Guimarães to Braga (19 km)

When I started out this morning, I saw that the tracks would take me back up to the castle. Since I had gone up there twice yesterday, I didn’t see the need to do it again, so I just took the straight shot out of town. Call me a cheater.

Almost all of the day was through the suburbs of the town I was leaving or suburbs of the town I was entering, with one hard up and down through a eucalyptus forest over Roman Road in between the two ends.

There were some stretches with terrible traffic on extremely narrow roads with stone walls on either side. That was a challenge, especially since by about 8, the morning rush-hour began in earnest. I took it very slow and held my walking stick out a bit so that the cars would get the idea.

I came across a stretch of road that was being repaired. I could hear it before I saw it, that clink clink clink that you’ve heard if you’ve been in Portugal. I had never known the name of those tiles, which they use both in streets and on sidewalks. They’re not really cobblestones, but they’re not tiles either. I learned today that they are called Paralelos.

The path up and down the monte/serra was rough. Some of it looks like it was intact Roman Road, some of it was torn to pieces Roman Road, and some of it was just loose rocks with falling eucalyptus branches all over it. Not fun. It wasn’t much more than 300 m up, but that was plenty.

I decided to go for a nice hotel today, and I found one that has a good breakfast starting at seven. I have a short day tomorrow, only 16 km, and can sleep in a bit and enjoy breakfast!

After the wash and shower routine, I added 6 km to my day by walking out to see a seventh century chapel, São Frutuoso. It’s attached to a 17 century baroque church, and I learned that in 1966, the Cathedral of Santiago returned Saint Frutuoso’s relics to the place where they had been stolen by a very important bishop from Santiago in the 12th century. They are now displayed prominently in the baroque church.Read more