Guimeres (Road Trip NP)

10 August

We decided to drive to Guimeres and the drive was so lovely through the villages. We stopped at THE CHURCH OF S.TORCATO and I got to see the mummie of St Torcato. There were displays of photos from the past of many who have been healed. Wax dolls and wax parts of the body similar to that at Valankani and Fama de Colva, where offers are made for healing. The calm moment at the sacristy was special🙏🏻. I picked up a beautiful rosary for my mother❤️.

The Pao shop was right opposite the church and we picked up our drive meal fresh Pao with sardine paste (yum) and desert a large Pastel de Nata. It was important to visit Guimarâes where Portucale was born. The important part of history of Portugal. It was in the middle of the town and had many catapults on display. We started off with the Fort/ Castle where they had a room especially done to explain the history form the beginning till date. There was a lovely animation done for kids to understand how Don Alphonso's life was from birth till the time he crowned his son the next King. The Palace was majestic with beautiful walls and the best part was the huge halls with big tapestries hanging on the wall depicting the life and war and the huge dining tables approximately 9  tables together. The grand chapel in the palace was peaceful and had a special touch. Besides the palace was a small church Igreja de São Miguel do Castelo, which they believe was the place where Dom Alphonso was baptized as they saw the baptismal font. 

We decided to exit this grand space and head out for the cable ride to the top of the Mont to see the beautiful church atop the hill. The climb was beautiful and Cooper and Gareth enjoyed every second of the ride and they wanted more. The walk to the church had rock steps and was adventurous. Gareth loved putting in coins to light the electric candles :-). The beautiful statues of Jesus and Mother Mary look straight in your eyes as if they are listening to you 🙏🏻.

We headed out for Pizzas to the local restaurants but they were all closed and would only open late evening, so the Malls was our next stop where we did our last minute booking at 'Adel' as Airbnb did not send me any confirmation or address of our booking and I had to cancel it and it's not something I would venture into again due to the experience as we book few hours before we land in the area on our road trip.

We reached Amarante late evening and we were lost. But the friendly people of Amarante ensured we were chauffeured to our destination as the place we booked wasn't picking up our call. We were so lucky that we ended up at a hotel with a water park.