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September 24, 2025

Portuguese Camino, Day 3

7.48 miles walked

Vila do Conde to Arcos

While there is no elevation profile for this day as Arcos is between the Coastal and Central Routes I did note that my fitness tracker said I climbed 4 flights. I say more than 4 because I walked up the hotel stairs 7-8 times, more stairs up to some churches, and a reasonably sized hill into Arcos.

I’ve been a little off in getting my stamps on my pilgrim passport. Last night I asked at reception for a stamp and they told they didn’t have one. However, they did have a sticker. I’ll take it! So here is my sticker stamp.

This morning though I started by going to the monastery next door. I went in through a little door because I heard voices. There was a little old man and someone dressed like a medical person. The old man kept pointing at me and going on in Portuguese (which is NOT an easy language). I kept asking, “Selo por favor”. Selo means postage stamp; the correct word for an ink stamp is Carimbo. Of course I didn’t learn that until this afternoon, so I kept say “Selo” and he kept pointing and going on in Portuguese. Finally the other man said, “He’s telling you to be careful on the stairs because they’re slippery. Then the man left me with this older man who was talking a mile a minute.

Finally he took my passport, noticed I’m American and said, “Good Morning”. Then he proceeded to say good morning in Spanish, French, and German, but couldn’t recall it in Italian. Next he stamped my passport and told me he was going to sign his name in addition to adding the date. After that he wanted to take me on a tour of the chapel, but I couldn’t because Glen was waiting outside. I tried to convey this and said “Adios” so he starts saying “goodbye” in every language he knows.

It was a really charming encounter and despite the language barrier I felt really welcomed and cared for. BTW my little old man is 93 years old and pretty darned spry. 🙂

Later…

Our walk was very easy today, only about 6.5 miles from hotel to hotel. So far walking the Portuguese is easier than the Frances. It’s not just the surface…a lot of the Frances is walking on baseball sized rocks and so far the Portuguese has been cobblestones and pavement…but there is a certain element of danger with the traffic.

A lot of our walk today was on very narrow country roads between corn fields. They are barely wide enough for two cars.

That tractor takes the entire width of the road

Further the roads curve a lot so the rule of walking against the traffic can be dangerous to adhere to. Cars coming toward you won’t see you around the curve and you can easily be hit. The best you can do is walk in the middle and listen very carefully for a car/machinery noise you hear. It means you have to concentrate on something other than letting the walk take you mind and heart where it wants to go.