You can’t start a post on day trips from Porto, without first talking about the most beautiful train station in the world, Sao Bento Station. It doesn’t take long to find out why people call this train station the most beautiful train station in the world. You could spend hours staring at the walls which are covered with the most intricate blue tiled murals. It’s so beautiful that it’s hard to believe that it is an actual working train station, and a well operating one at that.
We boarded our train with very little wait time and no fuss, and then rode an hour away to Guimarães, known for its historic town centre and medieval castle. It did not disappoint. We started our morning by stopping in a pastry shop where we tried multiple different egg tart sweets. It rained off and on, but that didn’t matter much as there were plenty of covered sidewalk cafes for us to linger in especially in the medieval Largo da Oliveiria plaza in the heart of the old town.
Once the rain cleared, the boys pretended to be knights as we roamed throughout the 10th century Guimarães Castle and the restored Dukes of Bragança Palace. I was rewarded with yet another beautiful ceiling in the palace. One day I hope my photography can accurately depict my love for beautiful ceilings. Until then, trust me when I say it was stunning. E pointed out the most spooky of paintings that featured a head on a platter. We didn’t take a photo of it and haven’t been able to find it since. But he talks about it often.
That medieval feeling stayed with us as we walked through the old town centre of the beautiful city stopping often to have drinks and snacks in sidewalk cafes. While sipping vino verde in one café, we were surprised with a local tradition where the town’s accordion players gathered in a circle under the medieval arches sparking all the locals to dance and sing around them. It was truly magical.
For our next adventure, we departed the most beautiful train station in the world once again for an hour ride to Braga. Braga is one the oldest cities in the country and home to many universities. But people really come here for the beautiful Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte. The day we arrived in Braga, it was hazy with everything coated in a pale yellow glow. It wasn’t a perfect day to get beautiful landscapes of one of our most anticipated sites to see, but we made do. In the town centre, we strolled through beautiful gardens while spotting dragons. We took our time enjoying the white port wine spritzers over lunch before catching a bus to the main attraction.
Bom Jesus do Monte, or the Good Jesus of the Mountain, is a catholic shrine known for the Christian pilgrimages ending with the sites Baroque stairway, climbing in crisscross style. The staircase pays homage to the five senses as you climb. You can make the climb yourself, or you can take the old fashioned water balance funicular, built in 1882, to the top. It was muggy out. We weren’t about to climb those stairs with the boys. So we rode the funicular up, I walked the steps down and back up by myself, and we rode the funicular down. I found this site to be mesmerizing. The zigzag staircase seemed endless from the bottom giving a real sense of depth. The Baroque finishings added that touch of creepy you really expect from this type of architecture. I loved every bit of it.
From knights to dragons, the areas surrounding Porto carried on the marvelous magical feeling leaving us craving more adventure. The beauty of Portugal is in the details… It’s in the intricate patterned sidewalks… It’s in the colorful stacks of sardine cans… It’s is the beautiful array of blue and green tiles… And just like the beauty of those details, Jason and I found the most beauty of our trip in the small but grand moments we shared with our beautiful family, moments that will stay with us forever.
Until next time,
