Old International Bridge over the Minho
Even though the bridge was inspired by Eiffel, crossing this bridge wasn’t the most fun part of the Camino. The name of it, the Old International Bridge, along with the see-through slats as you cross didn’t give a lot of confidence. The bridge is high over the Minho river, so if you have any acrophobia at all, be forewarned. I’m sure I didn’t help by speculating that if we fell, it would take hours just for rescue teams to decide who had jurisdiction, Spain or Portugal.
?uselang=de#/media/File:CP_na_Ponte_Internacional_de_Tui_-_Valen%C3%A7a_do_Minho_03-2016-c.jpg)
We walked into Spain!
Flying into Spain was going to be a pain, so we decided to walk. Our first sign was that our phones changed to Western European Time.
We will miss Portugal, but also looking forward to experiencing the Spanish culture, and getting closer to Santiago de Compostela.
Breakfast in Tui
We made a bee-line to the Tui Cathedral but it wasn’t open yet when we arrived. So, we found a really neat café for breakfast. They also had a small shop for pilgrims with walking staffs, shoes, rain gear, and other essentials that might have been forgotten.
In researching the Camino, I was under the impression that we would see such shops in every town. The Ideas Peregrinas was the first one we actually saw.
After a café and pastry, we headed back over to the Cathedral only to find out that Saturday is the only day without a morning Mass.
More Signs that Spain is Different
A couple of hours north of Tui, we were pleasantly surprised to hear bagpipes playing in the distance. I knew bagpipes (or gaita) were a thing once in Santiago, but here in the forest, it was a surprise.
Es mi cumpleaños
Two young women, dressed to the nines, came into the cafe and sat next to us. They were locals and the owner came out and commented that their dresses were very pretty, and asked why they were dressed. It was the 20th birthday for one of the women.
This interchange was remarkable, because it sounded exactly like a conversation in Duo Lingo, the app I used to learn basic Spanish for the trip.
Always take the alternative
The day before, our hotel clerk from Hotel Val Flores recommended that we take the alternative route to O Porriño. The official route goes through an industrial area. That was certainly good advice, we enjoyed our path through the forest. The day was hot, the walk was long, and as we got closer, we were pretty thirsty. We had consumed all of our water, and the alternative path did not have the traditional water fonts. For the next time, I’d bring an extra water bottle for this stretch.
We did run into a vending machine in front of a house on that path. However, the machine did not work, and we had to get our change back out. Our Spanish wasn’t good enough to decipher what the machine was telling us. At least we didn’t lose any change.
Hotel Parque Porriño
The Hotel Parque Porriño is located right in town, with plenty of restaurants around. The hotel was fine but wifi was really weak in our room, we had to go to the lobby to use it.
After a shower, we had a snack, and experienced another sign that we were in Spain. Estrella Galicia, in my opinion, is a step up from the Super Bock of Portugal. Especially, the 1906 Reserva.
Laura's Log
-Wonderful start to the day, walking across the long bridge over the Minho/Mino River into Tui, SPAIN! There is a time change for Spain, so now we are 6 hours ahead of Florida time (not 5). The Tui Cathedral was our destination for 10 am Mass. Glad we left early because it was almost 2 miles from our hotel.
-In awe of the majestic exterior of grand Catédral de Santa María de Tui (St. Mary’s Cathedral of Tui) on our way, plan to see inside the later.
-Found sweet Café Ideas Peregrinas, also an albergue. One of the few open at that “early” hour of 9 am, it catered to pilgrims selling staffs, sticks, hiking gear, mementos, and the like in addition to great coffee and walnut cake. To our mutual big smiles, met our Camino friend, Kirsti, again. She wanted to catch the cathedral as well. We made our way there together. It was stunning inside, too!
-Unfortunately, no Mass today, only Monday-Friday and Sunday. That allowed us to explore more though (making lemons from lemonade here!) and also to see the remarkable chapel adjacent to the church as well as the unexpected gift of the cloister chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and being adored by a solo nun. Ethereal.
-Great hotel clerk Maria had suggested we take an alternate (“complimentario”) Way around and not the main Pilgrim route. She was right. Although it was a kilometer longer, we got to bypass city streets for most of the way and were on bucolic tall-treed trails with brooks and even a few fish!
-Near an ancient Roman bridge, met a gregarious jogger, Dario. He accepted our last Hallowed Way card — the business cards we had brought with us explaining our mission and that we will pray for people. Dario said that he was running prior to going to work, though he made time to share that he was proud of his country and to take a genuine interest in us.
-Modest village church with ridiculously massive chain for blocking off entry gave us a smile.
-Nary another soul in sight for a time. We were not too far along, when we were greeted on the forest path by — music! Galician bagpipers! It was so unexpected and quite moving to be serenaded by two men for an extended period of time. Just for us. Several minutes of hauntingly beautiful music echoing. Sylvan serenity!
-Fabulous lunch called a “toast” in Portugal and Spain, at Ponte das Febres. Toast or ‘toasta‘ is usually an open sandwich with cheese, ham or both. This one had Serrano ham. I think it cost 2.50 in euros. I could only eat half of mine.
-My feet were really bad with blisters. We soldiered on. John was amazingly attentive. Thank you, Mr. Wonderful.
-Quite hot for walking with backpacks as we are now at 80 degrees. Last couple of miles were on paved city streets under afternoon sun, so that was a bit rough. Interestingly, sidewalks were green in color. We stopped a lot and drank our water.
-Arrived in O Porriño (also called simply Porriño) and had a drink at “A Francachela do Peregrino” bar near our hotel, on the Central Square. More bagpipers, a whole group! This church plaza is very ‘60s. Modern, not too attractive, especially in comparison to all the others.
-Walked around, with me barefoot (!), to Bolboreta Café for arepas — again, fabulous food.
-Good sunshine-y day of 13.8 total miles walked per my Fitbit. That’s 33,734 in steps! (And 2,561 calories!) My feet feel it, especially at the end!!! Washed clothes, to bed early. Deo gratias!
