Camino Santiago Portuguese, 2: Tui To O Porrino

Wednesday was another long trudge, perhaps 12 miles, in increasingly warm weather. We were beginning to acknowledge that we might have trained a bit for this excursion, or at least not eaten quite so many pastels de nata. But we knew we would take a day off in O Porrino.

Early departure from Tui, the residents of which wish us a good Camino, and in
Portuguese too; and helpfully note that it's 114k to the cathedral in Santiago

Stone crosses, new, old, and ancient, all over

Another Medieval bridge and a contemporary sculpture of a
peregrino, a pilgrim (negative space)

Drinking water widely available on the Camino

Absolutely the only overtly religious type we saw on our trek; this guy was
fiddling with his rosaries (left hand); genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Alongside the Camino marker is a Roman road sign, not original, but just to let
you know that you are on Interstatum XIX; note chariot (click to enlarge)

Every now and then, signs from taxis...when you've had
enough...we'll come get you

At a pretty stream crossing, a cross and plaque mark the spot
where Saint Telmo died, in 1251

Every now and then, and not nearly often enough, someone has made their
backyard or garage into a pilgrim rest area, complete with tables and chairs,
some shade, and snacks

Home delivery of bread still alive and well here

And stone crosses everywhere

Roman road XIX; we'll see more including the usual chariot ruts

Through vineyards and woods

A stream or pond every now and then

Deep holloways, worthy of England

First glimpse of the enormous quarry that supplies much of the marble and
granite of lower Galicia; some of the blocks being worked on are the size of
apartment buildings

Eschewing the more scenic 3k variant, we are now walking straight through the
emphatically non-scenic "industrial estate" (the guidebook writers are Brits); this
is a yard and plant where they cut the immense granite blocks down to usable,
i.e., cyclopean, size, to become retaining walls, building walls, vineyard posts,
roads, crucifixes, etc.

The blaze can appear in odd places now and then, but was
generally easy to follow; the three or four times we lost the
trail, usually in towns, some resident put us aright, usually
without our asking, and on one occasion actually walked us
back to where we'd missed the turn (not Pismo Beach)

Crossing train tracks at the end of the industrial estate variant

Political billboard of interest to jubilados

Among many Camino-side chapels; many now in dis-use

Many not; many have a stamp where you can do your own credencial 

Corrugated siding! New Zealand!

In another chapel

Helpful model #13,469

San Sebastian, patron saint of archers

In O Porrino at last; here, the consistory palace, in the small
Medieval area

And the Hotel Parque, our home for the next two nights

Our nice 46E room even included a much-needed jacuzzi

We took Thursday, June 8th, off, to celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary,
complete with what's remaining of an original wedding candle, and reception
napkins (Vicki has never missed having them with us, wherever our travels
have taken us)

OK, so the meal wasn't much--we promise to do better next year--but it certainly
was memorable

Best Iberian ham and mushroom scramble ever, so far

Camino Santiago Portuguese, 1: Vila Nova de Cerveir to Tui

Where to begin? How to account for the past ten days? We drove from Gaia to near Vila Nova de Cerveir and the Convivio Campismo campground. Monday, June 5th, we spent packing and planning. On Tuesday, June 6th, we left the camper at Convivio, and the campground co-owner, Gea, drove us to the nearest Camino intersection, and we set forth on our Camino Santiago Portuguese, entering about where the coastal Portuguese Camino links up with the central (main) Portuguese Camino, about 8 miles south of Valenca. 85 miles to Santiago de Compostela, our goal, by Vicki's reckoning. A pied.

Why do the Camino, you ask? And why the Portuguese variant? Several reasons. We do treks...Everest, Mount Blanc, Abel Tasman, Milford, Routeburn, Kepler, the W, the Inca Trail, not to mention a number of multi-day hikes in the US. The Camino Santiago, once among the great Medieval pilgrimages, is now one of the great 20th and 21st century (recreational) treks. We like trekking, hiking, seeing things on foot. The Camino, in its many variants, offers the opportunity to hike, but then to shower, dine, drink, and rest comfortably; for a price. Expiation for the Sin of Gluttony is another reason, although neither of us at length got expiated very much. Another reason is just the visual and intellectual stimulation of the trail, the Camino, the history, in Portugal and in Galicia. Another still is the sharing of the experience with others, fellow Caminantes from all over the world. Some we hope to see again in future travel. Some people do the Camino for religious reasons, we understand, and I was among them, imbibing spirits all along the way, whenever possible. Did you know that on the Camino the proper way to fix a carajillo is to flame the brandy before adding it to the coffee?

And why the Portuguese Camino? Because a) it's more scenic, cooler, and less crowded than the French variant (from St. Jean Pied-in-his-Pants) and b) we were in Portugal, not France. We may yet do the French variant, but not before we do the full Portugueser, at least from Porto, along the coast.

As the next nine or so posts appear, I'll have further observations and reflections, in passing. As will Vicki, on practical matters, on the website or elsewhere.

At the outset

Follow the yellow-blazed road...the blazes get more elaborate in Spain and
especially as you near Santiago; the blue arrow points the way to Fatima;
we're still boggled at the number of port-a-potties required to service the
million devotees who came to see the Pope at Fatima a few weeks ago

Granite...everywhere...the principal building material in this part of the world...
buildings, houses, barns, fences, trellises, etc. 

Plants and fruit everywhere as we walk through village after village

Principal among which are grapes...everywhere; even the most humble hut
has a little vineyard

Early June, everything in bloom, or beyond

Nice suburbs of Valenca

Ancient irrigation

For nine days, never very far from a church or chapel

On the trail

On one of dozens of Medieval bridges (usually reconstructed Roman bridges)

In the (star-fortress) walled city of Valenca

Pretty place

Roman military mile marker; much of the Camino Portugese
in Spain follows Roman road XIX--interstate 19; seriously

In the cathedral at Valenca

Last bar/cafe on Camino before Espanha

Tui, Spain, across the river

Bridge over the Minho

Bye, Portugal!

Crossing the Minho

Tui

Up river

Vicki, right foot in Portugal, left foot in Spain

Thus

Looking back to Valenca and the fortress

Welcome to Spain

The scallop shell becomes the principal blaze, now; and below it,
the mileage to the cathedral in Santiago; it took us some days to
figure this out

Tui cathedral

Main plaza Tui

Very nice boutique hotel Villa Blanca where we crashed for
the night 

Bom Camino!

We'll being doing the Portuguese central route of the Camino Santiago for the next 1-10 days, depending on how it goes, and there likely won't be any blog posts for the duration. Bom Camino!