Several different paths can take a Pilgram along the Camino Portuguese. Yesterday we walked on the Littoral/Coastal Route so we could experience a day walking along the Atlantic. Today we switched over to the Central Route for the remainder of our walk to Santiago because it has more history and walks through more old towns. In order to make the day manageable in miles (less than 15), we took a taxi to Sao Pedro de Rates where we began walking on the Central Route to Santiago. We were dropped off in front of the Romanesque Church of Rates (also known as the Monastery of Rates). Reconstruction of the church began at the turn of the 11th – 12th century with the foundation possibly dating back to the 6th Century.
As expected, today’s walk was so different. Yesterday we walked on wooden boardwalks along the coast most of the day. Today, we walked much of the way on uneven cobblestone roads. The bottoms of Sara’s feet are a little sore, and she even has a blister on the bottom of her little toe. We walked through several very small towns, past fields and fields of corn, on small country roads bordered by moss-covered stone walls, and through forests filled with eucalyptus trees. We saw more Pilgrims heading towards Santiago. We even saw Calle (the Swedish man we met yesterday) this morning in the hotel lobby, but we didn’t recognize him at first with his mask on and his hat off.
We were ready for our late-morning coffee break, but the first place was closed. In Portugal some small restaurants and cafes close on Monday. An older Portuguese man tried to tell us about an open café down the road. When he realized we didn’t speak Portuguese, he tried Italian and French. We finally had some success using our phones and hand motions. We found that open café 250 meters down the road, just like he told us.
It rained but only lightly all morning, not nearly as bad as we had expected. We started with our raincoats on, but once our bodies warm up with walking, that gets really hot and wet. So the dilemma is whether we prefer to get wet from the rain with raincoats off or get wet from sweat with raincoats on.
We arrived at our final destination, Barcelos, at 2pm. After checking in and taking a shower, we headed out to find a late lunch on a Monday. Our first choice was closed (Wine and Tapas Bar), so we went across the street to a little café called Cantinho do Peregrino. The owner had Camino memorabilia on all the walls. He serves a “Pilgrim’s meal” with a fixed price for 5€. Each plate includes your choice of meat (chicken, pork or fish), potatoes, rice, salad, soup and a drink (beer, wine, water). It was pretty good! Our total bill was 11.70€ which included a carafe of wine. The owner was very friendly, and we communicated as best we could between Portuguese and English.
We are back in our room early, looking forward to a better night’s sleep than last night. Yesterday, Portugal had their elections. Around 10:30pm, we started hearing horns blowing and cheering which got increasingly louder. Then there were fireworks and people marching in the streets victoriously chanting. The noise and celebrations quieted down sometime after midnight.
