Day 6: Rubiães to Tui - Thursday, September 29, 2011

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. That cost us a kilometre or two.

Crossing the bridge into Tui, and into Spain, we saw another peregrino ahead of us and when we eventually caught up, or rather when she stopped to rest, it was Michaela. (We don't catch up with people unless they stop to rest).

Once again we should have paid more attention to Brierley who would have sent us along the river before climbing to the Cathedral albergue. We instead took the more circuitous yellow arrow route.

I am not sure how much sightseeing there is to do in Tui. We got to see the Cathedral (a bit of a disappointment) and surrounding streets but having climbed to the top of the hill we were not prepared to go down and climb it a second time.

Seven or eight of us had arranged to meet and we enjoyed the peregrino menu at a nearby restaurant. It was there that we said farewell to Herman and Marjet who would have left Santiago by the time we arrived.

Contrary to Brierley the Cathedral albergue did not have cooking facilities or a downstairs lounge, unless we hit on a language problem – it was a case of no eating or drinking inside the albergue. Upstairs was excellent, and just as he described, so perhaps downstairs was being renovated.

It was on Thursday that we became aware of a Russian family on the Camino. We exchanged pleasantries that night and again along the road on Friday but that was the last we saw of the couple and their teenage daughter. I have an extremely limited command of Russian (I had been following the Pimsleur course) but I think they know somewhat more about us than we do of them. I established that they we're from Moscow and that was it.

Inside the Fortalza in Valença