Christmas in Braga
Not wanting to spend Christmas in Lisbon missing our families back home, we hopped a train north to Braga (Portugal's Rome).
Braga is a charming historic city in the northern part of the country. This is also Portugal's third largest city.
Braga is more than 2000 years old which makes it the oldest city in Portugal - so, of course, there are ancient buildings and churches around every corner.
We spent the next 48 hours wondering the maze of narrow streets in the old part of the city, shopping, eating, and visiting some of the more than 30 churches around town.
By far the most impressive of all the churches in Braga is the Bom Jesus do Monte.
The church sits of the top of a hill. One way to get to the top is by climbing the more than 600 steps of the zig-zag staircase - beautiful but exhausting. We opted to take a taxi to make our 'ascent to heaven'. Anyway you choose, the view from the top must be amazing on a clear day. (Did I mention that it probably rained 24 out of our 48 hours in Braga?!)
Anyway...we did enjoy the grotto, gardens, lake, and chapel - in spite of it all.
The fun funicular
Built-in 1882, it was the first funicular in the Iberian Peninsula. It uses a water counter-weight system and there are only seven of these funiculars in Portugal, but this is the oldest one in the world still in operation. The funicular takes you to up to the top or down to the bottom of the Bom Jesus do Monte.
Since we were already at the top we took it to the bottom!
It was a delightful 48 hours. I can't say that we came back rested and refreshed, but we did come back with happy memories of Christmas 2022.
And that is enough.
And as we look forward to 2023, may this be our guide...
