I just got back from a business trip to Braga, Portugal.
The purpose of the trip was the 9th annual Dataverse Community Meeting, held for the first time overseas and organized by Pedro Principe, pictured above with me and my colleague Julian, who was on the same red eye flight.
Pedro invited us to his home for breakfast and let us leave our bags there while he took us on a tour all over Porto.
His church happens to have an excellent view and he brought us to the top to enjoy it, including a new perspective of the mosaic in front of the church.
We went to the Mercado do Bolhão.
Pedro treated us to the famous pastéis de nata.
I think we walked down Rua de Santa Catarina. I didn’t take a pic but there’s a nice place called Majestic Café.
We walked by the town hall.
We enjoyed the tilework at the São Bento train station. While we were there we purchased train tickets to Braga.
A highlight was the views from the Ponte Luís I bridge.
I didn’t buy sardines from this guy, but I liked his style.
We had a fantastic lunch at Taberna Cais das Pedras where we had a ton of different tapas, including some exotic offerings like pig stomach (bucho), chicken gizzards (moleas), and açorda.
After a full day at Porto we took the train to Braga. There was a beer festival going on near my hotel with lots of fun music, food trucks, and a place selling farturas and churros.
My hotel was just past the Arco da Porta Nova.
Technically, it was a guest house, only a few rooms above a coffee shop.
After checking in and decompressing a bit, I met up with Oliver, also in town for the conference.
We each had a francesinha at Taberna Londrina Braga:
Back at my hotel, I managed to break my key off in the lock. Pictured below is a new key from the next day.
I had some time on Sunday to explore Braga a bit. I was only steps away from the Braga Cathedral.
I stopped by the Congregados Basilica.
For lunch I had bacalhau à Braga, which had been recommended.
There was a soccer match that evening between Porto and Braga. Hundreds gathered in front of Braga City Hall. Porto one. Later, over fraturas, someone from Braga told me, “Porto always wins.”
In that city hall plaza, I met up with Don, also in town for the conference.
Throughout the week there was lots of walking around, taking in the scenery.
We got a nice group photo at the conference dinner on Tuesday.
Dinner on the last night of the conference.
Three pepper steak.
Lunch on Thursday.
Photobombed by a pigeon.
Three accordion band.
Walking up the stairs at Bom Jesus with Philipp and Jim.
I finally got rojões for my last dinner in Portugal.
Free arcade games at the Porto airport.
