Camino Portugues II

Boy the time we had breakfast and washed the clothes, it was noon. We wanted to visit the church of San Francisco.  Up the hill we went.  When we arrived I saw a priest so I went to ask him for a sello, a stamp for my pilgrim's credential.  Not only he gave us e stamp but he also gave us a blessing certificate. Then we went to have a moment of prayer and found that a mass was starting. Nice way to start the day. After Mass we had a light lunch and we went to the cathedral museum.  They have a new section where the restoration of the cathedral is explained.  Very interesting and a lot more complicated than I thought.  There is course a great collection of religious art including a XVII century painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Seeing her always touches me, specially when we are far from her. After a rest we went back to the cathedral for Sunday mass.  Our last visit on this trip to the house of our patron saint Santiago.  Again, a very special mass at this shrine. Hard to bel

With some reluctance we took the bus to Santiago.  It took just over an hour what could have taken us several days on foot. I guess at some point we have to accept that the body has its limits and we do only what we can. The bus terminal in Santiago de Compostela is about 1.5 km from the cathedral.  Beeing Galicia there hills every where.  Wonder Woman did not want me to walk with the backpack worried that I might hurt myself again but I insisted.  Missing the last 80 I'm, I wanted to walk at least the last one. We arrived in front of the Cathedral in 20 minutes and our emotions resurfaced.  Backpacks are not allowed in the cathedral anymore, so we went to our Pousada to leave them and came back. The number of pilgrims has increased dramatically over the last few years (and keeps growing), so now they have security, you can only enter thru one door and exit on another. We managed to get in, we had our moment of prayer, we took the stairs behind the altar to hug the statue of t

I'm finally out of bed.  The pain is almost gone. I can walk!!! We went out for a typical Spanish breakfast; a croissant and infusion (herbal tea).  Then we walked to the bus terminal, about one and a half kilometres.  We wanted to check on the schedule of buses to Santiago de Compostela for tomorrow. The plan is to go tomorrow to Santiago, on Sunday travel to Barcelos, and on Thursday to Porto so we can take our early flight home on Friday.  No more walking long distance with backpack.  Really, a vacation. Of course we have given up on trying to get the Compostela, the pilgrim certificate.  We do have our pilgrim's credential with the stamps from all the places we visited. And we know that even if we did not walk the last 100 kilometres, we are real pilgrims (we did walk over 300 km). Now, in a few minutes we will go to Mass to the church of Our Lady Peregrina.  We will ask for her protection and help. And we will be able to pray for each of our family and friends at the

I guess this is the end of the blog.  From Redondela we took a taxi to Arcade and stayed there only one night.  Arcade is smaller town with few facilities and everything was far from the hotel.  I was not getting better either.  The next stage was to Pontevedra, the head of the district and.much larger.  So another taxi to Pontevedra, and a much better hotel. We have been here two days, still having trouble moving but improving slowly.  I don't think I will be able to walk very far soon.  We have decided to end the pilgrimage right here.  To get the Compostela we would have to go back to Redondela and walk 80 I'm.  It is not going to happen. I read that only 1 in 5 pilgrims complete the pilgrimage.  We were lucky enough to complete 3 before this one.  We are blessed in having the opportunity to try. I also have learned once more to appreciate Wonder Woman.  She is proving once more that I couldn't have a better wife.  She has spent the last few days taking care of me wit

Walked today: 2.5 km No of steps: 3289 steps Total walked: 343.0 km Another day out of circulation.  I got a muscle relaxant for my sore neck a ND it knocks me out.  I have been sleeping for two days. Yesterday I only went out for food and today only for Mass and food. We have decided to try to walk tomorrow.  Still very sore so  we'll see what happens.  At least the weather is very nice now. That's all for today.

Walked today: 8.7 km No of steps: 11,108 steps Total walked: 335.7 km Not much happened today. My heel blister is huge so Brenda wanted to make sure it was looked at. We walked across the town to the health centre but they wouldn't look at it because we don't have European health insurance. At the private clinic there was not even a nurse.  Finally at the pharmacy, one of the pharmacists took care of it.  She drained it, applied antibiotic ointment, told me to come back in the afternoon, cleaned it again with alcohol and then put compeed and a heel protector. My neck is also very sore, so we'll see how I do tomorrow. I The rest of the day I was in bed feeling sorry for myself. To end the day, we went to Mass to the church of Santiago.  Praying for his protection.

