Back in Santiago
Well, I now back in Santiago, having walked some of the Camino Portuguese, but not as much as I intended.
I first went to Braga for a night, on my way to Barcelos, where i planned to begin walking. Portugal has a different feel to it. Interestingly, English is spoken much more commonly, and food was incredibly cheap, with very large serves. I had a coffee and croissant at one place and actually queried if they were correct – a €1.76! When I was charged similarly after that I stopped querying.
Braga is a delightful city. I was expecting it to be quite quiet because I arrived on Three Kings Day, a public holiday in Spain, and when walking to the bus station there was hardly anyone about. Arriving in Braga, even though in torrential rain, there were plenty of people bustling about, and I discovered it wasn’t a holiday there. I sloshed my way around the corner to my hotel and then set about exploring the town. I managed to get a menu del dia for €7, saw numerous churches, which all seemed to be open, and even browsed in a few shops. I went to the Cathedral, and was admitted for free because i was a pilgrim. They were in the process of dismantling the rather attractive Belén. I quickly started clicking, but the man assigned the task was on a mission, and was not going to pause while a Señora took a photo. In one of the shots i even have a shot of his hand grabbing one of the statues! The next day was another journey in the rain back to the bus station and onto Barcelos.
The Cathedral in Braga
A Christmas tree made of plastic water bottles
Belén in Braga
Barcelos was another treat. I had no idea where the bus station, and more importantly, the bus stops, were. I was following the blue dot on my phone and we seemed to be going around in circles, and when someone pressed the stop button near my hotel I leapt off. I was in the city centre, and within a 100 metres of the Camino for the start the next day. As in Braga, the churches were open. One of them was a circular building and quite lovely inside – still with a Belén intact, and no-one in sight trying to dismantle it. I went to the Capuchin (Franciscan) church to see about getting a sello (stamp) in my credencial. I had a sing while I was there, and was rather surprised by the bear hug I got from the monk who was on duty. I went back later for the evening service. I had a welcome reception (thank goodness I was 10minutes early!), and was ushered to the “ special” place for pilgrims. This may be fine if one of half a dozen pilgrims, but I was the only one perched on a raised platform, at the front of the church and in full view of the entire congregation, out in force because it was the Three Kings Day service. Talk about being conspicuous! It was a lovely service with lots of beautiful music. For the pilgrim blessing I was ushered to the front, with my very own translator, and had to stand there till the end of the service. I was then taken back and given information about the road ahead. I was given a couple of phone numbers and told that if I needed help to call – the forecast was not good for the next day. I promised I would, not really expecting to.
The Fransican Church in Barcelos
The next day began relatively fine, but the rain was about to fall regularly during the day. It is a beautiful way, but just like in Galicia, it is very wet. The villages are pretty and frequent, though I only came across 1 bar open on that day. What I did find were cobbles! In hindsight, I think they were, combined with the wet conditions, my undoing! I had read that there are cobbles in many places in Portugal. They are difficult to walk on, and must be even harder to ride on if one was riding the Camino. I was making steady progress, with about 8 kms to go when I hit an obstacle! The track was covered with water, along with the adjacent fields as far as I could see. Not prepared to wade through water I didn’t know about, I retraced my steps, going backwards to a main road. On the way out I noticed that I had a sore foot, I was loosing ground, and the light was dimming, making it an unwise decision to walk on the road with such heavy traffic.
Water pouring from the hillside
And more water
The path covered in water, with a river to cross somewhere in the distance.
It was here that a couple of the many Camino “angels” I was to meet came to the fore. I called one of the numbers given to me the previous night, asking if they could call me a taxi, sending them my exact position. I must have said something, because Margarida and her daughter decided they would come instead, because they felt I needed Esther’s skills as a physio. I did – my foot had swollen, and she was the first of the four physics I have seen to say I had twisted my ankle. I don’t remember doing it, and I think it was the cobbles. Her advice was to skip the big hill coming up in 2 days time.
The next morning I limped the 15 kms to Ponte de Lima, a beautiful town. It has a wide riverside boulevard for the locals to enjoy, and makes a splendid entrance into the town for the pilgrim, with a view of the ancient bridge crossing the wide, fast flowing Lima River.
Francesco, a Brazilian pilgrim from Canada, negotiating the constant water.
Vines under water. How they survive is beyond me.
A water free part of the path
Entering Ponte de Lima, the bridge can be seen for a long time
I relented the next day and caught a bus past the steep hill, not quite ready to admit defeat. I stopped for one last lunch before leaving Portugal.
Fish and chips for one!
I caught the bus to Valença, on the border, and wandered through the town, passing its mammoth castle, before crossing the bridge to Tui. There were more adventures, but will stop here and finish later. I have to send this to my IT secretary, Emrys, to load for me. I have not been able to solve the photo issue. Anyway, more to come!
Valença’s castle
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