The Easyriders and Chav's (Chaves)

We found excellent accom in Chaves on Saturday 5th and just after mid-day we were in the shower fully clothed doing our personal washing (Ballinger Bob see picture).  After a joint discussion, Ann decided we would spend a couple of days discovering what Chaves had to offer and Tony was not too upset because they offered us a discount for a two night stay. We were lucky enough to have discovered there was another local festival going on over the two days we were there - quite an enjoyable cultural experience with dancing and foods from the region.

Chaves is most famous for its' thermal springs and people from all over the country travel to experience the waters and the associated treatments. Unfortunately the springs were closed till the 14th February so the prospect of a hot soothing bath was quickly dismissed, however there was the facility to drink the thermal water (natural temp 73 degrees) which we decided to partake of -BIG MISTAKE for tony, Yes Barb you were absoluteley right!!!!!!

 We really enjoyed the two days in Chaves relaxing and enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

We loaded the bike up early Monday morning 7th February, typed the next destination Braga into the Sat Nav and set off on the next leg of our journey. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the scenic route beckoned, little did we know that altitude tablets and blinkers would have been advantageous - the heights we reached were awesome and quite terrifying particularly for Ann, especially when Tony got too close to the edge on some of the bends in fact too close for comfort because he was looking at the view instead of the road (sorry kids).

We arrived in good time and in good spirits into Braga and sourced some excellent accomodation in the Hotel D'ora (Room 11-our kids will understand the significance), which although basic was comfortable and warm. We wined and dined and chatted with the locals who continue to be exceedingly kind and helpful towards us both and also assisting us in steadily building upour Portugese vocabulary. we also help to teach them a thing ortwo                                                  

 Braga was full of  ancient Religious buildings including a Cathederal, an old convent building, a seminary and lots of very old historical buildings. We took lots of pictures in Braga, below are a selection - one of the pictures shows some excavations currently underway at the seminary.

Ann dancing on the cobbled stones outside the church

We packed the bike again to set out for Porto on Tuesday 8th but decided that we must call and see a much visited and talked about attraction called Santuario Do Samerio - wow what a good decision. I can only describe it as something extroadinary almost heavenly, and what I can only imagine for us (Ann & I), as our  interpretation of the gates of Heaven -a truely uplifting experience as the pictures hopefully will illustrate

so onwards and upwards we left the 'gates of Heaven' and set out for Porto....