Walked today: 20.0 km No of steps: 25,793 steps Total walked: 327.0 km Started at dawn, shortly before 9 am. Foggy from the beginning, then drizzle and by 11am rain. Not much to say today.  I have a very uncomfortable pain in my neck that made the day hard for me.  The stage has a very steep climb and a very steep down hill.  Both hard going up and the way down hard on my knee.  Wonder Woman as usual being wonderful and caring for me with all the patience of the world. We saw a few pilgrims, we talked and walked for an hour or two with Bruno from Switzerland.  He is also an old guy and he says el Caminho was in his bucket list.  When we arrived to the outskirts of Redondela, Brenda said we needed to find a bathroom.  I know that walking into town can take over an hour so when I saw a man going into his house I asked him if she could use his bathroom.  He right away said yes.  Spaniards are always so nice to us.  Nice man with a nice modern home and beautiful children. We walke

Walked today: 22.1 km No of steps: 28599 steps Total walked: 307.0 km We got up at 6:30 and ready to go by 7:30 am but it was too dark. We forgot the time change from Portugal to Spain.  Sunrise is not until almost 9 am so we waited. We started to move at first light and in a couple of blocks we found an open church with Mass starting. It was the Convent of the claustered Clarisas.  We stayed and some several other pilgrims joined us.  At the end of the Mass the priest gave us a pilgrims blessing.  We started the day with a blessing after holy Communion. The morning was foggy but pretty.  There was a bit of rain that would continue on and off until we got to Porriño.  This is a very nice part of Galicia.  In some places we walked on the Via Romana XIX and we crossed several Roman bridges. They really don't built bridges like they used to.  They don't last 2000 years. After 3 hours I realized that I had not put my orthotics in the boots.  No wonder my feet were hurting. 

Walked today: 6.8 km No of steps: 8682 steps Total walked: 284.9 km Rest day in Tui. We got up at 9 am, breakfast and the rest of the morning we spent it visiting the cathedral of Tui.  Original construction dates to the XII century with many improvements over the following centuries.  Magnificent retablos barrocos and amazing religious art.  From the garden there beautiful views of the river and of Portugal beyond. After the touristy part we visited the chapel of the holy sacrament to think and pray a rosary. Big Spanish lunch, I had a huge bowl of lentil soup and a very large milanesa with fries and salad plus desert.  I could not finish so much food. A 30 minutes walk and back to the Posada to lie down all afternoon.  Up just in time to go to back to Mass to the Convento de las Doroteas.  Again, what a privilege to be in the same place where sister Lucia of Fatima had visions of the Holy Trinity and of Our Lady. Nicola, from Australia, joined us at Mass. It was nice to see

Walked today: 11.4 km No of steps: 14,312 steps Total walked: 278.1 km We met James and Cristina on the way to the bus stop.We were going to take the bus to Valença, we would have to take the coast and change buses.  We walked by a taxi stand and I asked how much to Valença, it was €40, ten each, probably not much more than the buses. So the taxi it was. I mentioned before that I was reluctant to do the walk to Rubiais.  It is around 20 km, no towns, no roads, and a 450 m climb on rocky terrain.  With my weak knee, a blister bigger than a two dollar coin, and rain I didn't even want to try. Of course this is the last stage I can skip if I am serious about getting a Compostela, the pilgrim certificate at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.  And I want it, this has been a lot harder than 2 years ago and I think this is the last time I try.  The years have had an impact. We arrived in Valença by 10 am, amazing, walking would have been 2 hard days.  We went to to the fort,

Walked today: 20.6 km No of steps: 26,605 steps Total walked: 266.7 km Jacinto woke up to make breakfast for us.  Everyone joined except the Danes who left very early.  We were out before the gang but we knew they would pass us.  We stopped at a coffee shop after 3 hours and we saw several of them there.  We also stopped in the same place than 2 years ago to pray the rosary and where Antje met us and waited for us. We arrived to Ponte do Lima at 1:30 pm, very hot and very tired.  We saw a thermometer that said it was 36 C. We took the first place we found which happens to be a very nice, modern hotel.  The bad news, Brenda checked my foot.  Blister number one is now about 4 cm, larger than a loony. After shower and wash clothes, we went out to eat, to find the church and the bus stop.  After that was done we crossed the old bridge to go looking for our friends at the municipal albergue. We found Maria (Brasil) and Nicola (Australia), after some jokes and more pictures we met Z

