Blogs from Braga, Northern, Portugal, Europe - page 2

So much to blog and so little computer access, we share with everyone staying here so it takes a little time to have a chance to tell the story. No pics but will share when we get home. Ok, the riding has been amazing for all three girls, truly a learning experience and they are having such a good time, that we are booking a return trip for next August. If this is my husband reading this maybe I should have warned you first. Sorry, but it is gorgeous and I think you would like it too. If this is anyone else reading and you are thinking I want to ride horses in Portugal let us know soon. They only take a small number of riders and the horses are very high quality both dressage (please ... read more

We have arrived. After a pretty restful trip to Frankfurt we did the extended walking tour of the Frankfurt airport. In Frankfurt we had a short layover, oh by the way, if you ever feel like shopping for luxury items at 7 am go to the Frankfurt airport. They had shops open selling, Rolex, Cartier, Tods shoes, Chanel. We cant even get a coffee at the Hartford airport after 9 at night forget luxury goods. We did not buy anything but made our flight to Porto. Some slept, some had breakfast. OK Bridgette and I had breakfast. Crepes and a yummy lemon curd filled cookies. Upon arriving in Porto we knew that we might run into a little trouble with our rental car. We were not disappointed. We went to the Europcar counter and explained that ... read more

Got up and went on a run to get rid of the small hangover from last night before I hopped on a train north to Braga, the religious capital of Portugal. It is one of the oldest cities in the country as evidenced by the remaining Roman city walls. The weather wasnt great the first few hours as I was there but by the afternoon it was 75 and sunny, like usual here. For some reason I decided to walk out to the Bom Jesus religious site instead of taking the train. After getting lost for a bit I finally arrived there after two hours. Probably about a 6 or 7 mile walk. Not good times, bad times. It was definitely worth it though. The path up the mountain that the church sits on starts towards ... read more

Day 3: Braga After our well deserved night sleep we went to the reception straight away to check in. Little did we know that they didn't even realize that we were there. Our clandestine operation was a success! Finally we visited Braga. there are two things you can not do on an empty stomach: fighting and thinking, so we ate some croissants and some tea/coffee at a local diner. Braga gives you a military feeling because of its many concrete buildings. Even the nicest place is mainly and basically a concrete slab! Anyway, moving through the city we got to this nice little church, Igreja de Miséricordia, and what a fitting name! Only the outside walls still exist and they overflow into the Sé. The Sé outside is kind of sober. This is because it ... read more

Santiago de Compostela (Day 4-5) Camino Portugues from Rubiaes - Tuy - Redondela (50km) Day 4 Rubiaes - Tuy (20km) We walked down to the town by 0600 where the lady from the restaurant promised to be opened for us to sell us some breakfast of coffees and toast. The kitten was left all alone and since it followed us when she was alone I did not like the thought of her getting run over if she tried to follow us on the busy road. So I wrapped her up in a coat and carried her to the outside of the restaurant, letting her loose before the others noticed that I had brought her. We headed off following the yellow arrows by 0700, the morning was cold, air crisp and there was fog. I was breathing ... read more