From Minho to Duoro

Country 11 since leaving home is and always will be Portugal.

We arrived in Braga late on Saturday afternoon just in time to catch the celebrations of the city being European Youth Capital 2012. This mainly involved some strange costumes and some singing.

We arrived too late to get a good view of the show, but it was clear the rest of the crowd were enjoying themselves.

One thing that Portugal is known for is it's pastries based on age-old recipes developed by nuns. This is our typical Portuguese breakfast.

Known as the religious centre of the Iberian Peninsula, Braga's most impressive site was the Bom Jesus do Monte, put simply a church on a hill. 

To get there we took our first feniculi fenicular. It's the oldest feniculi funicular in the world which is moved by counterbalancing water. Water is loaded into the car at the top which weighs it down so it sinks to the bottom, at the same time drawing the lighter, drained car up the hill, where the process starts all over again.

The church was alright, but the view was spectacular. 

And we got some exercise by taking the stairs down.

We spent a few days in Portugal's only national park, Peneda-Geres. Perhaps the best thing about it was that, being winter we did an entire 5 hour hike without seeing another hiker, just a few old ladies doing their washing in a village near the end.

We stopped along the road at Guimarães, which this year is a European Capital of Culture. Like most medieval towns it has pleasant squares, friendly people and old buildings.   

The last stop in the North was Porto, the city of you guessed it, Port wine.

We did a couple of tours and bought a couple of bottles and dranj a but of winne andd now   werre ehcsperts .

Speaking of wine, later that day we sobered up and took a segway tour. It was really fun, we had a really good guide and we got to see the whole city without lifting a leg.

Of course, when travelling, fine cuisine is very important. Which is why Josh had to try the local Francesinha. A sandwich containing ham, chorizo, steak and ham, with a fried egg on top, covered with melted cheese, smothered in a spicy tomato sauce and surrounded by chips. It was as it looks, amazing!

 Also on the menu was some mighty fine Porto chicken, best served with Peri-Peri sauce.

One of the best things about this part of the world is just seeing people live out their daily lives, especially in Porto which is proud to be known as a working-class city.