After we arrived at the Port of Oporto, Portugal, we were in a whirlwind following our guide, who was on a SCHEDULE and we had to be on time! On the ship, all the days seemed to run into each other and I  had a hard time remembering each morning what country I was now in, much less what city or what I was going to be doing in it!  I just followed the leader, putting one foot in front of the other! I knew we had multiple stops on our day excursion, but as the day wore on I could see why we were on a strict schedule! There was so much to see and all in different cities!  First, the bus took us to the top of a hill in Guimarães, Portugal’s Rome. Guimarães is west of Oporto between the Minho and Douro Rivers and was the first capitol of Portugal. The castle/fortress was built in the 4th century and by the 10th century Afonso, the first King of Portugal, was defending the city from the Moors.  Since we were scurrying as fast as we could around the fortress and my hubby and I  lagged in the back to take photos, I have no info about this castle structure except it is a hollow shell and a newer palace section is used for big functions and operated by the city.  Please join us as we run the fortress gauntlet!

 

And from another side………

You can see from the photos, the original wall line and the repairs done to the fortress over the years here at the New Palace entrance.

And there were some really big trees up on the hill too!

The castle and fortress has multiple designed structures and separate buildings too. It encompasses the entire hill!

And then we got a look at Afonso too!

Scattered at the base of the hill, on one side, are some important looking government buildings!

And then we went down the hill to the historic section of town…………past one church after another! Following the WAY!

From castle hill into a big plaza…………….. We were so far behind, because this is a really beautiful area and we were trying to take photos! The streets are narrow here.

And we spilled out into the plaza which is surrounded by coffee shops, eateries and dwellings……….. The area looks deserted, but that is because we lagged behind, waiting for everyone to clear out and move on so we could take photos!

 

I liked these houses! Competing neighbors maybe? One had birds on the wall, while the other had a real bird in a cage!

And what do we have here at the Coffee Shop? Stub It and Bin it!

Yet another church and these beautiful doors!  Betanzos green is popular here too!

The old fire alarms were Batanzos Green too! You could find them on every church……….

In the historic center of Guimarães there are at least ten big churches!  Along the route, between the churches, there were doors built into walls that could be opened to show a Station of the Cross. On certain days some of the doors must be left open, because there were fresh flowers left in each door.  At Easter there is a big pageant and this area must be overflowing with followers! It’s no wonder Guimarães is a Unesco World Heritage Site!

And the front ………..

And I liked the creatures across the top of the rail!

And here at this crossing is another Cruceiros, representing Holy Ground. It’s like X marks the spot, so you don’t forget! I think Guimarães could be one big X!

As we came out of the old historic center we were looking at a lush formal garden in front of the Nossa Senhora da Consolacao Church! Simply outstanding!

Well that’s all for Guimarães, we’re headed back to our bus. There are two more stops before the day is over! I hope you enjoyed the first part of our day!

This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0!   Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors?