Breakfast of Champions
Our hotel had a wonderful breakfast buffet with many options to satisfy various international diets. We usually would start our walk and then find a cafe for breakfast after walking a bit. This time we were very fortunate to have this buffet because the first restaurant that we saw on our walk was a Mcdonald’s. I would have been very tempted to eat there just for comparison’s sake. Our healthy breakfast fueled us for the walk to Balugaes.
Friendly but Scary Buses
Some portions of this route are along the road, where we are walking on the shoulder of the main road. Sometimes we were lucky to be on a sidewalk. Several times, a large bus would be barrelling down the road, either in our direction or coming from our behind. These kind drivers would blow the horn in a spirit of support, we imagined they said: “Bom Caminho” with the horn. However, the horn scared the pants off of us. We imagine the bus being out of control and about to flatten us.
This route had a few narrow sections of road with stone walls on either side. One time a tractor with a full trailer of hay came down the road. The driver gave us a smile and two thumbs up to say “Bom Caminho”. We appreciated that gesture but would have felt better if he had one hand on the wheel.
Saint Margaret
The Saint Margaret tiles gave us another opportunity to learn about another saint. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, invoked to help cure the sick.
The Camino Portuguese is filled with religious images and symbols, giving us pilgrims an opportunity to learn or reflect on each one.
Mill Pond
When we think of heaven, we imagine very peaceful settings. This mill pond is now in my head as one of these “heaven on earth” places. I could have sat there for hours just watching the fish. But, we still had a mile or two to go that day to reach our excellent hotel in Balugaes.
Casas da Quinta da Cancela
We loved the hotel this night, the Casas da Quinta da Cancela, a converted farmhouse. We were staying in the main house, previously occupied by the owners. It has plenty of room with a full kitchen. Best of all, beer in the refrigerator.
As we were checking in, a few other pilgrims were about. We had seen them earlier on the road and were friendly. The conversation centered on where to eat, there was a chicken restaurant nearby and a traditional Portuguese place about half a kilometer. Well, the chicken place was closed, so we had to walk just a little farther today. The meal was great.
I was there last night
Joanna checked us into the hotel and was a very lovely young woman. She asked us where we walked from. When I mentioned Barcelos and the festival, I asked her a question: “do you know what time the fireworks went off?”. She knew, at midnight. Then I asked if she knew when they stopped playing music. She knew that as well, about 3-4 am.
I asked her how she knew all of this. She then replied that she was there at the fiesta. I was astonished, it took us 6 hours to walk from Barcelos. How was it possible that she was at the party then in Balugaes for work. Well, it’s only a 15-minute drive from Barcelos, that is where she lives. That put our walk in a little perspective. Early that day, she took highway N204, the very highway with the friendly bus drivers.
Laura’s Log
–Up multiple times last night because festival went on until 4 am! Fireworks at midnight! Crazy. Even so, we got rest.
–Awesome breakfast, included with hotel, was in a huge dining room, set like the 1950s with white linen cloths on tables with low slung chairs and all the formality of that era, including uniformed staff. The spread included kiwi, a foreign fruit with a pear color and consistency, three juices (including passionfruit!), almond butter coffee cake (super moist!), ham, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, crusty bread, and croissants. We did not partake of hot fare, but they had a panini-type grill, eggs, bacon and the like. Accompanied by, of course, tremendous coffee. All the things pilgrims need to refuel. I am burning on average 2,400 calories a day, John at least 3,000!
–Well-sated, we then headed out for Balugaes. Picturesque does not begin to describe it.
-On a break, got orange juice (!) and water at a café across from Saint Sebastian church.
-Wended through towns, fields and was usually along stone walls or cobblestones, yet some dirt paths and at times local roads for short intervals.
-Fruit hanging and large on trees everywhere. Lemons, oranges, apricot-ish fruit. Land of plenty! Lots of farmers working fields, one gave us two thumbs up as he drove his bright green tractor, humming on by.
-Criss-crossing paths with many pilgrims from Germany, Switzerland, Amsterdam, The Hague (mom and grown son), Denmark, and more.
-Nothing open at lunch, so went to mini-mercado for rustic bread, Edam cheese, salami-style Portuguese chorizo, fruit (banana and exotic apricot-like stone fruit) and chocolate, eaten on the steep steps of a closed restaurant, a valley vista across the street.
-Stopped for fifteen minutes at a lovely pool of water, stream-fed, on the stone bridge. Adjacent to a mill home that was unoccupied. Probably a seasonal resident. Many places seemed closed, shuttered up; perhaps they are summer getaways.
-Arrived at our place in Balugaes for the night around 3 pm. Called “Hotel Casas da Quinta da Cancela“. What a treat! Idyllic old farm with stone buildings kept mostly as it was and now used as accommodations for pilgrims. We are in the guesthouse – – a whole house to ourselves! It’s charming to behold. I am sitting on the stone patio writing this, soaking up the sun. Mr. Wonderful went in to take a nap.
-Oh, and there are four captivating coal-black one-month-old kittens! Their mom sauntered into our cottage earlier.
-Went in search of dinner after our rest. The “chicken restaurant”, as it was called, was closed, so after wandering around a bit (google maps was not all that helpful), we went back to the hotel to find the bubbly and well-informed innkeeper Joanna in the main kitchen area. She gave us directions to a restaurant with traditional Portuguese food, “Café Restaurante Altamira — Maria do Sameiro Baptista vieira campos” (Altamira Café Restaurant of Chef Maria do Sameiro Baptiste of the scallop fields!). I had pork roast and John had steak, the pilgrim meal. Also wine and a delectable “whiskey tart” for dessert! Whiskey tart seems to be a tart of indeterminate flavor, over which is poured copious amounts of whiskey. We watched our waitress do just that. That’s it. Not (yet) a whiskey lover, I still found it practically irresistible.
-All the pilgrims from our accommodation wound up at what seemed to be the only open establishment in the village eventually! We shared our remaining “vinho tinto” with the others as the carafe was a large one and a pity to waste.
-To bed! Deo Gratias!
Prayer Requests
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