Portugal - Braga - 3 Churches

After the little walk around Braga, I went to explore the famous Bom Jesus de Monte. It's up on a hill, and there are multiple ways to get to it. I travelled by car. Parking wasn't a problem, but it was a weekday.

First I explored the park. There's a lovely grotto area, with the water coming down and forming stalagmites.

 If you go up on the hill, then you get to a pond where you can rent a boat. Can be romantic, though otherwise it didn't seem that attractive. 

To the left from there you can find an area with little sanctuaries.

Then after a bathroom break, I went inside the church. It's actually quite small. The grounds are more impressive than the actual church. It's also very opulent. Made me think of poverty oaths and such, and what supposedly Jesus stood for. There was some remains of a Saint, but I didn't go closer. Those things give me the creeps.

Oh, and sorry about the nose shots in the video. I was trying to be not too obvious.

Outside, I saw a bride. It's a habit of mine that when I see a bridal shot during my travels, I always take my own picture of her. It happened in Rome too.

Then I went on to the Sanctuary of Sameiro. It was pretty much abandoned at this time in the day. The church itself looks a lot grander, and it's also higher up. The upper part of the church is quite simple. The altar is very pretty. You can also go down to a newer built part of the church, where it had been extended to. I didn't like that part, because it reminded me of Communist murals, weirdly enough. The view was nice from up there tough, but it would have been better to go in the morning, because of the direction of the sun.

Last, but not least came a tiny, but very ornate church, Igreja de Santa Maria Madalena. I couldn't see the inside of it, as it was locked up, but the outside was nice, even though a bit neglected.

I was quite hungry and tired at this point, the memory of the sushi rolls and salad long gone. I ended up in a mall, Braga Parque. There is another nice chain of restaurants in Portugese malls called Loja das Sopas. They mostly offer soups, and my favourite one is the bean soup. Very filling. Though the rest of the food is usually not that great.

As I was eating, I noticed a woman carrying a big Primark bag. Now when I was living in the UK, I really liked Primark, because they had nice clothing at a very good price. I got a ton of stuff there. So, I found it in the mall, and had a nice little round of shopping to finish off my day. Good thing it was open late.

I made an informative movie of the three churches I've visited.

Here is the root that you can take to visit these places:

Portugal - Braga

I had a brief walk around Braga today after my meal. Sadly, I didn't have a lot of time, but still managed to get a few good shots, and material for the video.

The weather finally improved. So far, Portugal in July has been very cold. The weeks before it was so hot, there were fires. Now though, so cold, I didn't get to go in very far on the beach. However, the sun decided to make an appearance, though the air was still quite chilly.

I made a little vlog:

This is a more informative video on Braga:

Here is the path that I took:

Portugal - Braga - Nikko, Sale & Dolce

Today I had lunch at this really interesting restaurant. Or, actually, two restaurants. You see, Nikko is a sushi restaurant in Braga, and Sale & Dolce is an Italian one. However, you can order from both menus at the same place. It's actually not bad. You can just order from either, or do like me, and get a roll from one, and a salad from the other. Both were very nice, so I wrote a review, though I could obviously just put it one one Tripadvisor.

Review:

If an Italian and a Japanese had a baby

 Okay, that has actually happened and there's a singer as a result, but that's not what you want to read about right now. 

I'm an avid sushi lover, I've even taken a course on making it. I actually had one of the fusion rolls. It was nice. Didn't taste like most sushi that I had, but I'm ready for unusual combinations. The picture is here, if you want to give it a try. As a side dish, I had a salad. Now the salad portion is massive. If you have a bunny in your pocket, you can feed that too, but I'm sure a sheep would be happy too. Sharing it between two people was perfect. It was interesting to have the two dishes together, but they went surprisingly well together. I also had a fresh orange juice with them, which was incredibly refreshing.

Oh, and I also have to take a note of the toilet. It has mirrors. Lots of them. It can be a bit disturbing, but if you're not shy, you can have a good laugh.

Portugal - Braga - Melia Braga Hotel

Moved from Aveiro to Braga. I was kind of sad to leave Aveiro, but I knew I'd be back. Braga is actually a bigger place, but the hotel was on the outskirts, so I didn't get to benefit from the city. The hotel itself is great though. However, upon check-in there was a bit of a problem. I travel with my boss, and hotels often just assume that although we reserve two rooms, we really mean one. They also had a group of Jewish pensioners, so it took a while for the receptionist to work out where to put us. I did love my room, and I wrote for them a very nice review.

Review:

See Bom Jezus from your bathtub!

I really liked my stay in this hotel. Sadly, I never got around to using the spa, so I won’t be able to review that. Would have loved to use the outside pool, but it was 14 Celsius in July. I’ve also stayed at another Melia hotel in Aveiro, so check out that review as well!

Location can be good, depending on what you’re in Braga for. It’s not near the city centre at all. Actually, there isn’t much within walking distance, and it’s right next to a busy road. Higher rooms advised. If you get hungry and don’t want to use room service, you can only use the McD near here. BTW, they have soup. I know, weird. However, it’s just at the bottom of the hill where Bom Jezus is, so if that’s your target, it’s a great location.

Room. Well, now that’s something else. You can see a video I did of the room on my YouTube channel, Izzy’s Travel Diaries. The lights are turned on by a panel. Which is really cool! It also controls the AC. The bathroom is actually one room with the bedroom. This can be good if you’re a couple and not shy, or if you’re a single occupant. Otherwise, it could get awkward. Especially, because there is only one door, which either closes the shower, or the toilet. You also need to take care that if you slide the door from the shower to the toilet before it dries, there’s going to be some water around. I would have just put two doors in. I also have to admit that I love their soap and shampoo! Great scent, very quality product.

Oh, but that tub! If I could have packed it up and taken it home it would be in my bathroom right now! It’s deep and just the right length. I do wish they would have cleaned it after I used it first. Oh well, it was just me. I always wondered why there are no tub cleaning equipment in hotel rooms. Also, with the curtain drawn, I could see the brilliant view of Bom Jezus from the tub, which was something else. I’d go back in there just for that view!

The bed was good. It did have some plastic cover on it under the sheet. I was thinking that maybe they were expecting some seniors into the room, because they had some sort of a pensioner group in. There was a mix up, and they only booked one room for me and my boss. The amount of times that happens! So the receptionist had to go to work on the room allocations. That plastic thing was kind of uncomfortable. Otherwise, the room was very modern and comfortable.

A couple of issues I had. The lamp on the bedside table was so massive, hardly left any space for anything else. The touchpad was right there too, and I kept pressing it with my water, tissues, glasses, whatever. There was also a malfunction when randomly one of the lamps started going on and off. I fiddled around and it stopped. The daybed had a little table, but the top came off. Very unsafe. One of the cups was dirty, which is actually a problem I see often. The TV had very few channels, and mostly in Portuguese. That was weird, because in Aveiro the TV is great. I think they either don’t have enough housekeepers, or they’re just not thorough enough to check for maintenance issues.

Breakfast. So the breakfast room is a bit dark. Otherwise, the selection was great, they had soy milk. Sometimes they were a bit behind on the warm food. Not much staff around though, and also no indication of allergens regarding the food. Sorry, I just wish hotels started to do that.

Overall, really great hotel. Very modern, and stylish. If you want to send me a tub, just ask for my address. :D Kidding. I do recommend staying here, and for details check out my YouTube!