Our Portuguese Camino
By Bicycle
Plus Gluten-Free Travel Notes
Plus Gluten-Free Travel Notes
14 April – 10 May 2014
Introduction
In 2013 we decided to do a pilgrimage to Santiago de
Compostela, also known as the Way of St. James. We researched the numerous
routes and decided to take the path less traveled – the Camino Portuguese from
Lisbon to Santiago, via Porto. This route is a 615 kilometer journey, according
to John Brierley’s guide book, “A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Camino Portugués”.
Because we are keen cyclists, we decided to make our pilgrimage on bicycles and
keep as close to Brierley’s guide book as possible, even though it is intended
for walkers (you may want to refer to this guide book when you read through our
daily reports). Prior to leaving Brisbane we learned a bit of Portuguese and we
found that we had enough of the language to be understood. The research we did also confirmed that
finding gluten-free products for Heather would provide a challenge,
particularly when we would be in the less populated areas (which was most of
the journey until Porto). This did prove to be the case, so you will find
numerous references to gluten-free eating throughout this blog. At the end
of this blog we talk a bit more about gluten-free eating and what we took
with us in terms of clothing and other accessories.
Lisbon
A friend saw us off at Brisbane airport on the 8th
of April 2014, with Gerry carrying his 11 kilogram backpack and Heather her 9.3
kilogram backpack. Both packs would have been lighter had we not take an ipad,
a small camera and two mobile phones, plus all their chargers and plug
converters! Still, this had to do us for our one month pilgrimage and our four
month Europe and England adventure after the pilgrimage. We flew with Emirates
who we found to be a good airline, arriving in Lisbon (via Dubia) on the 10th
April, after a long 25 hour flight. Too bad nothing could be done about the
length of the flight. We were both exhausted upon arrival and happy that we had
a few days to recover before beginning our pilgrimage.
To really experience what it would be like to live in
another country we decided stay as much as possible in local residential areas.
Therefore we rented an apartment, which we found through the AirBnB website, in
the old Alfama district of Lisbon, which turned out to be easy to get to via
the metro from the airport. The unit was quaint and very compact, which we
discovered during our time in Portugal, was normal of homes there. The
apartment was accessed via a small pedestrian alleyway which contained
residential apartments, small grocery stores, fruit/vegetable stores and bars.
Lots of concrete; very little greenery. We began to realise how spoiled we are
in Australia, having large living spaces, lawns and gardens. The unit met our
need to stay in among the people who work and live in Lisbon, and was in a
perfect location for exploring the city and the old district of Lisbon. Lisbon
is a great city for exploring and general sightseeing and there are lots of
great coffee places to just stop and watch the people. If you want to go to the
tourist sites (which are worth visiting), it is best to do so during the
weekdays, as they were extremely busy during the weekend.
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| View from window |
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| Lisbon apartment alleyway |
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| Lisbon Tram |
We spent a few days recovering from jet lag and
enjoying the sights of Lisbon. We highly recommend taking a guided walking tour
of the city. Not only did it provide us with a great introduction to the
history of the city, but we received lots of helpful tips of where to eat and
what to see that wouldn’t cost a lot. For example, the guide recommended never spending
more than 10€ for a meal that should include soup, main course, bread,
something to drink (eg wine/beer) and a coffee. Following her advice, we became
more discerning and soon found a great place by the Se Cathedral whose luncheon
meal was 6€ (converted to around $9 AUD). Excellent value.
The Camino
14 April 2014:
40k; Lisbon to Villa Franka
On the 14th April we picked up our gear
from BikeIberia in Lisbon; two Giant mountain bicycles, back panniers, handle
bar bags, a lock (weighing about 2 kilograms), spare tubes, a repair kit, a set
of bicycle tools, a bicycle pump and oil. Everything we needed to keep us on
the road. These bicycles were perfect for the inland trail as described in
Brierley’s guide book. We arranged with
BikeIberia to transfer our backpacks to our hotel in Santiago from Lisbon, so
we didn’t have to worry about that ourselves. Great service!
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| I think I can handle this |
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| OK I can ride this |
BikeIberia is a compact shop with not much room to
move around inside, so went to a small park around the corner of the shop to
pack our panniers. BikeIberia did offer us the option of picking up the
panniers the night before to pack them in our unit, but we thought it would be
easier to pack there. We then transferred almost everything we had in our
backpacks into the panniers [see the end of this document for what gear we
took]. This worked out very well, as throughout the journey everything we had
taken with us we used, and we did not miss what we had sent on. This may have
been different had we had rainy cold weather, but the sun gods shined down on
us for most of our journey. Before setting out we tried out the bikes, fully
loaded, and were on our way.
The Trail
The day was cloudy and overcast when we set out on our
pilgrimage. Leaving BikeIberia we followed a bicycle track from the city,
taking us through many industrial areas. Initially we were concerned that we
would have to cycle in the Lisbon traffic to get out of the city. However, much
to our delight the bicycle track guided us all the way out of the city with no
need to cycle on a road, keeping it very safe. We felt sorry for the pilgrims
who would be walking out of Lisbon as most of the trail was on pavement which
would have been very unpleasant to walk on. Enroute we met up with a father and
son who were on road bicycles; they were cycling on the main roads and expected
to arrive in Santiago in a couple of weeks. That would be very do-able if you
don’t mind dealing with the noise and the traffic on the roads.
