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Published: April 25th 2018
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Viseu was a place we had never heard of until a friend moved there to teach last year. It's taken a bit of coordinating but at long last we managed to find convenient dates and we had the pleasure of Lucy showing us around her town. Forgive the title of this blog - all will become clear soon!
Set in the hills about two thirds of the way between Lisbon and Porto, Viseu is a beautiful place with stunning views all around. Yes, it's a bit on the chilly side at this time of year, but it's nothing that a decent jacket can't cope with. There are some coach trip tourists during the day but in general visitor numbers are minuscule compared to Portugal's more popular places. It's best to start at the highest point, around the plaza between Sé Cathedral and the Misericordia Church. The latter may look the more interesting from the outside, but inside the cathedral is the excellent Museu de Arte Sacra, which contains many interesting artefacts. The museum also boasts one of the best views in town as you can gaze over the rooftops from the terrace.
Our tour took us through the maze
of cobbled medieval streets. It's a great place to get lost if you have your camera handy! Eventually we found ourselves eating handmade chocolates just centimetres from where they are produced on the other side of a glass screen. If you find
Chocolateria Delicia, it's worth sampling a few of their delights for just €0.60 a piece. The peanut butter one defied description! We then walked around the beautiful Ribeiro Park followed by a quick tour of the ancient walls, past the shortest funicular we have ever seen, and descended towards the river. The sun shone and all was well!! We walked off those chocolates and before we knew it, it was time for lunch, and a late one at that.
Exhausted we ended up just chilling out in the evening with some wine and a bowl of salad. Sometimes reminiscing with friends like that is all you need for a great evening. Our visit was so short. Allow longer if you go or you might also feel that you didn't do the place justice.
For those looking for recommendations of places to eat, we ate in the
Casa Blanca fish restaurant on our first evening. It was fantastic and very reasonable.
Don't be put off by how posh it looks - it won't break the bank! Lunch after our tour was at the T
aberna Dona Maria where we feasted on goulash and local sausages for just a few Euros. There was no live music while we were there but it must be amazing to be present when they have some Fado being performed. The decor itself gives you a sense of the atmosphere that must be created.
Oh, and we forgot to tell you why the blog is called what it is. As you walk around and see the tiled pictures, you'll notice that the rear ends of the horses leave little to the imagination!!!!!!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Beautiful
Really cool architecture. Love the wall.