Guimaraes – almost live

Ufff… I just returned to Bucharest. It was a too short night flight to be able to sleep too long – it takes less than 4 hours to fly from Lisbon to Bucharest… not enough to sleep, although, Thanks God I had plenty of conditions – all 2 seats next to me where empty, so I had almost a flat bed. Such a luxury was not available in the business class. However, in the last 2-post TBU conference days, I went to visit 2 gems close to Porto – Guimaraes and Braga. Today, I will write about Guimaraes, the European Capital of Culture in 2012 and I promise to come back with a story on Braga, as well (which I loved it more :). But, let’s go and show you some places in this special town.

First of all, I should highlight that Guimaraes is not an usual Portuguese city. For many, it is THE CITY, because here is the birth place for the Portuguese nation. There are not so many nations in the world which have a city, village or place to be considered as the birth place of the city (Switzerland has Rutli, it is the only country comes to my mind), but Portugal has Guimaraes, which is a special place, indeed… I promise to come back with more !

Sights of Guimaraes

Guimaraes is this year’s European Capital of Culture

You can sneak into the old center 🙂

Clothes in balconies – a Guimaraes trademark !

Apprently, the funds run out in the case of buildings restorations 🙂

But the cultural centers look perfect

One of the squares from the historical center – ideal place for a coffee or a light lunch

I repeat, I repeat, I repeat – I love azulejos 🙂

Another “regular” church – regular, but so beautiful

Palace of Dukes of Guimaraes

With a huge patio

The mighty citadel… few steps away from the palace

But when you reach the top, you should sneak through a door as big as a small window 🙂

I managed to buy the Portuguese newspaper Publico

where I was mentioned 🙂

I had an incredible end of day… however, back in Porto 🙂