Portugal 16 - Braga - a date with Jesus up a cascade of white steps, wild camping, playing dominoes as the sun set

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Lunch was late today as we had a bit of a drive in front of us and a date with Jesus or Bom Jesus to be more precise . On each holiday we try to take in gardens, castles, churches, museums and anything else of any interest along the way. This time of the year is not conducive to looking at gardens and they seem few and far between in the North of Spain and Portugal . Castles have been a bit thin on the ground too. We had planned though to see one site I had read about in blogs from motorhomers . Bom Jesus a religious site in Northern Portugal with a sosta close by. This meant we could wild camp for the night . We knew there was no water available so filled up with what we needed for a few days and made sure we had enough gas and all things electric were charged up.

Before I go on though we had had a few odd days. It is weird how you pick a campsite or an aire and think it will be perfect. When you get there it just does not deliver for some reason or other. Sometimes the most awful of places actually turn out to be the best . So it was with the last couple of campsites we have used as stopovers. Glenn had picked one called O Tamanco which was set in a very rural setting and scored highly wherever you read about it. So far so good. The blurb everywhere said that it was a haven of peace. Once through the wrought iron gates you entered a country idyll with nothing but time to sit and relax. It was an oasis of calm something we look for in a campsite or a place to stay. It had a restaurant which served up simple gastronomic delights in a new cuisine way. Looked forward to that one. It had WiFi always useful. We arrived and drove past it as it was so isolated. The wrought iron gates swung open once we found them and we entered and were approached by what must have been the owner. A Dutch guy who left his log cutting to tell us to just park up anywhere and then go to pay. He didnt say where to go and the site was large. Much larger than it first looked. There were trees full of apples and pomegranites and flowers everywhere. A few vans were parked up around the site . There was a salt water pool but I never got round to finding that . After plugging in and settling down I set off to find human contact . On the way I checked out the shower block. It seemed Ok although we were later to find that the mens showers would not work. Not a problem on its own . You can put up with being dirty for a few days. The restaurant looked very nice and homely with place for a large open fire. The menu was not available and no-one was about. I looked around the bar - signs recommended that I tried their home made lemonade . Hard when I couldnt find a living soul about. There was a library and a strange hippy style shop selling all manner of clothing and odds and ends. A bit of a mish mash really. EVentually I found someone. It appeared if you wanted help you used the walky talky and they would come to see you.

The receptionist if you could call her that was a touch surly, well tanned and heavily tattooed . It all felt 1960's hippy and I felt as if I was not really wanted on the site . No welcome as such. Paid our money and went back and settled down. No WiFi the phones were down. Might come on later - might not. Not a problem can do without WiFi. No food . Closed down. Bit more of a problem as the fridge was empty and foolishly we had relied on it being open. Talk about being silly . Anyway we decided to make the most of it until the rooster started following by the chain saws and the dogs which did not stop barking for nearly two hours . Add to this the quaint church beheavenlls which rang out the half hours with full serenade of some song or other. On the hour we got the full monty. By this time we had got really fed up and we decided we had had enough of O Tamanco which was anything but peaceful. Where to go? The nearest site was an Orbitur one Gala at Figueira de Foz a seaside resort. . As it was late it would have to do . What a surprise . It was the best Orbitur site we have ever used. Friendly staff, big plots, facilities good and an excellent stop over . No dogs, no bells, no chainsaws just us and the quiet quiet night .It was heaven in a funny sort of way and only a few hundred yards from the beach and the sea.

We arrived in Barga a large sprawling town and headed upwards for the aire closest to Bom Jesus. We could see it. A little like Aveiro it was there but we couldnt for the life of us find the entrance . We eventually did , parked up next to a few french motorhomes. It was nice location, big, airy, plenty of room with stone tables and seats scattered around. It was within easy walking distance of the church and steps that pilgrims crawled up on their knees in penance. There was a small snack bar which was frequented by aged Portuguese playing dominoes and cards and generally enjoying life.

We had no intentions of crawling up on knees. We were going the easy way up on the elevador. 1 euro 20 each and well worth the wait for it to go up. It reminded me of Bridgenorths water controlled lift or the one at Lynton and Lynmouth. It slowly creaked its way up the hill where we saw the first of many feral dogs. Healthy they looked too as there must have been rich pickings at the site. At the top terrace we stopped in front of the stark white gleaming church which stands at the top of the site . We stopped for an ice cream and over banana and chocolate and lemon we fell into conversation with a couple from Manchester who were staying in bed and breakfasts whilst touring the area. The one they were on now was a vineyard and they were just bringing the harvest in. They had travelled over the Bay of Biscay to Santander and had been delayed by bad weather two weeks ago. It was good to speak to someone who spoke our mother tongue and caught up with events back home and discussed where they been to and where they were going.

Our first walk was through the park where the paths meandered for miles amongst the sweet chestnut trees and oaks. The church was Baroque and as always quite ornate inside .

So now to the cascade of steps down the hillside . Looking over the top it looked a long way down. The walls were blisteringly white with sandstone copings. Stations of the cross were situated on each corner Fountains were everywhere and there was a strip up the middle of the paths so that the crawling pilgrims had a slightly easier surface to crawl up. Architecturally this is a delight with something of interest around each corner . It took me about 10 minutes to walk down the steps. Each lift has around about six wide steps before you turn a corner and take another six down to the next level . Each one is identical but I spent time looking up at what I had come down and looking down on what was still left. It was a fantastic site and well worth the visit. Building of this staircase was begun in 1722 under the archbishop of Braga. The stairway pays homage to the five senses and the three virtues (Faith, Hope and Chastity) by snaking through a series of themed statues and fountains.

After our walk we sat on a bench and played dominoes like locals before we walked down to the local restaurant just a stones throw away from the sosta. O Portico was tiny and looked up market and expensive inside. We were welcomed - well we were the only diners as the Portuguese and Spanish seem to eat much later than we do. We were shown to a table given our bread and we ordered water to drink. Time to detox from too much vino. The walls were covered with graffiti but nice stuff, names and messages all dated and just left for the customers to see. It was a nice unusual touch in decorating. We were given the menu and it looked both cheap with soupa legumes coming in at 1 euro 75 cents to main meals at 24 euros and upwards. We ordered the soup and it arrived hot and very tasty. Enjoyed it with the thick heavy brown bread which was similar to Irish Soda Bread. For second course Glenn chose a beef dish at 24 euros . I picked Partridge in a pastry at 14 euros . However the waiter pointed out that the beef came for two people not one and it was to share. So it was beef. This arrived with two great big thick steaks cooked medium rare just right for me but a bit underdone for Glenn who is not keen on rare meat. Rather than ask for it to be cooked more he ate it and admitted it was really tasty. It came with crisps . We found that odd but they were warm and actually worked . Halfway through they brought us a plate of vegetables mainly carrots and cabbage cooked in olive oil and rice. By this time we had to apologise and said the beef had filled us and we couldnt eat any more. Good value meal, excellent service. We would recommend O Portico for a nice meal if you ever find your way to this part of the world.

The whole bill only came to a little over 34 euros and that included tax of 6 euros for the governments coffers.

Our night ended up Ok and we slept reasonably well despite the road noise from below us. Not a bad place to spend a day and it didnt cost us that much in terms of entertainment.

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Photos

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