It’s Like a Friday
Even though it was a Tuesday, it felt like a Friday. That is because we were planning to take a rest day in Ponte de Lima. Laura’s feet were killing her, and we wanted to avoid any further injury. We had planned 2 rest days into our schedule, but this was the only one that we needed. Later, we did have a few shorter days but did not need to stay in one town.
Ponte de Lima is named for the bridge that crosses the Lima river. This bridge was initially built by the Romans in the first century and is one of the river crossings that enabled pilgrims to take the central route. Prior to the central route, pilgrims generally took the coastal route, but that left them vulnerable to pirates.
Everyone walks their own Camino
We paused for lunch at a nice bench that overlooked a farm. It has a stone bench, a shrine to St. James, and a water fountain. As we rested and ate our lunch, a number of pilgrims came by and paused to admire the view and see the shrine.
One group was American, and we had the classic conversation of introducing ourselves, where we live back in America, and that this was our first Camino. We had started in Porto, and the gentleman was quick to tell us that they started in Lisbon. He had walked many Caminos and said that he usually strived for the longest distance. He made sure that we knew he did the Le Puy route the previous year. After they left, we asked ourselves if he was looking down at us for just starting in Porto.
A short while later, a tour group came by led by a Portuguese guide. She described the site and her group took a brief pause. I took the opportunity to ask about the small sign next to the water font, and she let me know that said the water is not potable. Thank goodness we didn’t drink it.
After we started again, we saw that group getting in their shuttle bus, taking them to their hotel. We met many pilgrims that were with tour groups, with a shuttle to the Camino path and a pickup service to take them to a hotel for the night. These pilgrims were pretty obvious, carrying only a small day pack.
I initially thought we were doing a real Camino, by only walking and carrying our own packs, in contrast to those on the tour group. But then, I remembered the feeling of Le Puy guy looking down at us. Everyone walks their own Camino, and I vowed to not look down on those who chose a different Camino than us.
Several people left stones and other memorabilia at the St. James shrine. We considered it, but luckily we found a better place for stones on Camino Portuguese later on our walk.
Stones on Camino Portuguese
A couple of months prior to the Camino, I heard a noise upon leaving Mass and it was a small stone that fell in front of me on the sidewalk. Where it came from, I had no idea. When I saw it the idea of bringing a stone to leave behind immediately came to mind. The Camino Frances has the Cruz de Ferro where pilgrims leave stones behind to symbolically leave a burden behind. So, I grabbed the stone and put it into the Jeep center console.
A few days before our departure, I saw the stone on the floor of the Jeep. Taking this as a sign that this was meant to be my stone, I put it into my backpack, even though I didn’t know where, or if, we would leave stones on Camino Portuguese as they do on Frances route.
As we walked, we came upon a decorated tree with a bunch of stones at the base. Sitting down to take a brief rest, and admire the tree, we decided to leave our stones there. Laura didn’t have a stone, but I had grabbed a smooth one from the beach on day 2.
It worked! Both of us really felt a burden being lifted as we placed our stones. My burden was being hesitant to be outwardly Catholic. I think I feared showing my faith would be harmful to my career in Silicon Valley. Well, that is in the past now (both the career and the hesitancy).
Visit by an Angel
As we were getting up from the tree, a tall beautiful woman commented about the beauty of the tree as she unveiled her scarf. She seemed to be like an angel that put an exclamation mark on our emotional moment. We both had the same reaction to her.
It turned out that she was a Camino guide leading a group of Germans. We walked and talked with her and the group for about a half mile until we reached a small town with two cafes. We saw the guide skip the first cafe and go to the second. The second cafe must be better because the guide went there. However, her group of Germans made a large and slow-moving line. So, we gave up and kept going to the next town for a snack.
12 Feet of Elevation Gain
While walking on a hilly path, we ran into another American woman. She is from Bozeman, Montana, and was pretty good at climbing the hills. She came up from behind and didn’t seem to be out of breath at all. We joked that during our training walks at home in Florida, we had as much as 12 feet of elevation gain. On this particular day, we had 1302 feet in elevation gain.
