To Ponte de Lima

Sept 24, 2016 Ponte de Lima 15km

We continued our trek along village and farm road. It's Saturday and many small farms are harvesting their grapes. Many small tractors go by pulling a trailer filled with grapes. There must be a central location/winery where the grapes are processed, we see the tractors coming back empty. We arrived in Ponte de Lima in the afternoon and there was a big party going on in the park with music and other entertainment. Someone told us there were 100 tour buses parked, which explains why most restaurants were full. The hotels were also filled, but eventually we found accommodations at the hostel. Not ideal, but we had our own private room. 

Hard to see...harvesting the grapes

Arriving into Lima

View from the old bridge

To Lugar do Corgo

Sept 23, 2016 Lugar do Corgo 19km

Yet another walk on cobble stone through rural villages, and lots of nice cafe stops along the way serving fresh pastries. Today's highlight was reaching Casa Fernanda. Such awesome hosts, husband Jucinto and wife Fernanda. We were the first guests to arrive and Fernanda insisted on feeding us lunch with chicken, potatoes, vegetables and her secret spices. Fernanda is such a wonderful cook. Her English has greatly improved since we were last here three years ago, but she still talks to me in Portuguese and Spanish, knowing I understand most of what she's saying. In the afternoon we strolled the village (mainly farm roads) and we were escorted by the house dog. It was amazing how this dog stayed with us until we returned to the guest house, and by then more guests had arrived. Fernanda brought out their homemade red wine and the party started. 

Grumpy the cat

Aussie peregrinas 

Finally arrived to Casa Fernanda

Social time before dinner

By 7pm everyone was feeling hungry and 16 guest made their way to the kitchen and what a feast we were served. It started with soup, tender octopus, beef stewed, their own grown potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce. This was followed by chocolates, Porto and grapa. According to Jcinto, the different liquors will stop you front snoring. Once dinner was finished, the entertainment started with lots of singing. We had so much fun this evening. 

Jucinto entertains the ladies

Jucinto and Fernanda doing a traditional dance

Andrew from Moscow got us singing Hotel California - the first time he played it was when he was 13, a cool long-haired dude

To Barcelos

Sept 22, 2016 Barcelos 16km

Another pleasant walk going through small rural villages. It is evident that we are entering a better economic region, with more new homes being built and older home restored. Yet they still prefer cobble stone streets. How annoying to walkers! 

Cafe rest stop.

Two ladies dealing with their blisters.

Julie's friends...a little shy.

Little chapels along the Camino.

Barcelos in the distance.

Barcelos, what a beautiful town with lots of history. One of its folklore is the decorated roaster. What's the story? Apparently a pilgrim was to be hung and he told the king that if he could make a cooked chicken come to life he should be released from the gallows. It happened. The king was about to have his meal and the cooked chicken came to life and the pilgrim at the gallows came back to life. They knew all about marketing back in the medical age.

Thursday market.

To Rates

Sept 21, 2016 Rates 13km

Not a long walk today, mainly going through country villages. No dirt trails, instead we had mostly cobble stone roads, which was tiring on our feet. Another pleasant hiking day with overcast skies and cool temperatures, and beautiful scenery. Today we met peregrinos from Finland, many from Germany, Czech Republic, England, California, Mexico and Portugal. One man we met had hip replacement a year prior, but was determined to complete 30km today. Very inspirational! We had a wonderful lunch and enjoyed a conversation with a young couple from Porto - he Portuguese and she Mexican. He's a flight attendant and a year ago they started a food truck business catering to summer and fall festivals. The specialty being tacos, with wraps and salsas freshly made. We finished our conversation at 3:45pm and they still had plans to complete another 16km. Oh, to be young!

Finding accommodations was was interesting today. Rates is a very small town with one Albergue. Not too delighted about staying in a dorm and went to the local cafe St. Antonio and asked the owner if she knew of any rooms. We found this works better than an online app. The son of the mother who rents her house happened to be there having a coffee. She lives in the basement by herself and has 3 rooms on the top floor. We have our room with a shared bathroom, but we're the only ones staying there so it is very private. No TV or wifi, but better than staying in a dorm.

Leaving Conde

Great views along the route

To Vila do Conde

Sept 20, 2016 Vila do Conde 22km

What a great walking today. Not perfect because of the sea mist, but enjoyable travelling along the Atlantic shores. Met more peregrinos today, as many start their Camino from Porto. For us it was our 16th trekking day, but for many it was their first day. Met a group of ladies, our age, from Canada who were enthusiastic about their trek. And another group of young ladies from Poland who were anxious. It was their first Camino and were worried they would not find accommodations. I tried to reassure them that there will be lots of places to stay. We found our hotel quickly and were stopped by a guest on his way to his room. He tried to explain that for 8 euros he was provided a feast by a local restaurant. He could not believe, and was amazed by the amount of food they kept bringing him. He was going back to his room for a rest. We've experienced many similar experiences.

The fog was thick this morning.

Roman tubs to salt fish

Entering Vila do Conde

I am a pilgrim when...