Oaxaca City

Oaxaca City has opened up since we were here two years ago. There are many more open restaurants and shops to cater to the tourist trade. In 2022 we wore masks everywhere but today there are few wearers, just like at home. Our days haven been spent eating, shopping the outer towns in a taxi, and eating some more.

The market at Zaachila

Puerto Escondido

I’m never leaving.The view and sunsets spectacular. Boring, right?

Guimarães

 Next Medieval town over is Guimarães, a 30-minute Uber ride. We ended up staying in a convent with an immaculate room containing three hard beds and pillows and a crucifix. It was the biggest room of our stay. Twice a day you could hear the nuns singing in the chapel.

The latest settlers of the town were 11th century and they built a castle, a convent and a monastery.

Entrance to the palace.

Dining Hall, plus tapestry of crusade.

The ceiling looks like an upside down ship?

zoom in for painted ceiling

There is also an ancient castle sitting up the hill from the palace.

No access really, it is a semi-ruin. 

We did eat quite a few pastries at one of the shops in town. In face, we have been eating a lot of pastries and spending some time identifying them on the internet. Who knew that Portugal was a pastry haven?

These guys are called Jesuits. Meringue, cake, caramel? Quite good.

And this was an immense blob of marshmallow sandwiched between puff pastry. I tried not to finish it, but alas.

the last bite!

There are so many local pastries!

This church featured two exhibits: artifacts from the Military Police (some of whom helped remove the dictator in 2024) and antique tricycles. Why not?

Finally, our pre-dinner drink at the fancy hotel across the street.

Braga

Braga is an ancient city with neolithic roots, ruins of Roman baths with a dash of celts and Visigoths. It has a cathedral that was built around 1090, seeming wealth, and great car-free streets. 

Do you know who this is? It was amongst Roman stones outside the main cathedral.

Another relic outside the church…Roman? Or Green Man?

A wayfinding sign? More Celts?

A lovely garden in Braga with stone arches on the background.

I think these are coffins of former Archbishops but I was taken by the unusual colors of the stained glass. Maybe they are more recent additions? 

This is the ceiling covered with two pipe organs. Unfortunately we didn’t get to hear it.

The Roman baths.

El Caminho

The forecast was for rain in the coming week, but we decided to try, especially given that the first day was sunny. So we set out on our walk from Porto. Many other pilgrims passed us …the old ladies are slow and Taunya, not as old, has a foot issue. 

After 4 miles we stopped at a restaurant that turned out to be local and had soup (1.60 euro) and coffee. Crazy low prices.

Stopping on the trail…

We managed to do the entire 8 miles and stayed at a pretty nice hotel in Matamohinas. We went to. ‘tapas’ restaurant managed by a nazi waitress/owner who accused Jenny and Taunya of being complicated and me as simple. Although I was able to order a plate of sardines, the atmosphere to me was oppressive with the waitress’ outsized personality and I was happy to leave.

Next day we set out walking but at mile 4, in the rain, Taunya discovered a giant blister on top of her sore foot.

This photo was taken for a gay friend of Taunya’s….men in speedos.

So, after only four miles of walking, we took the Uber option and paid for a 10-minute ride to our lodgings for the night. This was our worst lodging of the trip, but it did expose us to Portuguese camping. We rented a ‘cabin,’ a tiny prefab box with three rooms and two beds but no bathroom. The beds were vinyl. The bathroom was relatively close, yet so far, but the bathroom compound did have ironing stations!

Here we are enjoying some refreshments outside our prefab.

Outdoor ironing station.

We were required to wear an id tag while in the campground.

Independence Day

April 25, 1974: The Carnation Revolution

April 25 was a big day this year, the 50th anniversary of the revolution that turned Portugal into a democracy as Military officers overthrew the Estado Novo government. 

It seemed everyone in Lisbon was carrying a carnation and walking to the Avenue de Liberdade to celebrate. We actually walked with the crowds but cut out before the performance.

On a side note, this fellow is occupying a cobblestones triangle in front of the government building in Lisbon. We heard he’d been there for a long time protesting the current government. He was a fisherman and somehow lost his livelihood.

Pastel de Nata

 Yes, I’m devoting a post to a pastry. I’ve eaten at least 10 since I got here, probably more. They are delightful little pies with a flaky crust and custard center, often consumed with Port. 

But it is not at like our cream pies or Chinese egg pastries…the filling is not truly custard, containing a good deal of starch, and the crust is not a pie crust or puff pastry, but almost like filo dough. 

We’ve tried many now and can confidently the better ones…I prefer the ones that taste a little of butter. 

Worker cranking out pastel de nata at a coffee shop.

Porto

 Porto is a beautiful city with slightly fewer tourists than lisbon. We stayed in a hostel just outside of the historic district. What this gave us  was the opportunity to eat like locals at the price that locals pay. The food was great and incredibly inexpensive. It seemed unbelievable. 

We visited several Cathedrals, including Se, the start of the pilgrimage. Portuguese churches are full of fancy baroque furnishings, usually of gold. We fantasized that they brought gold back and created solid gold altarpieces, but it’s probably just gold paint. The photo above was taken from the church tower.

A modest cathedral outside tourist area. The facade is done in blue and white Portuguese tiles.

Inside the cathedral in Porto.

Another view from tower.

City view.

Portugal—Lisbon, Sintra

My first day in Portugal, I was exhausted from flying and was fighting to stay awake at 5 PM. Walk to a local park where there was a kiosk, selling food and drinks, filled with children, old people, locals. so I decided to have my first port. The park looked on to an aqueduct built in the 1850s.

this is all in lisbon. We stayed in a simple hotel just off the tourist area, which was a good thing. Lisbon is chockablock full of tourists. you almost cannot see the actual sites for the tourists. So we were super happy to be away from it all.

Jenny and sister that we take the train to Sintra, A town on our train ride from lisbon. It too was chokablok full of tourists, but was magical just the same.

Me and Johnny!

At Besteira Mansion in Sintra, location of film Ninth Gate, another Roman Polanski devil-worshiping vehicle. The mansion has its own lovely gardens on a hillside, but just adjacent is another garden, which is crazy full of stone monuments.

This is just one of them….an 8-story spiral.

A floor from the castle in the ornate garden. Each tile piece was approximately 1/4-in. in diameter so tons of detail. Roman influence is clear I think.