The bicycle track went past the Vasco da Gama Park,
which is part of the Expo ’98 site. Shortly after the park the track changed
into a dirt trail following alongside a river, passing some ruins. The first
part of this trail was no wider than the mountain bicycle tires. While it was
only a little muddy it was very difficult to navigate on our bicycles. Both of
us had a fall. Gerry down towards the river, only to be saved by the brambles;
Heather towards the field of mud. Gerry spent the next few days extracting
brambles from his body and clothes. However the brambles did save him from
falling into the river. Thank goodness for the overgrowth.
Further on we encountered a broken irrigation gate.
The irrigation gate itself was missing, leaving only the side posts. This meant
we had to somehow make our way over the gap without falling into the river. The
gap was too wide to bicycle over or to carry the bicycles over fully loaded. So
we unloaded our bicycles and passed the panniers and bicycles over one at a
time. Thank goodness there were two of us for if you were on your own this
would have been extremely difficult. But teamwork got us safely through! We
then reloaded our bicycles and were on our way.
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| Broken sluice gate |
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| OK the first day is a challenge |
We continued to follow the guide book until we
intersected with the N-10 leading us to Povoa de Santa Iria and a route leading
onto rough vegetation. Rather than try to make our way through that we decided
to jump onto the N-10. We found the drivers wonderful to cyclists, giving us
plenty of space by moving over away from us and slowing down. We noticed that
they did not do the same for walkers.
We arrived at Alverca do Ribatejo and Alverca Railway
station, where we had to cross the rail tracks. The guide book recommends
crossing the rail tracks using the stairs. Fortunately there was a lift,
enabling us to take our loaded bicycles across the rail tracks as it would have
been very difficult carrying them up the stairs without unloading them first.
The lift is not mentioned in the guide book, and we had to keep reminding
ourselves that the guide book was written for walkers and NOT cyclists and we
needed to make adjustments as required. Once we crossed the rail tracks we
continued on our way, but after a short while we had a sense we were not going
in the right direction. So, we turned around and found that we had missed
seeing an arrow pointing the way. If you were walking this wouldn’t have been a
problem as the arrows are easier to see, except for those odd ones covered in
overgrowth or hidden behind parked cars. In general good signage kept us going
and kept us confident that we were moving in the right direction. We then
followed the trails in the guide book to our destination of Vilafranca de Xira.
This trail took us along the river front via a great bicycle track all the way.
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| Along the waterfront |
Overall, this was a hard ride because the off road
parts were rough and rugged. It was also our really first experience and
introduction to mountain bicycle riding with loaded panniers. Perhaps if we
were better experienced in riding mountain bicycles it would have been easier.
All in all, though it was fun, although tiring and bruising.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We stayed at Residential Flora, a nice friendly little
hotel where pilgrims often stay. Our evening meal was at a local restaurant and
was delicious.
15 April 2014: 50k; Villa Franka to Santarem
The Trail
Left at 9am following the trail in the guide book, which
led us back along the riverside bicycle track and then onto a very busy road
with lots of traffic. This road required a lot of care and attention when
crossing. It was very scary crossing that road, so do pay attention here!
Once past the Lidl store we continued along the rail
line and then a drainage channel. This was a pleasant ride all the way to Vila
Nova da Rainha where we stopped for a coffee. The trail then took us onto the
busy N-3, all the way to Azambuja.
Fortunately there is a nice wide shoulder as there was lots of
traffic. Again, the drivers were very
courteous to cyclists; and other than the noise, it was a good run.
We decided to stop at Azambuja Central for lunch.
Unfortunately we couldn’t find any cafe to eat at so found a park and made our own
lunch of rice rounds, peanut butter, cheese and an orange. Leaving Azambuja again required crossing
railway tracks. Fortunately there was a wheelchair ramp that was great for us
with our bicycles, as again the metal stairs would have been a real challenge.
Shortly after Azambuja the trail linked to a side road
then a country road by a creek. Riding was pleasant. Weather perfect. We quickly reached Valada, stopping for
another coffee, then onto Porto de Muge where the country road ended and we
found ourselves on a ‘sandy’ road. Because it had been dry for the previous few
days the sand was like a hard packed gravel road. Great for riding. However, had it been wet it would have been
hard going as in some places the sand was quite deep. After a lovely 9
kilometer ride we rejoined a country road at Viaducto and then straight UP to
Santarem. And up it was! We initially thought we could ride our bicycles up the
hill and we did start off riding. But too soon we found ourselves alongside our
bicycles, pushing them up the hill! Steep the guide book says. And steep it
was!
On today’s section of the trail we met a couple from
Ireland, our first walking pilgrims. Later in the day we met four more pilgrims
enroute to Santarem. This gave us a total of six walkers and two road cyclists
doing the pilgrimage thus far.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
The challenge when we arrived at the top of the hill
was to find Santarem Hostel as there were no directions for it. After asking
people on the street, we were able to locate it. It was worth the search as,
not only did they look after our bicycles, the hosts were wonderful and the
room was great. Our bicycles were brought up the stairs and locked in the
courtyard. What a wonderful hostel.
We had our own room (the orange room) and a
nice hot shower. For supper we made ourselves a very nice pasta meal. As the
sun was shining we decided to do our laundry, which we did in the large laundry
basin by hand. Breakfast was included in the price, and Gerry enjoyed the
homemade preserves! We would recommend this hostel to anyone passing through
Santarem.
