Guimaraes to Spain across Northern Portugal

Guimaraes main square

 Portugal began in Guimaraes, a city in the center of the northern region of Portugal.  This is also another grape region which, like the Douro Valley, fills plots large and small with vines.  Some little vineyards have only a couple of vines, often on a tiny terrace on a steep hillside or in someone’s back garden.  Other, larger vineyards, fill several hectares of gentler mountainside.

Guimaraes castle

Guimaraes now has the well-kept remains of an 11^th century castle, built by the king to protect the region and, even more, himself and his family.  This was not an elegant abode as the royal family had only a few dark and dank rooms while the army protecting them shared the rest of the castle.  It has no water source so would not have been good in a siege, but fortunately didn’t have to really do its job.

Guimaraes duke's palace

 One of the dukes built a huge and beautiful palace.  The rooms are interesting to visit because of their massive tapestries, Persian carpets and period furniture.  More enjoyable is the old downtown, with its old houses, pretty squares and flowers everywhere.  Sitting in a café sipping coffee and watching the world go by seems to be a pastime of locals as well as tourists.

pousada at Guimaraes

We also checked out the pousada in Guimaraes, an old monastery that sits halfway up the hill behind the city.  It has beautiful courtyards, gardens and views.  There are so many pousadas in Portugal that I wonder how those in the smaller towns and cities survive.  Most tourists visit Guimaraes on a day trip from Porto, so probably don’t stay in the pousada.

Roman bridge at Ponte de Lima

Next was a stop at Ponte de Lima (bridge over the Lima river), a medieval town just inland from the Atlantic with a Roman bridge crossing the Lima River.  On the riverfront are the remains of the old city wall as well as old buildings and churches.  A nice place to stop and enjoy a short walk across the bridge and a second coffee in one of the outdoor cafes.

Ponte de Lima

We visited Viana do Castelo, another medieval town on the Lima River, just inland from the Atlantic.  It was Sunday, so very quiet, but we wandered through the Costume Museum, which sounds dull, but is very worth the visit.  Village women with little money used coarse cloth for their clothes, but decorated them beautifully with colorful embroidery and lace.  When they married, they dressed completely in embroidered black full-length dresses, which showed off to perfection the masses of heavy gold necklaces the brides wore.  The town itself is a nice visit, with pleasant squares, lots of flowers and renovated, charming old buildings.  There is a medieval church on the mountain above the town which has gorgeous views all the way to the ocean.

We continued on to Vigo, Spain, where we left our excellent Portuguese guide and picked up our rental car.  The next few days we’ll be touring Northern Spain on our own, from Vigo to San Sebastian.