Travel Journal- Portugal

Peneda-Gerês National Park, Braga, & Tomar

August 4-6, 2019

This part of our trip was slightly hurried as we had to be in Barcelona to meet my parents and sisters in just ten days! Yay!

On our way into Portugal, we stayed the night in the Peneda-Gerês National Park. A little hike near our spot opened up to a quaint swimming hole and bridge. To our surprise, tucked way back in the trees, there was also a small bar. There were no signs on the road leading to it, so we figured it was the local secret. We got excited when we saw they had ice cream too! They were all very kind, even though we didn’t understand each other at all!

When we awoke, we drove through a bit more of the park, but then headed straight for the city of Braga. Of course when we got there it was very busy and there wasn’t much parking, so we had accidentally parked in a reserved spot. A woman was kind enough to tell us we would get a ticket if we didn’t move. We were a little embarrassed, but also thankful that someone was willing to help us. We are finding more and more that the citizens of Portugal seem to be willing to help, in a nice manner. This is a change from the past few days ha.

Anyway, we stopped to enjoy the small city center with a cathedral and some lovely fountains. We also got to see the Raio Palace, which has a beautiful blue face that contrasts with the dull stones and bricks of the buildings surrounding it. We spent the rest of the day in a shopping mall using their free wifi and eating some easy to order food!

On our way to Tomar, we stopped in a small town to sleep under the cover of beautiful green vines. It was directly across from a glorious chapel and aquaduct. We took a hike around the chapel and then cuddled in the van to get a good night’s sleep. Right as we closed our eyes, the chapel lit up with lights and loud music. Our parking lot filled with a few cars, where we could tell the people were smoking and partying.

There have been a few moments in the van where I have gotten nervous that something might happen to us or suspicious of the people around us (mostly just because I’m a chicken haha). But in this case, we just figured it was some teenagers getting together on a summer night. Everything was fine and I tried to tell myself to be more trusting and less fearful. Ben usually isn’t bothered and tells me to stop freaking out haha.

We woke up early the next morning to drive the rest of the way to Tomar. Here we visited the Convent of Christ and just walked around the garden area. It was very pretty!