Day Two of the Portuguese Coastal/Littoral Complete! We were intending to walk 19 km but “accidentally” completed 24.2 km. I’ll get to that, but first, let’s flashback to Day One. We’ve been told there are fewer pilgrims on the Camino Portuguese, so we headed off early to the Porto Cathedral with no real expectations. As we rounded the corner to the pillary we were swept into a small gathering by an eager Peregrino. “Come, Come…the priest is giving a pilgrims' blessing”, he said. We joined the circle, were properly blessed and added another stamp to our pilgrim passport. About forty pilgrims, some walkers and some bikers, some headed for Fatima and some for Santiago, left in good spirits. Of course, the kind greetings of the locals wishing us bom caminho always brighten the day. The walk is incredible. We chose the right path. We have been walking by the water for two days and the crashing of the waves never gets old. It is the weekend so there are plenty of surfers and families enjoying the beaches. The perfect weather means the cafes are filled with both locals and pilgrims sipping drinks and gobbling up pastries. Last night we had a place with a broad veranda that overlooked the ocean. We had a bit of trouble finding it because there were no signs—it was an upstairs room in an old house. A local offered to take us there if Ray gave him a Euro to buy a cigarette. We were tired—we caved. The older gentleman that owns the home was one of the kindest souls. When I gestured, with my hand on my heart, that I loved the view he blew me kisses. And even though we were only paying for the room, he let us use his kitchen to make our meals. Today we had to take a detour because part of our path was washed out. An extra 5 km wasn’t exactly what we planned. Toward the end we were feeling a bit done…then we spotted it….gelato! Ray had Snickers gelato. Seemed appropriate. Didn’t Snickers have a hangry advertising campaign? Now, you are probably thinking we should have spent our money on extra water, right? Well, the ice cream guy noticed our water bottles were empty. He pulled out google translate and offered to fill them for us. We have experienced so many kindnesses. Tonight we are at the Sardines and Friends Hostel in Póvoa de Varzim. It’s going to take the last of our energy for one of us to crawl up into that top bunk. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
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Porto is located on the Duro River and is predominately known for its port wine. However, when I think back to our day in Porto I’m going to remember an infinite amount of blue and white tiles and McDonalds.
The blue and white azulejo tiles are a Portuguese classic. The tradition of glazed blue ceramic tiles began around the 14th century and they are everywhere! We saw them in restaurants, the cathedral and even the train station. It is a good thing I love them or it would be tile overload. And why McDonalds? Well, check out Ray’s video (below), but the McDonalds in Porto is the fanciest I have ever seen. And they sell vegetable soup. Our walking tour guide said that Portugal is the only country where they sell soup, but apparently, that is not completely true—it’s a good story though. We are walking for the next sixteen days starting at the Porto Cathedral. More on that to come. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. We travelled to the shrine at Fatima a few days ago. However, it has taken me time to think through the experience to blog in the most respectful way. Full disclosure, we are not Catholic so we apologize in advance if our post doesn’t convey the full significance of Fatima.
In 1917 three young children from Fatima were visited by an apparition for the first time. “A lady more brilliant than the sun,” told them to “pray much”. This happened numerous times and at some point, the apparition implied she was “the lady of the Rosary”, which would be Mary the mother of Jesus. The location Mary first appeared became a shrine for the Catholic Church which is now visited by more than 80 million people per year. Several of our friends (who happen to be Catholic) encouraged us to visit while we were in Portugal. Almost every night in the square the Rosary is recited in several languages and then those in attendance walk around the square behind an illuminated cross carrying candles and singing. They indicated that the experience was phenomenal. I will admit that I was up to experiencing it but was a bit cynical that it would be another version of religious tourism. I’ve been to Israel and have been previously disappointed to see faith experiences reduced to tourist traps. However, Fatima was in every way genuine and not tourist kitsch. It was a Wednesday evening and there were easily over 500 people in attendance. We were standing a ways back to be respectful and ended up corralled into the queue by security. Ok, now we were part of this by the end evening Ray was singing the Avé Maria response—and Ray doesn’t easily choose to sing. In reflection, I think what brought us into the moment was the sincerity of a large group of faithful united in one action—following the illuminated cross. (See the video below) An unforgettable experience. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
The train was filled with locals celebrating Freedom Day as we headed an hour outside Lisbon. Most of them looked forward to the beach in Cascais, but we were stopping off in Belem to check out a couple of monuments. I believe you can learn a lot about a culture from the monuments they choose to celebrate and honour. My favourite is the Monument to the Discoveries. Recently erected (1960) it shows 32 characters that were significant in an age when the Portuguese held a reputation as worldwide explorers. I wonder what monuments we have around Perth County that demonstrate what we value.
Another thing Belem is famous for is Belém Pastries. These are the original egg tarts first made in 1837. Ray sweetly walked me to the train station to head off in search of the famous tarts. He left me with only my metro card—no money, no phone and no idea that the trains were about to go on strike. I had a moment of panic when I realized that I also didn’t know his European phone number! Then I thought—this is my Amazing Race moment. It is surprising how many people will help you when you tell them your husband has abandoned you with just a metro card to search out pastries. Seven people, several buses and two subway lines later, I was safely back in our guesthouse with a renewed belief in human kindness. Ray found his pastries, but after an adventure of his own only four of the half dozen tarts arrived uneaten😄 You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom Note: Freedom Day (25 April) is a national holiday, with state-sponsored and spontaneous commemorations of the civil liberties and political freedoms achieved after the revolution. It commemorates the 25 April 1974 revolution and Portugal's first free elections on that date the following year. A day of castles in a city of castles. It depends on who you ask, but there are at least five castles in Sintra. Ray got a Fitbit Skyscraper badge for 100 floors even with us taking an UBER up to the Moorish Castle (I CLAIMED I would die if I had to walk both ways😄)
Quinta Regalia, built in the late 1600s, is more of an estate than a typical castle. It is designed with all kinds of knights Templar and Masonic symbols and intrigue. One of its highlights is a well, called the initiation well, that is more like a tower that goes underground than upwards. I’m not sure who they were initiating, and maybe I don’t want to know, but of course, we had to climb down into the passages. Imagine if Elon Musk was designing a compound for his buddies. It feels like it would be a lot like this—intelligent, quirky, and a little bit creepy. The Moorish Castle is much older (1147). Although parts of it have been destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries, the ruins are 100% what I imagine they would be—towers, stairs and walls. A real fortress! The views of the other castles and Sintra are fabulous from the top. Of the two, this was my favourite. Although, the grounds of Quinta Regalia are stunning. If you could only visit one, which would you choose? Super warm weather here. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Apparently, giant Jesus statues are a BIG Deal—pun intended. Most of us have heard of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. However, at 30 m, it is only tied for the third largest statue in the world. Cristo Rei, looking out over Lisbon, is only a measly 28 m tall. However, if you include its base it is almost 92 m tall, making it one of the largest looming Jesus’. Regardless, it was a winner of an afternoon hanging out in the olive gardens and checking out Lisbon from the observation tower at the feet of Jesus. We are nicely settled into our guest house for the next three days. When we visited there were quite a few questions around stretching your travel dollars. Guest houses with kitchens are one of the ways we get more for our $. What does your family do when they travel? Stay with family? Airbnb? Camping? We would love to hear from you. Now that you have seen a European guest house, do you think it would be something you would try? Off to more adventures tomorrow after a good long sleep. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. |
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