Braga (again)

And a handshake agreement on how to move forward (69)

We used FlixBus to get from Coimbra to Braga, and this time upgraded to the two panoramic view seats on the bus. They’re an extra 1.50€ each and we judged the ride worth the splurge. For those considering such a move, we’ll note that there’s a blind that gets mostly rolled on up on the front window. It completely cuts off your view of the scenery, even when it’s just not quite furled all the way. So there’s that. We also had an apparently new driver, and a great perspective as he resisted staying in his lane for pretty much the entire trip. It was a white knuckle ride until we realized we’re bigger than anything we would hit, and then it was (mostly) humorous.

Every (both) time(s) we have gone to Braga we’ve had that “Ahhhh, Braga” moment upon arrival. Perhaps it’s because from the train station to the city center you pass a gorgeous garden and fountain and then go under the famous Arco da Porta Nova. The walk from the bus station on the other hand tours the blander side of town. Or perhaps it was just thinking about it as a place to live instead of a place to visit. Either way, the energy was very different.

We started towards of the restaurants on our list, Lakkana Thai. If you’ve been, please do tell us how it was, because on our way we passed pPlace, which advertised barbecue ribs. Having been cruelly denied such a delicacy since our move, it was no decision at all to head in. The verdict was … pretty good, for those who haven’t had The Food of The Gods in a while. The meat didn’t just fall off the bone, it literally separated from the ribs to the point where it was hard to eat. While the bbq flavor was less en pointe, it satisfied a need. Interestingly they also had three other flavors of sauce in addition to bbq. We tried the chimichurri and were quite impressed. It was, however, surreal to eat a rack in a fancy joint. Where’s the sticky red and white plastic tablecloth? Where are the bottles of sauces lined up on the side? The rolls of paper towels on the tables? And what’s with this option of having lasagna?? Surreal as it was, we were happy we went.

Yessirree, y’alls looking at a rack o’ ribs. Right here in Portugal.

It was here, though, that a piece of the trip fell apart. We checked the Airbnb app, and saw no message with instructions on how to get in to our unit. Queries followed, and were gradually answered. Turns out we had made the reservation for three days later. DOH. We ordered a cha to not feel guilty about holding the table and scrambled to finding another place. Fortunately, there were plenty of other options. We grabbed one, paid, and entered the wormhole. Portugal requires each rentor to get the following information from each renter: full name, date of birth, nationality, country of residence, country of birth, image of document like passport or (yay!) residence card, number of residence card. The Airbnb app wouldn’t let us upload the image. The rentor was reluctant to let us send the image another way. Our tea was getting colder. We finally got the issue mostly sorted, and on faith, headed out.

Least we had a nice place to tuck our luggage while working the phones

The red berry cha

Since we’ve been to Braga before, we came in with a targeted list to address areas of concern. We found the weather to be bone-numbingly raw in January. Both of us have conditions that are sensitive to that kind of cold. That coupled with the fact that restaurants and shops leave their doors wide open creates the worry that for possibly months of the year we’ll just be huddled at home. So we visited the mall. Great news! The doors are closed! It’s warm in the mall. And Scott was entranced by the elaborate cars for kids. (Literally, there were small children driving tiny cars around the mall. They (presumably) have speed governors and people gave them a wide berth. Definitely going to have to find out the weight limits on those, though Scott’s legs are probably too long.) We are not Mall People by any stretch, but we have stumbled into one or two Better Than Expected restaurants in a mall here in Lisbon (looking at you, Giorno!) and thought maybe that might work. Braga’s offerings were not nearly as entrancing, but would do. We had a terrible soup served by surly staff, a decent Portuguese hamburger (no bun, egg on top) by h3, and a very mediocre poke.

That right there is a real live Steak n Shake menu. Items are in English, descriptions in Portuguese.

And that’s it for food. Our itinerary included eating at five restaurants. We hit a grand total of … none. Well, if you consider “mall food” a sixth, then we were batting 0.167.

Next up in things to explore was the bus system. In our two visits to Braga we’d managed to avoid any public trans. We had previously taken an Uber (in the pouring rain) and it was fast and cheap, so that test came up smelling like roses. (Phew! One down!) We’ve heard there’s a free bus to the mall, but it turns out that’s only on weekends. Supposedly, city buses are 1€ and you can pay once you get on, so we were excited to try it out. Except while walking to one of the restaurants on our list (not open at 11 AM despite what Google said), we saw the mall. So shoot. We determined to take another bus trip later in our stay. Each time an opportunity came our way, though, it turned out it wasn’t that far to walk.

At this point energy was a little low. We decided that rather than keeping to the plan of walking on the outskirts of the historical area to identify neighborhoods to live in, we would head to the parts of Braga that made us fall in love with it and see if we could recapture that feeling. At the Chafariz da Praça da República we settled on a wall to enjoy the surroundings and people.

And there we made our handshake agreement: There are things we love about Braga. There are things we love about Lisbon. Neither place is perfect. When we moved here we were open to living in either Porto in Lisbon and it worked out beautifully. We will do the same again, looking in both Braga and Lisbon to see what comes our way.

Handshake Plaza, also known as Chafariz da Praça da República

Chafariz da Praça da República (Chafariz means fountain)

The evening’s entertainment was a parade outside our Airbnb’s window - at night no less! Some areas have Mardi Gras. Here we have Carnival. And after Carnival? The cross comes to you. It was quite an event.

So, we have a plan. We have a real estate agent and some direction to give her. Now, we face the real estate market (gulp!).

That’s all for now.

Love from Lisbon,

Amy & Scott