March 6
In 2016 we had 8 rainy days in the 10 weeks we were in Europe. We’ve been here for 8 days, and we’ve had 8 days of rain. But the good news is that today it only rained while we were in the car so at least we stayed dry.
It started out as a beautiful sunny day so after we left Porto, we stopped in Guimaraes, which is considered the birthplace of Portugal. In the early 12th century, a major battle was fought in the area and as a result the town was considered the capital of the kingdom. Alfonso Henriques, who was born there, declared himself King of Portugal and that was the birth of the new nation.
How cool is this document? It is the original document declaring Portugal belonged to King Alfonso I and his heirs.
We decided to first head to the Palace and Castle. Guimaraes Castle was built in the 10th century to protect the monastery from attacks by the Moors and Norsemen. It became the official royal residence in the 11th century Much of the castle was rebuilt in the early 12th century. King Alfonso the 1st was born and lived his entire life in the castle. All that remains are the outside walls and towers so it’s difficult to picture it as a residence but what is there looks like it was built to last.
Then we toured the Palace of the Dukes of Bragnaza which was built in the 15th century and refurbished in the 19th century. The guides told us that it was built in the 5th century but everything we read said construction started in 1420 so we think there was a bit of a language issue. None of them spoke English very well so we think they were confusing 5th with 15th. We were actually surprised that this type of building was that old so this makes more sense.
Regardless of when it was built, it was quite beautiful. Several rooms had super tall ceilings made out of gorgeous wood. The tapestries, while beautiful, are reproductions as the Spanish stole them somewhere along the way. Again, we had a bit of a language barrier so we’re not sure when that happened or why Portugal hasn’t gotten them back.
Large stone fireplaces in every room
By the time we finished touring the Palace the sky was very dark, so we headed back to our car. We planned to visit the Guimaraes historic city center and the town of Braga but just as we got into the car it started to pour so we decided to head straight to Spain instead.
Even though Santiago de Compostela is directly north of where we were in Portugal, it is on Central European time so we lost an hour as soon as we crossed into Spain. By the time we got settled we had just enough time to get to the grocery store before it started pouring again. So, we settled in for a cozy night at home. Tomorrow we’ll visit the Cathedral and stroll the city center. There’s only a 20% chance of rain tomorrow so our fingers are crossed for a totally rain free day. How nice would that be?!?