Guimarães

A backblip

Today I mostly wilted !  Maybe all the walking caught up with me but I think it was the no wind and heat!  I mean it wasn’t that hot it was 25 here so not deadly.

Breakfast at the beautiful hotel was fabulous!  Everything you can imagine but I had a variety of fresh fruit along with Natural yogurt which you picked up in a little Kilmer jar then a squeeze of honey.  Then it was scrambled egg, mix of vegetables not sure how they were cooked but delicious and along with fried ham and toast.  Then had a cuppa along with a couple of warm pastries .  The continentals were snapping up the cold hams and varieties of cheese with crusty bread but I’m not into that at all. Cheese - boke!

Walked the half hour down to Sao Bento for the train to Guimarães which had a beautiful old town and about one hour 15 away from Porto in the train.  The fare from this journey was the grand total of 14€ for two of us with a return ticket!  Yep, again railways run for the people not the shareholders as state owned.

We got off the train and the heat hit us !  Once we reached the old town I was ready for a cool drink and anice cream at a cafe in the shade.  I sat at the table next to an elderly gentleman who we started speaking g to each other. The usual where are you from - he was from Boston, looked around  late 70s.  We got into a conversation and he old us he was a journalist, covered the Vietnam war, met Putin in early 2000, managed to get in first with the crunching hand shake as he was told this is what he does. Travelled to every country in the world apart from North Korea and Patagonia. Lives in Paris for six months of the year then goes over to Boston to check on his two French restaurants and a wine bar.  His French wife arrived after a little while and we talked more.  He was soooo very interesting I could have talked to him all day hearing his stories .  What a life he has had and this was only hearing a very small part.  

We headed up to the fort where I sat under a tree in the shade and drunk my water.  We then went for lunch although it was almost 230 by then.  It wasn’t that good I left it and wandered very slowly back to the station for the train to Porto.  By this time it was  7 so we had some food in a nice restaurant called Healthy Greens .  I’ve never tasted such good sweet potato fries along with a chickeny dish.- so dam good!

Had a great nights sleep in the comfiest of beds with beautiful Snow White linen sheets . Bliss