We got on the road just before 9am. A slightly cooler day, yay! We saw a variety of Camino signs today as well as stones left on walks by previous pilgrims.
Our first stop was the Sao Pedro (St Peter) of Rates church in Rates. Finally a church we could look inside! It was rebuilt in the 11th century, a simple stone church with deep set stained glass windows. We also stopped briefly at another, smaller church.
We still can’t get over the big trucks and buses that travel down the narrow cobblestone streets!
We passed through beautiful farmland, seeing more Camino markers and shrines, including a lovely shady spot with old boots as planters and a pilgrim cutout!
We met an older couple from Ireland who completed the Camino Français last year, walking a bit of it each year for several years. They are hoping to do the Camino Portugues in three weeks, including heading up to Finistère. The heat was proving to be a challenge for them, though it was cooler than the last couple of days. Hopefully they will get through at their own pace.
On our way to lunch we stopped at the Church of Pedra Furada. While we weren’t able to go inside the church, we did check out a large stone with a hole in it which sat out front. Legend has it that Saint Leocadia was buried alive and escaped by using her head to drill a hole in her heavy granite tombstone! Wow!!
For lunch today we both got ‘meat sandwiches’ for 4 euros each. They were delicious and came with a huge hunk of meat! It felt great to take a load off our feet and get another stamp in our passports. I haven’t really talked about the passport stamps, or some of the other Camino traditions and items. Each pilgrim receives a passport that you can get stamped at places you stay, cafes, bars, churches, etc. In order to receive an official credential at the end you must get a minimum of two stamps a day. Some stamps are pretty plain, maybe just the name and address of the hotel. Others might have a drawing of something relevant to the area such as a bridge or monument. It’s fun to collect different stamps along the way and to be wished a Bom Camino!
We went past more churches and an outdoor gym!
We finally arrived in Barcelos, crossing the River Cavado over a 14th century bridge.
The parish church of Barcelos was open, so we explored it as well as the ruins of a medieval church next to it
We walked through the center of town, skinny streets lined with shops and beautiful apartments. A lovely woman at the Camino hero center gave us maps of our journey and talked about places to check out in town. Luckily the weekly Thursday market in the square outside our hotel was still taking place. We wandered through overwhelmed by its size, there were rows and rows and rows of stalls, lots of local handcrafts and food, even furniture was for sale!
After getting settled into our hotel and taking showers we were ready for dinner! First though we checked out the Templo do Bom Jesus da Cruz, an ornate, round church with a huge organ!
Dinner was actually at a brunch place that stayed open till 7. Most dinner places don’t open until 7 and that was too late for us. The food was yummy! I had an eggs Benedict, French style and Michelle had a sexy pancake!
We went up to the deck on the top floor of our hotel to watch the sunset. What a great day!