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| Santarem Hostel, relief after the big climb! |
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| Santarem Hostel |
16 April 2014:
42.1k: Santarem to Atalaia
The Trail
Left around 9am today. Our route out of Santarem was
via the Gate of the Sun (Portas do Sol), which is in a garden and has a
wonderful viewing platform on a former Moorish citadel. The view to the river
and the hills beyond would have been great on a sunny day. However the overcast
and cloudy conditions of the morning gave it an ominous feeling, and provided
us with a wonderful photo. We then passed through the Gates of St James and
down a very steep decline. This trail was clearly meant for walkers. It was
impossible to cycle down, even proving to be challenging walking down with
loaded bicycles. Therefore we made our way very slowly.
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| The view from Portas do Sol |
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| Portas do Sol |
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| The trail down from the Gates of St James |
Given the wet conditions, we decided to follow the
country road rather than the trail as per the guide book, thus avoiding the
mud. This turned out to be a great decision as we had a delightful journey
passing through many small villages and hamlets with roadside shrines scattered
all along the way. The road ran parallel to the trail as shown in the guide
book, occasionally veering off to go through a small town.
Our initial destination was Sao Caetano, as the small
hostel there came highly recommended by a fellow pilgrim we met in Lisbon.
However, when we arrived it was full (we did not book ahead!) so we bicycled
onto Atalaia, following the arrows all the way. It was a nice day.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
Stayed at Casa Patricia, a very nice manor house. Note
that the phone number in the guide book is wrong; it is 249 710 581. Had a meal
at a restaurant down the road. Monkfish with rice. A very huge meal with the plates of food covering
the whole table! Heather asked for one glass of wine and got a 375ml bottle;
Gerry asked for a beer and got a large insulated mug (really a small jug).
Neither of us complained!
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| Casa Patrica |
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| Gerry's beer |
17-22 April 2014: 18.8k; Atalaia to Tomar (Easter weekend)
The Trail
Left around 9am to the waves of the manor house
owners. Soon after leaving the trail went onto a track that looked pretty
rough. So, rather than face the mud we decided to join up with the N-110, which
is a smaller ‘main’ road, with a fairly wide shoulder. We stayed on this road,
joining up again with the marked trail at Guerreira. It was a pleasant ride on
the road, with numerous ups and downs but nothing like what we were expecting
(maybe we were fitter than we thought). It was a short day and an easy ride.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We stayed at a Tomar Holiday House, located just one
street off the trail in the guide book. This was a great location in the centre
of everything. We walked everywhere and there was a supermarket close by. We
decided to stay four nights as this was the Easter weekend and we assumed
everything would be closed over Easter. Well, things were generally shut until
noon and then it was business as usual. We did find that four nights was too
long; we decided a maximum of three and ideally two nights in any one place
would be best.
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| Our holiday house |
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| Main street Tomar |
As we arrived early we decided to go to the Templar castle in the afternoon. The Castle is in amazing condition. We walked around for hours as there was so much to see! Incredible history and views of the town. Well worth a visit.
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| Templar Castle |
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| Courtyard in the castle |
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| Entrance to the castle |
18 April – Market Day in Tomar turned out to be a cold
day and we ended up wearing almost all the clothes we had carried. Anything and
everything is sold at the market. Live if you
want; dead otherwise. We treated ourselves to some local cheese, lovely fruit
and vegetables, and lots of olives. We decided to revisit the Castle after
lunch, only to find it closed for the Easter holiday.
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| Cheese stall at markets, cold day |
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| Tomar markets |
That evening we went for a walk to see the Castle lit
up at night. By chance we stumbled upon crowds of people heading to the
Cathedral. So, we joined them. It turns out that on Good Friday the statue of
Mary and the statue of Jesus (laid out in a coffin) are taken from the
Cathedral to another Church via a route through the town. The procession was
led by six teenagers carrying a huge wooden cross and numerous other
church-goers carrying various lights and holy pictures. The procession was
followed by hundreds of people, including a brass band which played a funeral
march. We walked for over an hour through the town and past apartments with
candles burning on the balconies and often with drapes hanging from the
windows. This was a testimony of the faith of the townspeople and was a very
moving experience.
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| Good Friday Procession |
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| Good Friday Procession |
21 April - Fatima.
We explored the local sights in Tomar during the
weekend and on Easter Monday we caught the bus to Fatima. The scale of the
place is amazing. The Cathedral was built in the mid 1920s/30s and opposite is
a new church which was built in the 1970s. The two (Cathedral and new church)
provided an amazing contrast of architecture styles. The Cathedral was built to
mimic the old Roman style with great statues and pillars, while the new church
was built with straight lines. The Cathedral had the Stations of the Cross
depicted in tiles which was absolutely amazing. The new church was a great
place to seek refuge as Gregorian chants were continuously playing. A perfect
place to sit, relax and gather your thoughts.
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| Main square |
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| Cathedral at Fatima |
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| The new basilica |
The Chapel of Apparitions is in the large square, and continuous mass is held there. This Chapel is believed to be where the first sighting of the Virgin Mary occurred in Fatima. Here people were crawling on their knees in prayers, often crawling their way right around the Chapel itself. Very moving. An oak tree stands by the Chapel and is currently surrounded by a gate. The oak tree represents the original oak tree that disappeared due to pilgrims and locals taking pieces of the tree as a token of their visit.
