Braga Recollections
Posted by Derek Bradley on Saturday, December 10, 2011 Under: Europa League
Soaring into the sky on Easyjet from Gatwick with other Bluenoses the next
adventure in Europe began. Two hours later and we were in Porto, and after a 1
hour car ride we arrived in Braga.We stayed in Basic Braga by Axis and I feared the wrath of my wife as it
was "over the railway station" but it was modern clean and the staff were
fabulous. Braga was a large town and has many old churches and baroque style
buildings but with a very modern trendy area as well.
The Wednesday arrived and once again the Bluenoses decorated the main
square with flags and had a good sing and chat together. A short taxi drive and
we arrived outside the ground. An amazing view with the one end a hill with
trees on it and the other a steep rock face. The two large stands are held
together by metal strands across the pitch. It looked good and there was a huge
buzz of building excitement as kick off approached. All the noise seemed to
waft away in the air but the Bluenoses did their best to sing and the Blues
played well and were not outplayed as at St Andrews. If only............Zigic
penalty miss.......deflection for goal.........we did not go for a drink after
the game!!
We had our wives with us and after a taxi ride where we were all scared for
our lives we went for a lovely meal. We went up to the main square for a drink
and the highlight was the white wine bought for Sue was undrinkable so we gave
it to a bag lady who smelt it and promptly gave it back! It did cost 99 cents
so no great financial loss. Robin wanted to see the boys in Murphy's bar so I
went with him. Good relaxed atmosphere with a chance to go over the game and
remember happy days being a Blues fan. Quite quiet by Brugge standard but still
special.
Little recovery time on Thursday and a gentle day was rounded off by
drinking Port all together as a nightcap(David insisted on hoovering up the
table when he spilt his). Friday saw us all in Porto sitting in a cafe on the
side of the river Douro in glorious sunshine, then visiting a Port house to hear
how it is made. A lovely way to end the european tour......or is it over?
P.S. Look at the photos to see what it was like!
In : Europa League
Tags: braga europa league