Approaching Ponte de Lima
Chicken and Fish
Once in Ponte de Lima, we rested got cleaned up, then hit the town for dinner.
Since the previous day, when the chicken restaurant was closed, I had a hankering for chicken. I hadn’t seen chicken on any menu the whole time we were in Portugal. We did see that just about every home along the Camino had chickens, presumably for the eggs.
It was worth the wait, the breast cutlets were breaded and fried to perfection. Salad, fries, and red wine rounded out the meal.
Several years ago, I read “Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World”, by Mark Kurlansky, a book about how cod fishing has influenced the history and diet of western Europe over the past thousand years. Of course, back in the day, the fishermen didn’t have the ability to flash freeze their catch, they instead salted and dried the cod for long-term storage.
Because of its thousand-year history, salted cod is a staple of the Portuguese diet and was described to us as the national dish. We enjoyed it multiple times, notably in Fatima and here in Ponte de Lima.
Laura’s Log
-Another beautiful morning! Breakfast in the quaint re-purposed wine press room, now kitchen and dining room, of the hotel. Gorgeous spread of food with every possible proper utensil and lovely serving vessels. (First granola we’ve had here.) And it’s time to leave this adorable farm cottage!
-Headed to Ponte de Lima, founded in 1125! Numerous churches, and religious niches on the exterior walls of homes here. More pathways in tracks between fields, lots of farmers, and industrial and utility workers fixing drains, busy at work.
-Met German family, the father stopped to talk, from Frankfurt/Mainz area. Also, a friendly, outdoorsy woman from Montana walking ahead of her Camino-mate, walked with her for a while. Saw sheep infield with bells attached to their necks, an amusing experience. She was delighted to take pics for her grandchildren.
-Been using my walking sticks the last two days, and I love them. Great elliptical-level workout!
Jingly, jangly sheep.
-Just when I was wondering where the religious devotionals of the individual homes were because we had seen so many earlier, they started appearing again! Many with Santiago or as they say here, Sao Tiago or S. Tiago.
-Bucolic, with loads of grape vines at the early stages. Vineyards not configured as we think of them because they’re quite small, often surrounding fields of green or someone’s yard.
-Awesome lunch stop overlooking a farm field. Had stone bench, niche with a blue tile image of St. James, also a water font. We were cautioned against drinking this particular one because of possible runoff from the surrounding bovine pastures. Pilgrims left various items including a shell necklace. We met several as they passed us by as we soaked up some sun and finished off our Portuguese chouriço (chorizo) sausage, cheese, and bread; including three Americans from Portland, Oregon, a widow, her brother-in-law, and his wife.
-Next, unexpectedly came across a lowly yet favored tree in a stretch of the path with homes on one side, fields on the other. It was ringed by a half moon of tree stumps for sitting and decorated with numerous colorful ribbons, prayer cards, a pair of boots, signs, a small stuffed animal, shells, a Fatima image/statue, flowers, photos, a rosary, bits of this and that, and stones.
-Stones! Did not know about this particular place of stones on “Camino Portuguese” — though there is a famous “stone-leaving” point on the “Camino Frances” (the Camino originating in France). This is where pilgrims leave a stone that we have brought with us as we walk. It represents something we want or need to leave behind.
-Mr. Wonderful and I decided this was where we would leave our stones. (I couldn’t find mine but he had an extra one. I looked all around for one, but any nearby stray stones had likely been taken by other pilgrims.) There was a black sharpie marker there for anyone to use for a message. On mine, I penned: “Leave the past in the past.” It came to me as I sat on one of the stumps, pondering for a brief moment. John, like many others, chose to leave his stone without writing. It was very moving to do this, and I teared up.