Fatima is well
worth a visit, whether you are a believer or not. For us it brought mixed
emotions. Admiration for the people who still have so much faith; people from
all over the world who seek the spiritual and emotional comfort this place can
offer them. In contrast, we were also disturbed by the gross commercialism of
the place.
22 April 2014: 48.8k+; Tomar to Ansiao
The Trail
Left Tomar around 9am, after a night of rain. Because
of the muddiness of the trail, we decided not to follow the off road track from
Tomar as shown in the guide book, but to cycle via the N-10. This was a very busy
road. Lots of traffic. Lots of climbing.
At Casais we rejoined the trail, which was a small country road. HILLS.
HILLS. And more hills today. Lots of pushing the bicycles up hill and walking
them while holding them back on the way down. Steep ups. Steep downs. 10%+
gradients. Spent most of the day walking our bicycles rather than riding.
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| Heathers opinion of the hills today |
Arrived at Chao das Eiras still following the route,
with heavy climbing. The only saving grace was there was very little traffic on
these small country roads. The climbing never seemed to end. We thought we had
seen the worst of the climbs until we encountered the road to Quinta do Tojal.
A very hard climb! We continued to follow the guide book, keeping on the route
until Casa Torre where we jumped onto a small country road rather than take the
muddy trail off-road. We cycled this road all the way to Alvaiazere, where much
to our dismay we met with another very hard climb.
Stopped in Alvaiazere for lunch at a small park that
had nice views over the hills and a nice public toilet. Usually we used the
toilets in the cafes/bars, giving us another reason to stop for a coffee, so
this was a nice alternative and one we rarely encountered. We found that parks
were a rare commodity in Portugal, so we really enjoyed this one; usually all
we encountered were town squares with one or two trees. From here we rejoined
the trail, which was a country road heading towards Gramatinha. This provided
us with the opportunity to see if our legs could do another climb, a climb to
470 metres from 210 metres within 5 kilometers. Climb they could, but not with
us sitting on the bicycles. Again we had to push the bicycles as we could not
ride this steep incline.
The arrows marking the trail then wanted to take us
off-road onto a very muddy trail and we knew we wouldn’t have made it through
on the bicycles. So, we decided to stay on the road, as the guide book showed
one small country road that should intersect with the trail at Venda, which was
a short distance away. Don’t believe it. There were countless small roads going
everywhere. Needless to say, we got lost. Hopelessly lost and ended up going in
circles. Circles with hills.
In Portugal the roads have developed over hundreds of
years, connecting villages, hamlets and
towns, most NOT shown on any map! The road we ended up taking was great! Straight down-hill. We should have known this
was too good to be true as it turned out we were going down-hill in the wrong
direction! When we realised this we were very lucky to have a rare motorist passing
by who we stopped to get directions. We then made our way to the N348 and after
many cobblestone roads to Ansiao.
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| Amazing we are still smiling! |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
At Ansiao we tried to book in at the ‘Adega Tipica’ a
place recommended in the guide book, but we had a very cool reception. We felt
they didn’t care to help us or to show us where we could safely store our
bicycles. We waited and waited for someone to direct us, but no one came. So we
jumped back on our bicycles and made our way to ‘Solar de Rainha’, which is just
outside town and also listed in the guide book. This turned out to be very nice
accommodation with a huge, but cool, bedroom! A place we would highly recommend
anyone to stay.
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| Solar de Rainha, great spot |
We had a snack, hot shower and a nap while waiting for
the hotel restaurant opened at 8:30pm. We were hungry and ready to eat between
5pm and 6pm after a day’s ride. It was hard for us to get use to waiting until
after 8pm to eat. But, that is the way the locals did it and as we were
traveling through small country towns we had to adapt. We did learn to make
sure we always had some snacks with us to tide us over until we could have a
good meal.
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| Evening meal at Solar de Rainha, huge & cheap. The jug is full of red wine, we asked for a glass! |
23-24 April 2014; 45.5k; Ansiao to Coimbra
The Trail
Left around 9:30am. As it rained all night the
off-road trails were very muddy and impassable by bicycle. Thus, we decided to
stay on the small country roads as much as possible, hoping that our guide book
map showed all the roads. However, it doesn’t. Again, there were multiple roads
crisscrossing everywhere so it was very easy to get lost. And GET LOST WE DID.
It took us almost 4 hours to go 20 kilometers!
We passed lots of shrines on the roadsides. Lots of dogs.
Fortunately most of the dogs were tied up, and while they were not happy
about that as they could only bark at us and not give chase, we were very
pleased.
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| Roadside shrine |
The roads we took had us entering the many small towns
from an alternative route, rather than the main entrance. We noticed that often
the buildings from these ends of town were in disrepair, and surprisingly
people were still living in them. When we would cross over into the “newer”
part of town we found a stark contrast between the old and the new areas. Even
so, it was a good to see the old part of the towns and the routes through these
towns were very picturesque.
Right after Freixo we joined the N-348 and cycled
until the exit to the N347-1 just past Junqueira. We followed the N347-1 all
the way to Rabacal, again avoiding the muddy off-road trail.
We had lunch at a small cafe in Rabacal, then set off again.
Ensuring a gluten-free meal at these small towns was a challenge as the locals
did not understand what is meant by gluten-free even when we provided them with
the Portuguese-language card that explained it. This was very much the same
anyplace we went unless we
spoke with the people in the restaurants who worked directly with food, others
do not understand the concept. This just meant that, for lunch, Heather had to
rely on what she was carrying.
