There is no elevation profile for Pontevedra to Combarro as we are switching from the Central Route to the Spiritual Variant.
Last night I prepped my big backpack and took it downstairs for the transport company to take. Then we allowed ourselves to not set the alarm clock ⏰.
Yesterday was a good day walking. I felt strong, but by the time we went out to dinner I was bone weary and sleepy.
Our room was very nice with all the amenities anyone could want, even a bathtub with jets. Breakfast was superb: eggs, meats, fruits, yogurt, juices, and more. We ate at a common table with two other couples and had a great time chatting. One woman, Keiko had made earrings to give away along the Camino and I was a blessed recipient.
The weather is great today and we only have about a seven mile walk. We are on the spiritual variant which is less crowded and very peaceful. The variant itself isn’t part of Saint James’ journey to Spain but it leads to Villanova de Arousa which is where the stone boat carries his body.
First Church…ClosedSecond Church Wide Open and the Priest was very nice.Some biscuits left out for a donationThe bag at the door is for the bread delivery.We’re on the Spiritual VariantI’m sure everyone takes a picture at this sign leading to the Spiritual VariantWalking into town along the water.
Wow! Today started off in an interesting way. We stopped in an ice cream establishment that also offered breakfast. As usual I did my little cleaning up because as a pilgrim I feel grateful for all the people who serve us.
After breakfast I asked to fill my water bottle and to add a little more ice. The lady vehemently said, “no ice” and proceeded to fill my bottle without letting the water get cold. NO ICE?! It’s an ice cream store. Of course there is ice. Oh well maybe she got up on the wrong side of the bed.
I also saw something today on the Camino that one doesn’t usually see. There’s a group of people stopping for a smoke break. Today is a lot of uphill climbing. I can’t imagine they have the lung capacity to climb and smoke.
Let’s talk about another side of the Camino. There’s Ugly Pilgrim, and I don’t mean looks wise.
We played leap frog with a group of pilgrims and it seemed to be early in their camino. Usually in the beginning people are happy and calling out a jolly Buen Camino! Those who’ve been on the camino a while have settled into a kind of peaceful walk. Now I’m not one to suppress frivolity but these pilgrims were LOUD! Could we please keep the rauccous, screeching laughter down to a medium guffaw please.
And speaking of the Ugly Pilgrim…this evening we stopped for a drink. There was a table of about a dozen pilgrims. They were a little loud, clearly having a good time. No complaints there. However as they got up one of the men took a partially filled glass and threw the contents on to a clean table. After they left one could see a lot of empty beer mugs and several empty wine bottles. Plus there was a significant amount of broken glass under the table. They were clearly drunk. The waiter explained to us that they were not pilgrims seeking a spiritual experience, just people who like to walk and get drunk.
So I’d like to say…DON’T BE AN UGLY PILGRIM!
In all it was a good day walking and we had what was probably the best meal along the camino. If you’re ever in Redondela go to Casa Fidel. We had the fried calamari, scallops, padron peppers, and an excellent bottle of Albariño white wine.
Horreos…for keeping grain. These are found all over Spain. They are now considered a protected part of history so you cannot remove them. That’s why you see them even in urban settings.Part of our climb today
An oasis in the forest.
Water fountainA bagpiper in the forestMy stamps for today
It’s the second highest summit so far and even worse…check out the nearly vertical descent on the other side. I worried about this day for weeks. Well guess what? It was nearly all pavement, the inclines were gentle and sloping, and that steep descent was on pavement so by walking in a zig zag pattern it wasn’t bad at all.
Arriving mid-afternoon was a plus too. Time to do a little laundry, walk around the neighborhood, and have a nice white Albariño wine to relax.
Even if you ask for a Coca Cola you might get a PepsiAquarius, a good drink to replenish electrolytes. Non-carbonated AND made by Coca Cola.The sun rising on our morning walk.The beginning of the descentSantiago/Saint James
It’s good to be back in Spain. Portugal was amazing and the food was great. I struggled with the language. In Porto everyone spoke English but as we ventured northward it was all Portuguese. We had one hotelier who would just speak into his phone and show us the translation.
It was actually an easy day for walking.
We passed a group of school kids (about 12-14 years old). It was warming to my soul to see them. I’m sure they have no idea what they are in for and I’m sure like all teenagers they will become difficult. Yet I wonder what our school children, or even our own children would be like if they walked 200 miles together. I would love to take my oldest granddaughter (11) and my oldest grandson (8) to walk the last 100 km together. No phones, no tv, no distractions. Just the camino mantra of walk, wash, eat, sleep. That would be amazing to me.
One way leads to an alternate route and one leads to the actual camino. Which would you choose?My first tarta de Santiago on the Portuguese Way.What are these?I think they are for training up or supporting grape vines.A bagpiper remeniscent of what awaits in Santiago.
I love to take pictures. Early in our marriage Glen gave me a beautiful Canon camera. I never really grasped the intricacies of the f-stop or exposure because no one taught me. My grandfather was an amateur photographer. Sadly he passed away when I was 5, but sometimes I imagine him giving me a little brownie camera and teaching me about light and composition.
My stamp in Tui
I’m not sure where my second stamp is and I’m pretty sure I got one, but it’s not in my pilgrim passport.
The day has come for our first real ascent and the highest ascent on the Camino Portuguese.
A Eucalyptus tree farm
The path started out innocent enough. Lots of flat land meandering through vineyards, corn fields, and forest. We had a good stop at 2.5 miles for a cold drink and at about 5.5 miles we stopped for lunch. Then things started to get ugly.
Beginning the Great Ascent
It’s so hard to capture the ascent in a picture. The last 250 meters was a steep incline with large boulders/stones (like the size of a large laundry basket) that took us almost an hour to climb. Luckily we did reach the summit before things got out of hand.
