Here is Guimarães, Portugal. This is considered the birthplace of Portugal and its 1st king. We decided to check out the castle, the ducal palace and the old city center. Very cute, little city.

This is the Paço dos Duques de Bragança.

The courtyard to the palace. They were having a concert and the warmup violin was lovely.

One of the ceilings inside the palace.

I loved some of the vases and the big open ceilings and the use of wooden beams in some of the halls.

The chapel inside the palace. The glasswork was so colorful.

This is Guimarães castle which isn’t very big, but is a 5 minute walk from the palace. They are both located on Holy hill.

King of the Hill, I mean Castle or rather boulder.

I didn’t know they had this stuff in the 10th century….AMAZING!

Checking out the upper walls of the castle.

One exterior view showing off the Portuguese flag.

Finally, we found the door. This castle was built to protect against Norsemen and Moorish invaders.

Straight shot and it was pretty quick.

So, as we were concluding our walk along the old city wall, I couldn’t help, but take a photo of this colorful stree leading towards Igreja e Oratórios de Nossa Senhora da Consolação e Santos Passos. That’s a mouthful.

Which archway did they disappear thru, 1, 2, 3, 4 or….

This is the beginning of Rua de Santa Maria. One of the 1st streets of this city.

This street connected the monastery from the lower part of town to the castle in the upper part of town.

There are documents from the 12th century referencing this street. Meanwhile in the present, Asher races his car along the buildings.

One last look at this 10th century castle before we leave.