We got very lost leaving Rabacal, finally connecting
with the yellow arrows marking the trail. We kept to the trail whenever it
followed a small country road (grey road in the guide book), and we had a nice
ride all the way to Poco. At Poco the trail led to a remote dirt track, but
because this dirt track was so muddy we needed to keep on the small country
road. Once again this proved more difficult than we expected. We tried to find
the small road shown in the guide book but couldn’t find it, ending up on the
IC3, which turned into the IC2. These were very busy roads and quite scary as
the shoulders were very small, when they existed! Finally found a side road
that we escaped to and amazingly found ourselves back on the trail, whoopee!
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| Street sign with a yellow arrow marker pointing to Santiago |
Had coffee at Cafe Araujo in the village of Cruz de
Mourocos where a group of Italian walkers appeared, all wearing yellow scarves.
They were surprised to find out we were from Australia. In fact, most people on
the trail from Lisbon to Porto were surprised to meet Australians. Leaving the
café the road was too steep to ride DOWN so again we had to walk our bicycles,
holding onto the breaks so the bicycles wouldn’t take off. Later enroute we passed over the new
motorway, which was made by slicing an old Roman aqueduct in half! Absolutely
shocking and amazing! This road took us into Santa Clara, a very busy town with
narrow streets, and then into Coimbra. The route was well marked, with very
visible yellow arrows leading us by a church overlooking the river and the
town. We stopped at the church for the spectacular view over the town prior to
entering Coimbra.
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| View over Coimbra |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
Stayed at Hotel Jardin, which faces the river. We were
able to put our bicycles in a locked up alleyway overnight. The hotel was two
blocks from the tourist centre and the old town; cost 40€ a night. No breakfast
included, but plenty of cafes and restaurants nearby. A very nice and friendly
place to stay.
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| Hotel Jardin, great spot |
25-26 April
2014; 47.8k; Coimbra to Agueda
The Trail
Left at 9:30am. Today is Liberation Day, when
‘democracy’ was restored in Portugal by the army. It was a perfect day to cycle as, being a
holiday, there was very little traffic on the roads. We kept to the trail and
followed the yellow arrows all day. Today was our best day of riding. Either we
were getting fitter or the trail was not as difficult! Mind you, there were a
few short climbs, just so we didn’t get too complacent. We had a bit of
everything today cobblestones,
off-trail tracks, small country roads, small villages, a real slice of
countryside Portugal. It was a very good trip for us as cyclists and we fully
enjoyed the day. Agueda is a pretty little town that is entered via a bridge
that crosses the river which is lined by trees. In summer they have a festival
during which umbrellas are hung upside down, making a lovely show with the sun
shining through them and throwing colours on the cobblestones. Unfortunately we
were too early in the year to see that.
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| Resting by a roadside fountain, note the tile pictures |
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| A wet trail |
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| Forestry trail |
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| Road through old village |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We wanted to stay at Albergue Casa Azul which is
mentioned in the guide book as we wanted to be able to cook our own meals
(gluten-free). However, after searching for it, alone and with the help of some
local people, we found its location. It looked like a burned out building that
hadn’t been in operation for years. We were already tired after riding all day
and we were getting very cold. We then followed the signs and cycled to
‘Residential Celeste’, which is on the trail and easy to find. Residential
Celeste is a pilgrim-friendly alburgue/hotel combination, breakfast included.
The alburgue looked very nice. We stayed at the hotel part as we wanted our own bathroom, but could easily have stayed at the alburgue. This was the first time on the trail that there were other pilgrims (including two Australians) also staying at the same accommodation. There was no restaurant here, but a local restaurant delivered free of charge. We decided to order and eat in at the dining room, enabling us to share stories with the other pilgrims.
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| Residential Cleleste, nice place to stay on the trail |
The alburgue looked very nice. We stayed at the hotel part as we wanted our own bathroom, but could easily have stayed at the alburgue. This was the first time on the trail that there were other pilgrims (including two Australians) also staying at the same accommodation. There was no restaurant here, but a local restaurant delivered free of charge. We decided to order and eat in at the dining room, enabling us to share stories with the other pilgrims.
The next day we woke to heavy rain. While we initially
planned to stay only one night we decided to stay another day rather than cycle
in the rain. This turned out to be the
right decision as the next day we woke up to bright sunshine.
The Trail
Left at 9am and rejoined the route in the guide book
which was right outside Residential Celeste. We followed the yellow arrows and
the guide book all day. After a short time on the road the trail goes onto a
dirt trail with three possible ways to go and no clear markings as to which way
to follow. We made a guess, taking the left-most trail. Fortunately we guessed
correctly and upon exiting the trail via a medieval Roman bridge we entered a
small town. The town was celebrating mass in the town grounds. Church music was
broadcast along the main road through speakers lining the street. It felt very
surreal. We stopped to listen and take in the atmosphere for awhile and then
continued our journey.
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| Pushing bike up the trail, old roman road |
Much of the trail would have been a challenge on
bicycles as it had it been raining; unsafe and impassable. We avoided these due
to knee-high mud and took a gamble on a small country road, knowing that we may
never see the arrows again and probably get lost. Much to our surprise we
eventually met up with the arrows and continued our guided journey again. This
was another wonderful day of bicycling through many small towns, some with high
walls on either side of us; others through small winding streets. We also
continued to be challenged with hills of 10 to 15% gradients, too steep to
cycle up or DOWN!
