Barcelos Rooster
We were lucky while walking through Barcelos because were not hanged for a crime we did not commit. A pilgrim in the 15th century was not as fortunate. The authorities in town wanted to hang the pilgrim for an unsolved crime. He told the judge, who was getting ready to eat a roasted chicken, that the chicken would crow at the time of his hanging, proving the innocence of the pilgrim.
When the time came, the roasted chicken stood up on the dinner table and did a dance. The judge realized the pilgrim was innocent and went to save him from the hanging. According to the legend, the pilgrim returned to Barcelos later and built the Cross of the Lord of the Rooster, shown below.
Super Bock
It was about this time that I realized that Super Bock was the main beer in northern Portugal. In many places, this was the only option available. I suspect that other beers might have been available if I were able to ask in Portuguese. Super Bock didn’t impress me at first. However, it grew on me and became a treat at the end of the day’s walk. It didn’t take me long to look forward to having a cold one at the hotel or a bar just after checking into the hotel.
When we arrived in Barcelos, I was so happy to see that our room at the Hotel Bagoeira had a mini-bar with Super Bock. So, I popped it open and took a belt. It was surprisingly lighter in body and thirst-quenching. So, I poured it into the glass that you see in the nearby photo.
No, beer had not been turned into water. Someone staying in that room before us enjoyed a free beer by refilling the bottle with water and replacing the cap. The front desk quickly replaced the water with real beer and gave me one on the house.
Speaking of Super Bock, we noticed a fun way to walk the Camino on this day. We met a trio in their twenties at lunch, two Danish women and a Swedish man. They were on holiday from school and work and had met the day before. Previously in the day, they passed us and got to the restaurant before we did. They were enjoying Super Bock while eating lunch. It was pleasant talking with them, and we shared that we were more on a spiritual pilgrimage and offered to pray for them.
As we left, we said our farewells, but I realized that wasn’t the last time we would see them, since they were walking faster than us, they would pass us again. Indeed that happened. And again, because they stopped at the next bar for another Super Bock. We waved and had a laugh when they passed us again for the third time. What a great holiday for them, a nice walk with nice company, and they turned it into a pub crawl.
Festival of Crosses
João Pires saw the image of a cross in the field in 1504, and that event evolved into a devotion to the Lord of the Cross. After that, The Temple of Bom Jesus da Cruz was built to commemorate the sign and an annual festival started.
500+ years later and that annual festival now rocks! We arrived just in time for the Battle of Flowers, where the float characters pelted us with flower petals. Our hotel was right there at the festival.
Did I mention that the festival rocks? A rock band started at 10:00 PM (just in time for 2 tired pilgrims to try to sleep), then fireworks at midnight. The festival was 4 days long and must have had a huge budget for fireworks because the boom-booms continued until about 1:00 AM. Just in time for the DJs to start jamming. The music stopped at 4:00 AM. We didn’t get much sleep in Barcelos.
Pilgrims’ Mass
We arrived on a Sunday, so Mass was in order, and we were treated to a special pilgrims’ blessing. Laura describes the Mass below much better than I can. Here is the blessing prayer:
Almighty God,
Who always concedes your mercy to those who love You
And are never away from those who seek You,
Attend your servants in this pious pilgrimage
And direct their paths according to Your will,
So that, sheltered in daylight with Your protective presence
And lighted at night with the light of Your grace,
They may have You as their journey companion
And happily arrive to their destination.
For Our Lord.
Amen.
Portuguese Bifana
After I took my first bite of bifana, I was hooked and knew it was a recipe that I had to find so we can make them at home. It’s a simple sandwich, served as a snack for just a couple of Euros. This bifana recipe is excellent.
Laura’s Log
-Up and out at 8:30. Stopped at small outdoor market to get coffee from the kind “church ladies” manning the stalls to raise some funds.
-Was directly across from Saint Peter of Rates Church, a Romanesque-style building. Inside it was not guilded as others here have been. Plain and pleasing.
–Saw forsythia-like flowers, bunches of blooms everywhere, hung on doors, in mailboxes, out windows. Not planted or potted just cut blossoms. Quaint and cheery.
–Walked country roads with farms, cows. Stopped to see a huge brightly colored rooster, the symbol of Portugal, on a little plaza in the middle of nowhere. Photo opportunity for pilgrims and day bikers alike. The rooster is the country’s emblem because one of these creatures once saved an innocent pilgrim from death. As the man himself had foretold, at the time of his hanging, a roasted rooster, on the table ready to be eaten, somehow appeared at the gallows and crowed (!), thereby sparing the traveler.
–Same plaza also curiously had various abandoned shoes all lined up on a ledge. They were filled with soil and had plants growing in them! Hanging above these from a horizontal bar were also smallish stones with holes cut in them, threaded with strings. Could have been a makeshift memorial judging by the children’s shoes, high heels and bits of ribbon. Could have been a place for pilgrims to leave worn-out boots, as these were present, too. Who knows?
–John got his walking staff! Used my walking sticks briefly for the first time. Cobblestone pathways abound.
–Lunch at Pedra Furada. Met pilgrims from Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands, also seeing more and more pilgrims now. Patches with goats and sheep as we walked along, too.
–Staying at the Bagoeira Hotel on main town square. It’s all blocked off for a massive festival going on here called Festa das Cruzes de Barcelos, Festival of the Crosses. Parade with floats and all kinds of people, young to old, passionately throwing flowers and petals. Tons and tons of them! Streets completely covered with this velvety carpet.
–Snack at Gil Vincent restaurant — codfish cakes and drinks. We came at a slow time, during a break in the Festa activities, so they offered a very limited menu it seemed. Locals began filing in to drink before the evening festivities commenced. On to the Festa grounds — a mass of people, air rich with smoking barbecue tendrils rising high, every kind of candy confection and traditional merry music with a thrumming bass beat — in search of food. Found steak sandwich and chorizo on fabulous Portuguese bread at Tradicoes de Aldeio. Super!
-To 7 pm Mass at Sao Antonio Church. A true blessing. We’re greeted by the earnest and searching kind face of Maria. “Hello and welcome! Are you pilgrims?” She fussed over us led us to special pilgrim seats at the front left of the church. Uplifting Mass with a beautiful choir. At the end, we were called up for a pilgrim blessing by the priest in front of the whole congregation. So unexpected and lovely. Maria gave us prayers and postcards and stamped our credentials as well afterwards. She shared that hospitality is what their church is known for and they work hard to keep it that way through a few volunteers. (Also at the end of Mass, everyone was given a bright white carnation from the departing choir director. We affixed mine in my backpack.)
-Enjoyed churros on the way back to the hotel. Vendor made them fresh and he also threw in an extra one — “free for you”. Very sweet family business. The dad fashioned and fried the churros, which was cool to watch, and the mom and daughter sold them.
-Exhilarating day from flowers in the morning to flowers in the afternoon and even flowers in the evening. Deo gratias!