Walked today: 13.8 km No of steps: 17,863 steps Total walked: 246.1 km We took a taxi to the outskirts of Barcelos, we wanted a short day and I'm still avoiding steep hills. It is very different walking in town, like in Braga, than walking on roads and trails with a 10 kg backpack.  But we did fine.  The day started a bit cool but within half an hour I was sweating and ready to take off my fleece.  Very soon the temperature started to rise and very soon felt like the 30 C that is the high for today. We had some highway with no shoulders, cobblestones roads and dirt trails.  After a couple of hours we went by a modern church that was open, it was our opportunity to pray the rosary so we took it. It took us Abit over 4 hours to get to Lugar de Corgo and Casa Fernanda.  We went in a did not see anyone so we went ahead and sat in the shade. Eventually Fernanda came out and received us like old friends.  He gave us the only bedroom which is in the house and we settled ourselves

Walked today: 11.6 km No of steps: 14, 850 steps Total walked: 232.3 km Still resting.  I have realized that this pilgrimage is now more than I can do. I think I can still finish it but I will have to make it as easy as I can.  Checking the maps, we are going to skip half dozen kilometres tomorrow in a steep climb.  We'll do the next stage but we will skip Monday's stage.  It is expected that it will rain hard and it is the longest climb of the Caminho Portugués.  El Alto de la Portela Grande. We will take the bus from Ponte de Lima to Valença, the border with Spain.  We are hoping that I can walk every stage complete from then on.  God willing the knees and the feet will cooperate. Today we went to spend the day in Braga.  Nice town with several churches from the middle ages.  The most memorable was the cathedral of course.  It also has a very nice museum of religious articles. We walked around, we ate a great lunch and took the 3 o'clock bus back to Barcelos.  Whi

Walked today: 11.2 km No of steps: 14, 510 steps Total walked: 220.7 km Rest day; as I said we wanted to stay in Porto but it was impossible.  All the hotels we called had raised their prices to double and still they were full.  So we tried the next stage, Vilarinho, and the same story.  We had to skip one more stage to Barcelos. We found ourselves in the 9 am bus to Porto.  We were there at 10 am, took a taxi to the train station and got tickets to Barcelos in the 1 pm train.  We had enough time to go and find lunch and McDonald's is half a block away so a big Mac it was.  We went to get a brace for Wonder Woman's carpal tunnel which flared and we still had time for mass at the Igreja dos Congregados. The train trip was only one hour so we were in Barcelos by 2 pm. After a short rest we went for a walk, there is a huge street market in the plaza in front of the hotel on Thursdays. They sell everything you can imagine. We talked to a lady vendor who happens to be my age.

Walked today: 21.4 km No of steps: 27,883 steps Total walked: 209.5 km Up at 6 am, on the road by 7 am, lots of fog and in the dark. The Lady of the albergue left us a breakfast bag with a juice, a sandwich and an apple. We walked a couple of kilometres in the dark and found a pastelería open.  Our friends, Mary Joy, Andres and Ori were there.  We had our hot drinks and by the time we finished there was some light. We walked for hours on pavement, mostly in narrow streets in small villages.  This went on for about 10 km with gentle slopes and nice weather. Then, when fatigue was getting to us - it is much harder to walk with the backpack - and the feet started to hurt, we got to a very steep and long slope down to the Rio Vouga, very rough, and then, we had to go back up.  That is when I wonder why are we doing this.  Keep reminding myself that part of the pilgrimage is the penance that goes with it. Once we got to the top, we still had 5 km to go.  Those were very long kilometr