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| Signs along the way |
 |
| Yes it had been raining ! |
Around 2:30pm we thought we had arrived at our night’s
destination, but it turned out we had arrived at Oliveira de Azemeis, and we still
had 10 kilometers to go to Sao Joao da Madeira. Yikes. While 10 kilometers
doesn’t sound like much, when you factor in steep hills, ups and downs, rough
cobble-stoned curving streets and our expectations of being ready to lay our
heads on our pillows after a nice hot shower, it was a fair way. Going our
fastest and assuming the best road conditions, we estimated we had about one
more hour of cycling. We were tired, but forged ahead. One and a half hours
later, at 4pm, we finally arrived at our destination. As anywhere, distance
cannot be gauged simply by kilometers on the map. The many obstacles and
challenges presented to us each day gave us a new appreciation of traveling on
the road less traveled.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
Imagine being tired and hungry and cycling into a town
prepared to search for your accommodation (not so good). Then imagine cycling
into town and right there, right in front of you (a little over to the left)
you see your accommodation! Imagine the joy. Imagine the relief. Whooppee.
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| Residencial Solar Sao Joao |
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| Our room overlooks the square |
We had arrived at ‘Residencial Solar Sao Joao’, our destination for the night, which faced the town square as you entered the town and is right on the trail. A most welcoming sight after a day of cycling. No wandering the streets looking for a place to lay our head. We were tuckered out and had very little reserves to seek out our accommodation. It was heaven sent. The bicycles were safely locked up in their own place around the corner of the building. The room was spectacular. Wrought iron bed, matching bedstand, great ensuite. If that wasn’t enough, our room had a balcony overlooking the main square. 35€ including breakfast. Yippee !
We went to the square to celebrate and for 2.60€ we
had two coffees and Gerry had a Portuguese custard tart. For supper that night,
the hotel owner’s brother who could speak a bit English directed us to a local
restaurant to eat. After a recovery nap, we wandered down to the restaurant
which opened at 8:30pm and had a good meal.
28 April – 1
May 2014; 45.5k (rather than the 30k due
to getting lost); Sao Joao De Madeira to Santo Avideo Metro to Matoshinhos via
the metro
The Trail
The decision we had to make today was whether to cycle
all the way to Matoshinhos or not. The distance wasn’t a problem as it was a
beautiful day and we had plenty of time. However, speaking with other pilgrims
at ‘Residential Celeste', some who had done part of this route before, they
highly recommended taking public transport through the city of Porto rather than
walking or cycling. This method was recommended because the closer you got to
Porto, the more industrial areas you had to pass through and the traffic
becomes heavier. Rather than face the smog, noise and the dangerous traffic, we
thought that the metro would be a good choice. We decided to cycle as far as
the Santo Avideo Metro, just 3.5k from the centre of Porto, and then hop on the
metro. We also decided that rather than go into Porto, we would spend a few
nights at the seaside suburb of Matoshinhos, which is a suburb of Porto. We
would be going back to Portugal before returning to Australia so if we didn’t
get to see much of Porto this time, we would have a chance on our return.
So, major decisions made, we headed off on what we
expected to be a nice day of cycling. Right. This turned out to be our hardest
day so far :-(
Our first challenge was leaving town as we immediately
lost the arrows we were following and, even though we kept referring to the
guide book, we just could not find our way. We did, however, get to see many
beautiful churches, some of which were completely covered in blue tiles.
Finally we located the arrows and got back on trail. At one point we ended on
the N1, a major motorway, which was too scary to cycle on; fortunately there
was a sidewalk that we could ride on. There were very few arrows, which often
left us wondering whether we were on the trail or not, or had we just missed
seeing the arrows. For us having more arrows marking the way on this part of
the trail would have been just nice to provide assurance that we were going the
right way.
 |
| Church covered with blue tiles |
About 7.6 kilometers after leaving our wonderful
overnight stay we needed to turn at Malaposta, which was supposed to be the
high point of the day. Don’t believe it. There were MANY more hills to be
conquered before the day was over. Note that once you pass the sign that points the way to the village
of Malaposta, you need to turn onto a small road, which is part of the
preserved trail. However, the signage is tricky. We turned right as signed and
proceeded down the hill before, thankfully, being hailed by a construction
worker who directed us back up the hill. We made our way back up the hill to
the sign and then saw that as soon as you turn right, you need to turn left
behind the buildings and onto the Roman road, Via XVI. Note that once we
realised this and looked at the arrows, we understood what the arrows were
trying to tell us. So do a dog-leg, turning right and then immediately left.
Pay attention here! Once we got back onto the trail, it was great ride! Away
from the N1. Away from the traffic noise. Eventually onto an off-road dirt
trail. Off-road trails which presented mud, mud and more mud. At times we had
to make a path through the woods that ran beside the trail or get off onto a
country road where we would inevitably get lost. And get lost we did. This
added more kilometers to our travels. Fortunately there were a number of cafes
along our chosen path, so we took advantage of them, stopping at least three
times to re-cooperate our weary bodies.
Other than the mud and getting lost, we had a
wonderful ride until we passed through Perozinho. Then it was uphill and hard.
