November 26, 2003
Wednesday Nov 26: Braga to Guimaraes: Happy Birthday Auntie V!!
But a short ride this morning to get from a soaking wet Braga to a dripping wet Guimaraes. Yes, it is raining and my hands are numb.
The good thing about getting up really early and being on the road, and then doing a short ride, is that you get to your next hotel when the people in the room you will be getting are still in bed sleeping. I was able to stash the bike, but I am still in my wet cycling clothes and of course forgot to pull out my umbrella. It's hard to dry off in pouring rain.
It seemed like the route was nice, but the rain was driving into my eyes making it hard to see. Once I am allowed into my room and all warmed up and ready, I am going up to the Castelo and Palace of the Dukes of Bragança. It has been years that I have wanted to see them - after I saw a programme about them on A&E. I think I'll skip the climb to the tower, though - visibility is not so good today.
Well, not much more to say as I have not done anything yet today. I think today will be a day for fish. I kind of feel like one myself! As long as there is a good amount of heat in the restaurant!
What a difference a few hours and a hot bath make. En route to the hill with the fortress and Palace, I stopped at the Residencial to see if it was ready by some fluke. And it was! And there was hot water, a tub, and satellite TV with about 50 channels. I just keep getting more and more spoiled. I might actually be able to indulge in a movie tonight. What a novelty. I wonder if I fall asleep in a movie just like at home?
To fill my poor empty tummy, I put in some fish, and vinho tinto (was there any doubt) before climbing the short distance to the hilltop. And what a place. Like always, in my opinion, the best views are from afar looking at the monument/palace/ruin/etc. And this was partly true. I was able to go into the Fortress and actually climb up and walk along the walls, which gave spectacular views of the city and the surrounding mountains. And, not unlike the rest of my trip, once I was there, there were actually a few spots of blue sky and the sun came out to make the photo ops I craved. What a place.
Still glowing from the excitement, I came down along the remaining old wall (all the rest was encouraged to be dismantled back a few hundred years ago?!?!) into more parts of the old city. There, I found a bike shop which I decided to explore and ended up chatting with the people for quite some time. One is on the Portuguese national racing team. The photo I took in the shop will be uploaded once I am home. Please everyone be aware that I will be adding to this site for some weeks or months afterwards so stay tuned for these modifications and improvements. Photos, and perhaps slight changes to the babbling will be included. I will also mention what happens in my research on "how to publish your Istanbul to Lisboa cycling adventure".
So, do I like this place more now? Oh yes. Would I suggest it for further exploration? Oh yes. Am I pleased that rain is forecast for here for the next four days? Not thrilled. But, the forecast for further south is cloudy with sunny breaks. I'll take it and run.
And then tomorrow to Porto for some Port.
Today's ride: 22 km (14 miles)
Total: 4,456 km (2,767 miles)
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