Walked today: 22.3 km No of steps: 28, 875 steps Total walked: 188.1 km Today we stayed for breakfast which did not start until 7:30am.  Thus, we did not start walking until 8 am.  By then everyone had left. It was a bit cold, nice change but we needed our lights jackets and Brenda even got her gloves out. We walked at a very good pace for  3 hours.  By then we had covered 11 km, that is fast for us.  We stopped at a small cafe and the lady of that place served us coffee for her and Cha (tea) for me.  I don't understand why all these small places don't have my favorite: coca zero.   Her name is Jackeline and is French but has been here for a long time. She wished is bom viajem and gave us each a kiss. We walked and walked and we recognized many places.  At around noon I told Brenda that I remembered a place where we had a rest two years ago.  I also said I needed to adjust a boot because it was hurting a little.  The boot came off and Brenda found a pretty good size blis

Walked today: 20.8 km No of steps: 26,910 Total walked: 165.9 km Breakfast in our room; a bottle of juice and a sweet bun.  Out in the dark we made good progress in the cool weather of dawn. We met more pilgrims, we saw the Finn who walks fast, alone, big pack and a shopping bag in his hand, we saw the two old Frenchmen, later we met Zuc Ya from Korea, we met a group the includes Mary Joy from the US, Andrés, a Young man from Argentina, and Ori from Brasil.  All of them passed us. We are slow walkers. We stopped a couple of times for coffee and drinks. They don't seem to sell diet Coke or Coke zero, that is too bad for an addict like me.  On the other hand Brenda is too happy that there is vinho Verde everywhere. Pretty well all the walk is on asphalt, on not too busy roads.  All morning with a mostly gentle slope up.  Quite a bit easier than yesterday.  We had close to 17 km under our belt when we entered the busy N1 highway.  It was after 1 pm,  so we had been walking for 5

Walked today: 20.6 km No of steps: 26,230 Total walked: 145.1 km We left the hotel still in the dark.  We were not sure where the Caminho was and eventually we found an arrow.  We had heard about the forest fires and were a bit concerned.  We could smell the smoke and see a hazy and smoky sky.  Somehow, later, we found ourselves without our beloved yellow arrows and we suddenly were on the busy IC2 highway.  It is only a 2 lane highway but it is very busy and has no shoulders. Pretty tense moments. Luckily, we walked only about half kilometre before we found a way to get out of there.  Very soon we arrived to Cernache and found an open cafe.  We stopped there and watching the news we learned there are now several major fires.  One is near Alvaiazere and another one near Porto.  No way for us to know if they are near the Caminho.  We'll have to keep checking to make sure we don't get in trouble . In the village of  Palheira we found a small chapel that was open.  There wa

Walked today: 13.4 km No of steps: 17,212 Total walked: 124.5 km Today was a rest day. We need to skip some stages because we are short of time so we planned two skip two stages, use one day to visit the Roman ruins of Conimbriga, a town from the first and second centuries and that has the best preserved mosaics in Portugal. The other day will be in reserve for future needs. We had asked about buses and we were told there would be one at 8:55 am.  At 9:30 am someone informed us that there are no buses on the weekend.  Right!!!   We took a taxi that cost just a bit more than a taxi to the airport at home so it was not too bad. We checked in at the Pousada de Condeixa, another fancy hotel.  We were early enough to take advantage of breakfast.  We were also here two years ago. By 11 o'clock we were walking the 3 km to Conimbriga.  We had visit ed the area two years ago but it is still very impressive.  It is the largest Roman town excavated in Portugal.  We spent over two hours

Walked today: 15.9 km No. of steps: 20,601 Total walked: 111.1 km We woke up before dawn.  A quick breakfast of toast and tea and Carlos was ready for us. I had asked him to give us a ride up to the top of the hill.  About 3 km, that's about one hour walk for us. Carlos Pinheiro is one more living proof on how nice Portugués people are to us pilgrims.  We got off the car still on the dark and started our walk on the road. Again happy to have our safety reflective vests.  There are a few uphill places but overall we had to go down about 300 metres.  I should mention that I am still nursing my left knee and the I have more trouble going down than up.  I also forgot to switch my orthotics from my shoes to my boots.  Halfway down my feet started to hurt.  Still walking a bit difficult.  We did manage the 12 km or so in under 5 hours so we were in Ançiao before noon. Just entering town an older man - ok, younger than me - said hello and offered us a drink inviting us into his pla