Once over the top we made our way downhill and met up with a lovely road taking
us through a forest. Trees surrounded us on both sides and the road was tightly
packed gravel, making it very nice for cycling. A very lovely and peaceful
cycle. Imagine our surprise, however, when we emerged from the forest to find
ourselves surrounded by garbage. Turns out the locals were dumping their
garbage right there on the ground, perhaps being unaware that this was a major
cycle trail.
Coming out of the forest we joined a country road and
were shortly faced with two routes, both downhill. What we didn’t want to do
was take the wrong downhill as it would mean turning around and going, yikes,
uphill again. Given this wasn’t marked with arrows we decided that the left
road was the way to go. Well, I guess the gods of hill climbing thought we
needed more practice. Once we got all the way to the bottom we found out that
we had taken wrong road. We should have gone right. We ended up in a small
village of Canelas, wandering around in circles. Finally Gerry remembered that
he had Google Maps on his iphone, and checking the maps, he confidently set us
off in the right direction. However, after bicycling 5 kilometers and ending up
at a t-junction, we realised the iphone was pointing in the wrong direction (or
something) and we should have gone in the opposite direction. So we turned
around and cycled back. What’s another 5 kilometers here or there; or even
another 10 kilometers! Much to our surprise, we were reunited with the arrows
marking the route and found our way to the rotunda / roundabout and the
metro.
Taking the metro we were advised to get a tourist
ticket but couldn’t figure out how to do this. Out of thin air a metro guard
appeared and advised us what to do. We followed his advice and got our ticket
to the main metro station where we were to buy our tourist ticket. However the
line-up for tickets was long and, rather than wait, we decided to just buy a
regular ticket for the rest of our journey to Matosinhos. Who should appear but
the guard who helped us out earlier, and helped us buy a regular ticket.
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| Coffee for weary cyclists at the beach at Matosinhos |
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| View over the Atlantic Ocean from our apartment |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
Home for the next three nights was a great light and
airy apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, found on the Air BnB website.
This turned out to be a marvelous place to recover and chill out. We had many
wonderful meals in local restaurants and enjoyed salted cod fish with grilled
onions on top, which is a local dish. Very tasty. Enjoyed many walks up and
down the promenade and watching the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean from our
balcony.
1 May 2014;
35k; Matosinhos to Povoa de Varzim
During our lovely time by the seaside we realised we
had lots of time to make it to Santiago to catch our plane to England.
Therefore we decided that for the rest of the pilgrimage we would slow down,
take it easy and plan to cycle no more than 30/35k a day. This will make it a
nice leisurely trip without us getting too tired. That was the plan.
Note: The guide book
takes you to Vila do Conde from Porto and then rejoining the waymarked route
from Vilarinho. We planned to follow the coastal route, rejoining the waymarked
route at Redondela. This would give us some time by the ocean while avoiding
the two days mentioned in the guide book that had the hardest hills: Ponte de Lima
to Rubiaes and Rubiaes to Tui(Valenca). We’ve been there and done that with the
hills, so no need to conquer more this trip (or so we thought).
The Trail
We left Matosinhos at 9am via the lifting bridge,
following the route to Vila do Conde. We were lucky to arrive in time to see the bridge
being lifted, thus allowing a cargo boat to pass through. This gave us time to
take in the scenery for about 40 minutes. Once over the bridge we followed a
bicycle path which hugged the ocean, enjoying a gentle headwind all the way.
As the guide book says, keep the ocean to your left
and head north. We would recommend that if on bicycles, do not follow the
arrows onto the beach even though the trail often leads there. We did and found
we could not cycle on the beach as the sand was far too thick and soft! Yes we
found out the hard way!
We got to the beach by following another couple on bicycles and they went down to the beach. It wasn’t long until they were looking a little frazzled so, being quite a way behind them, we decided to cut our beach walk short as soon as possible. It took us quite a while to find a way to reconnect with the road. It was a hard slog. At one time we joined up with a boardwalk and thought we were in the clear. Not so. The boardwalk just led onto another stretch of sand. We finally made it to a small paved road, traveling through small villages that wound around local homes and shops. This road eventually led us to another forest/sandy road. It seemed like a popular cycling road but at one point forked in a number of directions. Which way to go? We explored a first path but the path eventually became very narrow and overgrown so we thought this could not be right, given the number of pilgrims we’ve been seeing, and turned back. We then tried the other three paths and found they were also not the right ones. We ended up back at the fork and taking the first path. Upon further exploration we noticed that at the entrance to that path, painted on a rock covered by the trees, was the yellow arrow pointing the way. So keep searching. Once we made our way through the overgrowth it turned out to be a lovely path on which to cycle.
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| Heather struggling in the sand hills |
.JPG) |
| Boardwalk |
We got to the beach by following another couple on bicycles and they went down to the beach. It wasn’t long until they were looking a little frazzled so, being quite a way behind them, we decided to cut our beach walk short as soon as possible. It took us quite a while to find a way to reconnect with the road. It was a hard slog. At one time we joined up with a boardwalk and thought we were in the clear. Not so. The boardwalk just led onto another stretch of sand. We finally made it to a small paved road, traveling through small villages that wound around local homes and shops. This road eventually led us to another forest/sandy road. It seemed like a popular cycling road but at one point forked in a number of directions. Which way to go? We explored a first path but the path eventually became very narrow and overgrown so we thought this could not be right, given the number of pilgrims we’ve been seeing, and turned back. We then tried the other three paths and found they were also not the right ones. We ended up back at the fork and taking the first path. Upon further exploration we noticed that at the entrance to that path, painted on a rock covered by the trees, was the yellow arrow pointing the way. So keep searching. Once we made our way through the overgrowth it turned out to be a lovely path on which to cycle.
