Gia...Jia....oh forget it.

Day 5
Braga and Guimarães, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: pretty much anything Lady Gaga

Every team needs a break and ours came right in time. We hit a good place in building and part of the schedule is a day off. The whole team needed a shift to keep our momentum going. Today our local tour guys, Alfredo and Miguel, drove us into Guimarães, which is about 30 minutes away. Don´t ask me to pronounce correctly. I tried constantly through the day and Miguel just cracked up everytime. It´s something like Gui-a-mar-esh.

Guimarães is reportedly the first city of Portgual, where the first king took throne and conquered the rest of the area that is still Portugal. We started at the ruins of his first castle, which is really just a huge courtyard with a keep and moss-covered walls. We showed up right as busloads of schoolchildren arrived for field trips. Florescent orange hats everywhere. From there, they walked us through the rest of the city center and a palace that was used by the royal family up until about 200 years ago. So you know, a young palace.

While there wasn´t anything exceptionally remarkable about the places we saw (other than the beauty of these places), I always geek out at spots like that. Maybe it came from my dad, but I´m a bit of a history nerd. When you´re walking though a palace, you can see the tapestries from the era, maybe pieces of art they´ve strategically placed or furniture that "might" have been from the time. It all looks staged, like a museum. But if you step through the right doorway and are paying attention, the energy can just knock you over. You get to walk through hallways that have been used for hundreds of years. You look up at ceiling that have been handpainted by artisans ordered by monarchs. At some time, that place had a use. If you step right, you can feel it. Another soul walked through there and called it home. It just amazes me.

Ok, geeking out aside, the day was fun. Miguel has a quirky sense of humor and a good command of English. He gave us a brief story on how the first king took over and someone asked when Portugal became a republic instead of a monarchy. It was only in the last 100 years. She asked how it happened and he shrugged and brushed his hands together. "Pssh....It was very easy. We killed them." Air gun pointed at us. "Two shots, one for father, one for son. No more descendents. No more kings. Very easy. We win."

Walking through the center square was like walking through Fantasyland at Disneyland. Quaint buildings paired together, hugging each other with banners and laundry hung from all balconies. All the homes and business look exactly as they have the last 500 years. Miguel explained that anyone who resides in them is ordered to by law to restore them using the exact same practices as the original builders. They are not permitted to update the techniques or materials. So the town preserves its original look and feel. Portugal is a country that holds its traditions and history very dear. The downside is, it´s beyond expensive to do that, so most of the places stand empty for years.

We hiked a bit up to Bom Jesus, an incredible preserved church at the top of a mountian. I don´t know if I have the words or wits about me at the moment to describe accurately right now. Thank God for my camera. It´s stuck on top of this mountain with a lush forest on all sides that reminded me a lot of the higher regions of the Sierra Nevadas. How the hell did they get it up there? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bom_Jesus_do_Monte

We went into Braga then, and I´m actually bummed we didn´t get much time there. Hundreds of years ago, Braga was the capital of Roman occupancy for the region. They are mid a festival celebrating the Romans, so all over the streets there are carts, stands, bands and people just roaming dressed in Roman costume. It´s a massive toga party. Unfortunately, it was already late so we only got about 30 minutes there. Enough time to see a few of the cafes and the original library. (There I go geeking out again.) I definitely want to see Braga again. A reason to come back to Portugal.

We have 2 days left on the build, then one in Porto before we all part ways. It seems unreal that it´s gone so fast. I´m looking forward to the next leg of my trip and being able to plan my own schedule. We´re on the move constantly. But I´m going to miss a lot of this country. It´s been incredible so far.