loved the twisted fountain with crocodiles at the base.

Bom Jesus da monte church.

Little walk round - the buses were starting to arrive 🤣

Found a Leclerc and did a bit of shopping. Decided to have a picnic en route.

Santiago do Compostela

120 miles

Staying in a hostel. Loads of people walking the Camino.

Went for a gentle evening walk to the cathedral. Loads going on.

Beautiful convent literally just round the corner from where we're staying. On the list for a visit when open.

Dancing.

Stopped for a meal - chorizo for me and chipirones for Mike. Totally over ordered but it was delicious 😋

Friday 10 May

Santiago do Compostela

Breakfast views.

The kitchen.

Out for a wander before it got too hot.

Mike lit candles for Carol and Siobhan.

So many churches...

Market.

Art display - all hewn from wood.

Sticks left at the end of the walk - we saw one girl taking a photo and saying goodbye as she left hers behind.

Santa Clara nunnery round the corner from where we are staying.

It must be a closed order as they were selling their home made almond brittle through a little hatch with a partition which swung round so their faces were not seen.

We were going to buy some later but it was shut when we got back.

.. meanwhile the highest possibility of seeing the aurora in the UK for about 20 years and kp11 in Greenmount!!.. 😮

Holcombe Hill.

Ramsbottom.

Lincoln cathedral.

Saturday 11 May

Set off and promptly had a problem as Dora (the Explorer Mk II) tried to send us on a piece of motorway they hadn't finished building 🙄

Bit of Google maps navigation, few wrong turns down farm tracks and we picked up the motorway further on.

Lots of fog for a while. The sun disappeared.

Stopped at the Praia das Catedrais to look at the rock formations - we'd managed to miss it on the way down. Still a lot of heavy mist rolling off the hills but it cleared up for a while when we were there.

Puerto de Vega/Tox

150 miles

Arrived and checked in. Big birthday party on the lawn - looked like fun.

Walked down to the harbour at Puerto de Vega - too early for food so we went back to the hotel, ordered some drinjst and had a picnic in our room.

Sunday 12 May

Stopped off en route when we saw a cider makers. Cidra Crespo near Colunga.

Dinosaur footprints at Playa de la Griega.

Menu del día.

Comillas

150 miles

Beautiful sea view from our room.

Wall designed by Gaudi - entrance for cars, entrance for people, entrance hole at the top for birds.. 😁

Pretty old part of town.

Visit to El Capricho de Gaudi. The house was designed by him for a wealthy friend/client (who actually died before it was finished) - Maximo Diaz de Quijano who made his money as the lawyer for the Marquis of Comillas.

Light was quite dull - imagine if all the tiles were shining in the sunshine like the few here.

This was the first building he designed (at age 31) and one of the few outside Barcelona.

The connection between Gaudi and Comilla was that Comilla started to develop a reputation as an elegant spa resort and Gaudi and friends started to come here and eventually got to know people.

Gorgeous tiles.