{"id":385,"date":"2022-06-18T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-18T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transitorythoughts.com\/travel\/?p=385"},"modified":"2022-07-12T19:32:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T19:32:04","slug":"braga-day-4-june-18-parades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transitorythoughts.com\/travel\/2022\/06\/18\/braga-day-4-june-18-parades\/","title":{"rendered":"Braga Day 4 (June 18) Parades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After seeing so many highlights of Braga\u2019s history, we thought we would follow up on recommendations to visit the nearby historic town of Guimar\u00e3es. But, it turns out that this day being Saturday, it was the climax of the festa de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o de Braga with lots of activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started out with a walk to the neighborhood around the train station, which was a couple of blocks outside the medieval city walls and close by our base at Arco da Porta Nova. We realized we were near the Braga market, so we stopped in to take a quick look around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We then wandered around the traffic circle into another neighborhood of 5- or 6-floor apartment buildings on a hillside overlooking a weedy valley with small farm plots. It was a nice green view, so we took a picture of the street name. Would we want to rent an apartment here? We met an old guy and chatted briefly in broken Portuguese. He was pleased that we were enjoying Braga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that day, we went looking for a concert of traditional guitar ensembles. We found the spot, but we were early. So before it started, we paid a small admission fee to go into a small family chapel, Capela dos Coimbras, nearby. It was built by an important, wealthy family in the 1500s. (Did they have relatives in the town of Coimbra?) It had statues and carvings and was attached on one side to the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At concert time, we snagged an empty caf\u00e9 table in the shade in front of the concert stage. Each ensemble played two or three traditional tunes. There was usually a lead player on the Portuguese guitar and the other musicians strumming on cavaquinhos, similar to ukuleles. There were small ensembles of six players, up to maybe 20. Many onlookers in the square knew the tunes and you could see them humming along. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the distance, we heard drums. There was another procession a couple of blocks away. We headed over there and put in our earplugs \u2013 it was really loud, especially echoing off the buildings. As many as 10 drum ensembles paraded by, each with their own beat and fancy drumming . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It ended with gigantones, 8-foot giants with huge papier-mach\u00e9 heads dancing down the street. The crowd had tourists, but seemed to be mostly Portuguese-speaking people. We wondered how many were from Braga, and how many came from the greater Minho region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Listen to the drums live and see the gigantones in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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