From Guimarães we took a 50 minute bus ride to Amarante. I wanted to go here because the town is known for its cheeses and cured meats.
We checked into Residencial Estoril, with a view of Ponte de São Gonçalo. The hotel's restaurant actually juts over the Rio Tâmega. Had a quick lunch, and then tried to find th train station for the next day. Unfortunately the narrow gauge train no longer runs (it was supposedly pretty scenic). The replacement transport wasn't clearly marked and we trekked back and forth through the town (there's only one major road in the old centre, which goes across the river, pedestrians and cars sharing the 12' wide bridge).
Found out there was a cake festival going on, so checked it out and had the free samples. Next visited the Museo de Souza-Cardoso, which was pretty impressive for a town of 11,000.
For an afternoon snack we went to a local adega, filled with old men having cheese and smoked meats and wine. It was exactly what I was looking for. The old men were very friendly, although we couldn't understand a word. With some difffliculty, ordered a couple different kinds of prosciutto, and a cured choriço (also some cheese, olives and great bread). For wine we had vino verde, a young white (!) wine which everyone was drinking. It was amazing.
We walked around town a bit more, stopping into the cafe right on the corner of the bridge for tea and sweets.
Later went for dinner in a little restaurant (we didn't want anything too fancy cause we were pretty full from the meat and cheese place). We though we were late (it was about 9pm and there was only one table of people). Turned out we were early! The restaurant filled up as the night went on.
After dinner, walked by the cathedral because we had seen posters that there was a symphony performance that night, open to the public. It was a great way to finish the night, listening to the orchestra in a beautiful cathedral.
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