Travel Dot: Braga and Guimarães (Portugal)

This last weekend (11 and 12th of February, 2012) I went to visit Braga and Guimarães with some friends. It was my first time in both cities (I am Portuguese, and living in Portugal) and I must say I was amazed.

This trip was unscheduled, and that made it even better. The decision was taken the day before leaving. We booked a cheap Hotel, packed the car and drove off. 

Road tripping with friends its amazing. The constant laughter makes the 2-hour trip seem like a fast drive to the sea side. We arrived to Braga early evening, checked in the hotel (which was really amazing for what it cost!) and left immediately. 

We roamed an empty city for a while and stopped for dinner. We assumed the cold kept the people inside, we didn’t want to believe that a city so young was so abandoned. We ate like kings, and drunk also. Everyone appeared to be so nice and easygoing. 

We walked a while more and tried out some of the city bars. Early as it was, most of them were still empty, or under populated. Meanwhile, we called other friends also visiting Braga to see what they were up to. 

We end up meeting them in a local bar, called Mini-Mercado da Mavy. A alternative bar, really cozy and packed. The music was really good and the vibe also (later we found out the DJ was Portuguese rock start Slimmy). We spent a good night there, drunk some more and the rest became a bit fuzzy. I remember drunk walking and karaoke songs (??)

During Sunday we took quick viewing of the city, the center is quite small. Even though we didn’t had much time, I found the city marvelous and wanting to come back soon. 

We drove off to Guimarães through the secondary roads, uphill and downhill, so we could visit some sanctuaries and enjoy the mountain scenic view (Recommend!). We stopped at Bom Jesus, and Sameiro. 

We arrived Guimarães in the afternoon, had a snack and a quick look around the Europe Culture Capital of 2012. I must say the money was well spent. The city looks amazing. Small, but stylish. Alive.

We came back after that. Sat down for coffee and some after-party talk. 

 

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The Dots

         I started this blog to keep a record of my life's little events, or moments. Dots. Why? Well, it became noticeable to me, during my life, that these events are as meaningful as more important ones, specially, due to the fact that most details or moments in your life tend to change you, little by little. Also, these dots, the small pieces of my life, that were important in their present, rapidly lost meaning in the future or were, simply, forgotten. Therefore, I want to keep track of every single one of them, or most of them, in this blog. 

Dots. I mean, movies, pictures, words, letters, videos, concerts, people, conversations, cars, whatever as meaning to me. 

Why a blog? Sharing is good and it makes me take this serious, and also pay more attention to its look and feel.