Camino Portugues - 2011

Church in Vila do Conde We followed Brierley's advice and took the Metro to Mercado and started walking at 8:00am. First lesson, if you are buying two tickets for the Metro from a machine, you buy one and then the other one. If you ask for two tickets you receive one ticket for two journeys for one person. We had that explained to us ("for the next time'') by a ticket inspector. At Mercado the Metro stops at the steps to the bridge over the harbour. Coming off the bridge we continued straight for a short distance to a roundabout and there turned left down Rua de Hintze Ribeiro to the sea. For the next 15-16 km we were able to walk beside the sea on either promenade or boardwalk. We ventured on to the sand once and found it difficult. We had to use the sand briefly just short of Castro Sao Paio - the yellow arrows were very reassuring here. After S. Paio it was back to the board walk and in the next village we must have  Staying close to the coast mis...

Hoping our accomodation is around the corner - it wasn't Breakfast was included in the cost of the hotel and as the local baker started work late on Sunday we didn't get on the road until 8:30am. We retraced our steps the short distance back to the bridge where we had noticed a Camino sign on our arrival. Unfortunately the arrow suggested going down stairs, under the bridge and back towards the sea. The map in Brierley's book shows the route going up river so we decided to ignore the yellow arrow on this occasion. Perhaps the arrow pointed to a coastal route. Worth stopping for a photograph There were no further yellow arrows so we followed the route as best we could. We passed  through Touguinha and then Touguinho. Near the top of a hill we stopped for a rest and took out Brierley to see how we were doing. According to the map, if we were following the purple dots, we shouldn't have been in Touguinho at all, but I photographed the sign on the way into the village...

Bom Jesus church in Barcelos We said goodbye to Herman and Marjet on leaving Antonio's as they were taking the scenic route. That involved a climb and we only do climbs when we have to. We met them again in Barcelos and no doubt our paths will cross again. Barcelos The Camino follows cobbled roads much of the way from Pedra Furado to Barcelos and was mostly  downhill, making for a very pleasant morning. We arrived at 11am and spent the next couple of hours sightseeing. Barcelos is both interesting and attractive but why is photography banned in the beautiful Bom Jesus church? Brierley advises the pilgrim to stock up on food and water for the walk to Ponte de Lima. Going through Barcelos we were on the lookout for some sort of supermarket or grocery store but found none. Fortunately we were able to stock up at a very small shop near the albergue at Portilo. If the morning was relatively easy, the afternoon was tough, mainly due to the heat. The temperature at 11am had ...

https://landponthecp.blogspot.com/2020/04/day-5-ponte-de-lima-to-rubiaes.html Odile, Pauline, Hari, Joy, Marjet and Herman We we're on the road by 7:30am and arrived in Ponte de Lima almost nine hours later, after covering 24km. Walking conditions were good as the sun didn't really come out until well into the afternoon. It was, nevertheless, a very tiring day. Brierley does well to urge caution over the first few hundred metres as the road is busy and twisted and without a footpath. After that we were on byroads or dirt tracks for a pleasant if uneventful walk. We were not looking forward to the climb half way through the day's walk. Although almost as high as the previous day it turned out to be quite easy by comparison. Lunch by a secluded woodland path We met Michaela from Germany for the first time and later Nora caught up with us. We chatted for  a while before she went on her way. Having completed the climb, it was time for lunch which consisted of a ham ro...

Pauline waits while I struggle up to the highest point of the Camino Portugues Light rain made for pleasant start to the day after the heat of the previous days. It wasn't wet enough to require rain gear but we did put the waterproof covers on our backpacks. We like to combine breakfast with our first rest stop about an hour into the day, but Brierley had the first bar/cafe more than 8km away so we grabbed an orange juice at the cafe beside the albergue and started walking. The further into the walk, the less appealing 8km before breakfast felt. Our luck was in, however, as a new restaurant/bar had sprung up along the path, 5.1km from Ponte de Lima according to the GPS on my phone. An orange juice, coffee and warm pain au chocolat set us on our way. While there we picked up an attractive stamp, depicting a trout, on our credencials. It was here that we met three Belgian peregrinos who we were to bump into frequently in the following days. By the time we had reached th...

Crossing the bridge into Spain The plan was to limit ourselves to a 16.2km walk so that we would have the afternoon for sightseeing at  Valença . Stops were well spaced out – a light breakfast at Sao Bento da Porta, ice cream and an Aquarius some 8km further on and lunch in  Valença  around 1:00pm. I was disappointed with the lunch - ordered a tapas variety and was served some bread and a few very thinly cut slices of different chorizos, little more than you might receive free in a bar when ordering a drink. Along the way we had again met our new friends and we all decided that we would have time to look around the Fortaleza in  Valença  before heading on for Tui. Pauline preferred to rest so I was able to wander while Pauline took care of the backpacks and relaxed with a coffee. Constant reference to Brierley's map is essential to find the best way out of the Fortaleza. We had the map in our backpack and thought we could find the best exit without it....