-When we first came upon this precious spot, a diaphanous-appearing young woman with a scarf wrapped around her head and neck in Bible-times style breezed up and said, “oh you found the most peaceful spot.” In perfect English. She came out of nowhere, and at once I thought she might be an angel or possibly Mary. Only the fact that her multicolored crop-top shirt revealed a slight bit of skin led me to realize that she was a mere mortal. I told her what I had first thought of her presence, and she smiled softly and said thank you. As we spoke, learned she’s a tour guide for a German group. She herself is Portuguese and a certified guide, presumably far from home as she commented, “it’s a good job but you get homesick”. We went onward while this slightly mysterious soul (well, how did she suddenly silently appear?) waited for some of “her Germans” to catch up.
-Next stop was a café. It was incredibly busy with the German contingent. Eventually, the guide arrived there with the stragglers of her group. Was so crowded that we gave up on waiting, however, we were inspired to give her one of our cards that share our prayer mission. She looked up from the counter where she was fielding and translating orders for 40 hot and hungry people, surprised and happy to see a friendly face. We did exchange cards and also names; hers is Joanna.
-Carried on! Saw another fountain with potable water. Beautiful, unusual orange flowers not seen in the U.S., a cat seemingly sleeping in a tree, more niches in walls, and more chapels. (Locked but when you peek in the window, you see a stunning altar and sanctuary lamp lit! Interestingly, you see white candles in white or clear holders marking many altar sanctuaries here; they do not encase the white candles in red glass as we do.)
-Pushed on to Ponte de Lima. At one point were under a grape arbor walkway! And, of course, cobblestones. As we approached the village, suddenly the river was on our left! We went down a path to get close to the water and saw a modern bridge and traffic down the waterway. Went back up to the Camino path once more. As we got closer, there was another church (no surprise). And then…..had an ethereal entry into Ponte de Lima as elegantly arching sycamore trees made a sun-dappled veil overhead as we walked along the river! Wide cobblestoned expanse, dotted with families, seniors, dog walkers, and lovers. Under this tall tunnel, we could see in the distance the famous Roman bridge from 1 AD! (Modified in medieval times as the river changed course somewhat.) Our accommodation is on the southeast side of the bridge. (Only €45 per night.)
-Grand lodgings indeed! After figuring out how to contact the owner, Joachim Varajao, at Casa Cardeal Saraira, we met him and were led into our second-floor digs. Soaring 15-foot ceilings, bedroom, bathroom, shared living room, dining room, and kitchen. Came complete with drinks, including port wine. Upstairs from us, another pilgrim was staying, a German lady whose path we had crossed before. The best part was overlooking the church (Igreja Matriz de Ponte de Lima), bell tower/clocktower, and Cardeal Square. Absolutely a gem of a location. We can even see the Rio Lima from our room!
-Drinks outside under umbrellas at Panilima Padaria/Pasteleria on our arrival in a wide pedestrian area. OJ! And beer! Walked around soaking in our little area. Floral wreaths on display, called maios, hallmark of this town. Went to a craft beer place, sat outside, saw the Americans from Oregon again.
-Ate at Restaurante Solar da Picota. Three Germans, the family we had seen earlier in the day, and also Joy and Kay, the Canadians from Rates, ended up here. Super dinner. John got chicken (finally; not that common here!), and I got to try bacalhau (salted cod) as they were out of salmon. His chicken was perfectly cooked, pounded super thin and breaded. My fish was thick and tender, like butter. Winning dessert of a chocolate crêpe filled with chocolate cream and a side of whipped cream and strawberries. (Infamous ‘whiskey tart’ also made an appearance on this menu!) And we had wine, plenty of “vinho tinto”. (Red wine.) Language note — they add an “h” to many words ending in “o” in Portuguese. Example Camino is Caminho and vino = vinho!
-Walked “home”. So glad we are having our “rest day” here in Ponte de Lima. This oldest village in Portugal is most engaging. Deo gratias!
Let us pray for you
Spoiler alert, we did make it to Santiago and we read prayers for everyone on our prayer list. If you have a prayer request, send it to us and we will pray for you at our next holy site.