Walked today: 17.2 km No of steps:. 22,151 steps Total walked: 95.2 km Talking to other pilgrims last night I hear the saying they had walked 25, 30 or more kilometres.  So far we are walking just over 10 km. I am tired, my legs hurt, my feet are sore.  I had a one hour nap and I am still tired.  Good news, my knee is a bit sore, but the swelling is down and it is working reasonably well.  More good news; Wonder Woman is still very patient when the old man slows down or asks for time out. We got up in the dark and had a quick breakfast of tea and toast.  Daniel, Carlos' son was waiting for us to take us back some 10 clics do we could walk them back. He left us still in the dark and surrounded by a very heavy fog.  He told us to be very careful because we had to walk on the road and when he saw us get out florescent safety vests he said, I'm glad, very good. We had to walk on that road for 3 or 4 km, that's over an hour for us and we did see a few cars go by very fast.

Walked today: 14.6 km No of steps:  18,900 Total walked: 78.0 km Up at 7 am and finished breakfast at 8:30 am.  Good bye to the luxury of the Hotel dos Templarios. The pilgrimage really starts here. My backpack is lighter than last time but with water and some food is still around 10 kilos. We found the first yellow arrow jus after crossing the river. Yesterday we went to a laundromat to get our clothes washed and somehow when we went back to the hotel we were missing a sock.  That left me with two and a half pairs.  Good enough for me but not for Wonder woman.  She had to walk 4 extra blocks to go hunting for the sock while I waited by a yellow arrow.  Of course she is stubborn enough that she found the missing sock.  The the trail goes up, and up.  It splits; one way follows the river and the other goes through town. We decided to follow the river until we found a singn by the association of St. James in 4 languages that said something like this: This trail is difficult and go

Walked today: 11.4 km No of steps: 14,505 Total walked: 63.4 km The bad news, the knee is still swollen, the good news there is no pain.  The plan is to walk tomorrow to Calvinos which is just over 11 km.  The difference being that I will have to carry my backpack. With water it will be around 10 kg.  This is the big test. Today was an easy day.  This morning we climbed the hill to the Castle of the Templar Knights. We spent the morning exploring and revisiting the different areas.  I already posted some pictures in Facebook. In the way back we stopped at a supermarket and bough bread, ham an cheese to make our sandwiches and then ate them in the park under the shade of a large tree.  Then I returned to the hotel to rest.  I was there until 4 pm and then we went for a walk into the town and dinner. It is only 8 pm and I am in bed icing my knee. Tomorrow we start the walk; Caminho de Santiago in the Via Lusitana. Santiago, apostole of Jesus, protect us in the way to your cathed

W alked today: 13.2 km No of steps: 16,950 Total walked: 52 km Up, then breakfast in the hotel and to the basilica where we attended holy mass in the underground chapel of the "Death of Jesus".  Mass was presided by three priests, a Portuguese, an African and one from the US. It is worth mentioning that the underground is at the opposite end of the old basílica.  Very modern contains four modern chapels each larger than many churches.  Three of them are set up for mass and the fourth is for confession.  It has over 30 confessionals.  A big electronic board indicates which languages are spoken by the priest in each confessional.  Wonder woman and I wanted to start the pilgrimage on a clean slate so we went for confession.  As it happens she managed to get a Filipino priest who spoke English and I got a very good confessor from Spain. From there we went to look for the store of Vodafone, I had a mysterious message in Portugués and I thought i needed to buy more minutes fo

Walked today: 10.5 km No of steps: 13150 Total walked: 31.8 km I slept again a long time, over 10 hours, not counting a couple of hours when I was up in the middle of the night reading. Still trying to change time zones. Up at 7:30 am which is sunrise time  here.  We packed and had a very good breakfast at the hotel. Lazy as I am these days, we took a taxi to the bus terminal.  Our bus left around 10 am and we were in Fatima at 12:30 pm. We walked towards the basílica and we stopped at a small restaurant for a nice lunch.  One of the ladies working there, Juliana, lived in Mississauga for 20 years, right by our condo. We had a good chat. On the way we passed by the explanada of the basilica and casually we started talking to a young Spanish priest.  Before we left him he gave us a blessing asking our Lord Jesus to protect us in our pilgrimage. The residence, San Francisco Marto, is economical, the rooms are very small but that is not unusual in Europe.  Still, very clean After