JThis is the Cruz do Franceses. It’s one of two prominent crosses where people bring a stone to symbolize relinquishing their burdens. It’s the Portuguese equivalent of the Cruz de Ferris (the iron cross on the Camino Frances). There’s a slightly larger cross over the summit part way down. I suppose if you need to pray to make it over the top you leave your stone here and if you are giving thanks for having made it you leave it at the other cross.
I have to talk about the showers today. Every shower I’ve encountered on previous Caminos work differently. It’s a learning experience every time. There’s a knob, there’s a dial, there’s something that looks like a stick shift on a car. Do you push it up? Down? Is hot to the left or right? It’s a mystery. And then there’s that one renegade spray duct that clogged and sprays ice cold water straight to your face while you’re trying to regulate the temperature.
And one more thing…
Every bathroom has this same trash can. You know how you step on the lever and instead of opening, the whole can tips toward you.
I’m just saying…
It was truly a great day. We stopped once for a snack at about 3.5 miles and then powered on to our hotel in Ponte de Lima.
My stamps for the dayAn extra stamp. I hope it’s ok since the year is wrong.
Today we passed eight churches/chapels and I stopped at each one trying to get a stamp. One was having morning mass, six were locked, and the other one was open but no one was there and no stamp for the passport.
WHERE’S THE MONK WHEN YOU NEED HIM???
After yesterday today has been a very good walk. It’s cooler, the sidewalks more prevalent, and the roads not quite so curved. Still I had to stay vigilant. We stopped earlier for a cold drink and I saw a small chapel across the street. I walked through a fairly big street center where I could easily see all directions. However in the middle I heard a car coming over the hill…fast! I froze like a deer in the headlights. She couldn’t see my eyes though my sunglasses but I could see hers. She had that same look. She slammed on the brakes and no harm was done. At least I didn’t die today so that makes it a very good day.
And because I have an odd sense of humor I was reminded of some lyrics from Charlie Daniels’ Uneasy Rider…
An’ I guess I shoulda gone ahead an’ run
But somehow I couldn’t resist the fun
Of chasin’ them jes’ once around the parkin’ lot
Well I had them all out there steppin’ an’ a fetchin’
Like their heads were on fire and their asses was catchin’
When I came to my senses (about 3 nano seconds) I guess I was steppin’ an’ fetchin’
At any rate today’s route was about 11 miles and I felt strong and was moving well.
Under 200 KM!First Vineyard we’ve seen; it’s small but still a real vineyard. Mostly we’ve seen corn fields.I guess for some people, the impression on the heart that the walk makes isn’t enough and they feel like they must imprint something on the ground or on the wall to make it memorableIt’s time for a popsicle break!
There is no elevation profile for this day as Arcos is between the Coastal and Central Routes.
This morning as we begin walking we were passed by a monk going up an incline. It was a bit of a surprise but I suppose monks walk the Camino too. Later we were standing on a corner with another couple trying to decide which way to go when we saw the monk ahead so…we followed the monk. Later on we stopped in a little church to pray for a moment and see if we could get a stamp. There were no stamps, but…there was the monk. He was setting up candles at the alter and lighting them. We stayed a bit and then went on. In the afternoon we stopped in a cafe for a sandwich and a drink and in walked the monk. I wish there was a joke here. It was a good spiritual feeling to know we were walking in good company.
Today’s walk was a tough one. It was only 11 miles so shorter than our walk to Vila do Conde. However the circumstances were different. Even the the temperature was only in the 70’s it was hot. The walk to Vila do Conde was along the Atlantic Ocean so even though the temperature was the same we had an ocean breeze to keep up cool. I really struggled but did manage to drag myself into town and up three flights of stairs to our room
The Rooster in Portugal is a sign of good luck.The Virgin Mary…and friend???My stamps for today
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.
Monastery next to the hotel
Stairway in the hotel
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.
You can’t see around the bend.
My final thoughts for today are some more spiritual thoughts I have had.
This is a little chapel across from a cafe where we stopped for a snack. You can see how small it is, smaller than a lot of living rooms.A monument at the corner of a large square with park benches.
What would Americans think of this demonstration of Christianity in a public place?
My stamps for todayThe harvest is over but there are still seeds to be gathered and planted for a new harvest. I hope I have sowed some good seeds for a future harvest.The story of the above chapel.
All map and elevation profiles are from Wise Pilgrim, Camino Portuguese. Please let me know if they do not appear. I loaded them into these draft pages before leaving home and I am unable to see them now.
I left my backpack at the desk for pick up by the transport company at 7:30 am
At 10:00 am I have a message from the transport saying they do not have my bag and they called the hotel who also does not have my bag.
The transport company wants me to call the hotel to see if they have my bag. I do, and they don’t.
I check my AirTag app and discover my bag is not at the hotel but I don’t recognize the address listed.
Transport texts again they still cannot locate my bag. I send them a screenshot showing my bag at the address.
They are still looking.
I wait half an hour and see that my bag has moved. I contact transport with a new screenshot.
They reply the bag has been found. The driver did pick up three bags and one of them was mine. He is about to drop it at our hotel.
That means that my bag is one of the three so of the original three…one of them is missing.
Now it’s someone else’s story.
Another beautiful day walking alongside the oceanI snagged this photo of the yellow arrow along with some friends we met earlier.A snack at the 4 mile stopI was trying to photograph the birds on the rock and when I looked at the photo I saw that Senor Speedo had snuck in.Beautiful little church by the oceanHouse on the beach. Think we could get it for cheap? Think the Property Brothers would come and fix it up?
I haven’t gotten my stamp yet today as my pilgrim passport was lost along with my backpack, but I will rectify that later.
One day I decided to go for a walk... 