Another visit to a city we have experienced on a previous trip (2014 Douro River cruise) so I looked for an excursion that would take us elsewhere in the area. We chose a “small group” trip to visit the “The Charming Minho Province” on an all day tour. By the way, Oporto is really a lovely city to visit if you are ever in the area. I like it even better than Lisbon. Second comment: even though it spelled with an “o” it is pronounced as “Porto”, not “Oporto”.

We awoke to cloudy skies with a couple of claps of thunder but no rain so far, and right now it does not look like rain. The temperature is pleasant- upper 60s.

Small group trips, when offered, go on the same itineraries as larger groups but the number of participants is limited to 16 or less to make it a supposedly more intimate experience and allow for more personal engagement with the local tour guide. The ship charges extra for these trips, sometimes only a nominal amount. This trip cost $46/person. To my great surprise there were only 8 of us on this particular trip and as it turned out we ended up with the best tour guide we have had so far on this cruise.

We first drove about an hour north to the town of Guimaraes, which is noted as being the first capital of Portugal and the birthplace of its first king (Afonso Henriques 1109-1185).  It is a UNESCO world heritage site. I was amazed at how large Guimaraes was. I expected a small medieval village but it is a bustling city of 152,000 people.

The area to the north is noted for family farms and the growing of the grapes used to make Portuguese Vinho Verde wine (literally green wine), although it is not really green. It is a light white wine meant to drink when it is young. There are vineyards everywhere in this area of the country growing the grapes used in making the wine.

Major sites in Guimaraes include the Castelo de Guuimaraes, a castle/fort that was constructed in the 10th century to defend against the Moors. We walked through the streets that led from the castle down to the center of town to view the church where the king was baptized. As is typical with old medieval towns the cobble stoned narrow streets were a treat to walk, ending up in small village squares now lined with cafes and shops.

After some free time to wander nearby shops we re-boarded the bus (which by the way was a big 50 passenger bus-for the 8 of us) for our journey to the other major attraction in the area, the city of Braga.

Braga is a major religious city located near Guimaraes, in that it has over 30 churches, monasteries and convents that date back to the 4th century AD. It played a great role in the christianization of the Iberian peninsula.  It is also larger than I expected-193,000 people live here. It is also the site of several important universities. We walked through the old town, stopping is see the remains of the castle and early churches. After a delightful multi-course lunch we visited the church of Bom Jesus, which is famous because of the 600+ steps that pilgrims would/could ascend to reach its doors. Being of sound mind our tour leader chose to drive us up to the church rather than forcing us to walk those stairs. After that visit it was time to return to the ship.

On returning to the ship we experienced a first time incident involving a cruise today. I was the absolute last person to board the ship before they pulled the gangplank and set sail! We left Braga a bit late and because of traffic it was obvious we would not get back to the ship before the final time to embark. Normally if you were on an independent tour (one not sponsored by the cruise line) the ship would likely leave you, and you would be responsible to get to the next port of call on your own. In this case we were on a ship-sponsored excursion so they waited for us.

Because of our late arrival we missed trivia today so there is no news on our quest to win more points. We did find time to gather and have cocktails before departing for dinner in the main dining room this evening. And the entertainment tonight was a British comedian (who had just arrived on board- the ship brings on some new entertainment about half way through the cruise). We were somewhat skeptical because he was British and would likely portray British humor; however, he was simply a “hoot” and we laughed our selves silly. We are now looking forward to his next show in a few nights.

Tomorrow we will be in Ferrol, Spain which is near the famous pilgrim church of Santiago De Compostela that we are planning to visit.

Steps today were 10,946! we earned our desserats once again.