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| On the right trail again |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We arrived around 2pm at our destination, staying at
‘Sardine and Friends Hostel’, which was recommended by someone on the web. We
had our own ‘family’ ensuited room, which consisted of a double bed with a bunk
above, then two bunks on the other side of a divide. The cost was 30E, without
breakfast. We were able to securely store our bicycles in a room off the
kitchen.
.JPG) |
| Hostel balcony |
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| Hostel Sardines & Friends |
2 May 2014; 40k; Povoa de Varzim to Viana do Costelo
The Trail
Left around 10am today. What a lovely ride. Mostly
ocean on our left and a sea breeze in our faces. You’ll notice we already
overshot our 30/35k per day limit, but what the heck. We were cycling on small
roads all day. The riding was very easy. A perfect day for cycling. We just
went with the flow. So, while planning is a good thing, we didn’t hold
ourselves to committing to our decisions. We would check with each other about
how we were feeling, and if both agreed, would go on. Heather’s bicycle was so
happy to continue onwards it started squeaking.
As the day went on my bicycle started squeaking even
louder. Fortunately on the trail at Viana Do Castelo there is a bicycle shop, Bikeseven. We stopped
in and told Paulo that Heather’s bicycle was not sounding right. He took it for a spin, then took it into his
workshop and did a small repair, then gave it a mini service. When we asked to
pay, he asked if we were doing the pilgrimage to Santiago.
When we said yes, he told us there was no charge. In return Gerry bought a cycling shirt from him. All this was done without each speaking the others language; amazing how humans can communicate. We found that people were very helpful all along the way, even more so when they found out we were doing the pilgrimage. So if cycling through Viana do Costelo say hello to Paulo.
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| Bikeseven bike shop owner Paulo, pilgrim friend |
When we said yes, he told us there was no charge. In return Gerry bought a cycling shirt from him. All this was done without each speaking the others language; amazing how humans can communicate. We found that people were very helpful all along the way, even more so when they found out we were doing the pilgrimage. So if cycling through Viana do Costelo say hello to Paulo.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
What a lovely town Viana do Costelo is! We stayed at O
Meu Amor, which is a lovely pensao, for 38E, including breakfast, and located
in the centre of the old town. The pensao also had cooking facilities. Our room
was the ‘Indian Room’ at the top of the stairs; very steep polished hardwood
stairs.
The window looked left to a cathedral and right to a row of houses. A very pretty view. Unfortunately the stairs were well polished resulting in Gerry falling down them, hurting his foot and badly bruising his arms & bottom (pictures are available if requested), not to mention his pride! His foot was okay to cycle with, but not walking. We hoped at this time that our days of pushing our bikes up hill and holding them back going downhill were over. If not, then we would have to finish the pilgrimage in another way.
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| Indian room in hostel, with our bike bags! |
The window looked left to a cathedral and right to a row of houses. A very pretty view. Unfortunately the stairs were well polished resulting in Gerry falling down them, hurting his foot and badly bruising his arms & bottom (pictures are available if requested), not to mention his pride! His foot was okay to cycle with, but not walking. We hoped at this time that our days of pushing our bikes up hill and holding them back going downhill were over. If not, then we would have to finish the pilgrimage in another way.
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| View from hostel window |
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| Town square, great place for a coffee and people watchinhg |
3 May 2014; 52k; Viana do Costelo to Valenca
The Trail
Today we were going to catch the ferry at Caminha
(Portugal) to A Guarda (Spain), giving us a short 28k day. It will be lovely to
have a ferry ride and enter Spain on water.
It was a nice cycle to Caminha and we were looking
forward to a pleasant ferry ride. However, when we arrived at Caminha we found
that the ferry had shut down permanently four days earlier, on 29th
April. We would have to bicycle 12k north to get to the bridge at Villa Nova de Cerveira that would take
us to Spain, and then another 13k south to get to A Guarda. Alternatively we could bicycle to the bridge
and then continue on the road for another 16k taking us to Valenca. This would
mean that we would rejoin the waymarked way in Valenca rather than Redondela.
It would also mean that Redondela would only be 31k away once we arrived in
Valenca. If we continued onto Spain today, and followed the coast from A Guarda
we would have a 72k bicycle to Redondela. Humm. Tough decision. Do we spend
more time on the road cycling or do we go straight onto Valenca. Given the
condition of Gerry’s foot we decided to go to Valenca as that would give him
more opportunity to rest and we could even take our time.
However, if you are reading this you will see that
today we ended up cycling 52k, way beyond our 30/35k per day. It doesn’t appear
that we have been able to hold ourselves back and take it easy. Perhaps this
foot accident was a way to make us slow down?
Enroute to Caminha we passed through the seaside town
of Vila Praia de Ancora. The main street was decorated with banners of flowers,
looking spectacular. The town was celebrating a spring festival where men
putting flowers outside their sweethearts houses as a way to win their hearts.
Apparently, rival women sneak out at night and switch the flowers to other
women’s houses. This was a nice place to have a coffee and watch the
entertainment.
Back on our bikes and onto a very busy road. At one
point we pulled over to let the traffic by so we could get to the t-junction we
needed. However, a car stopped right at the t-junction and wasn’t moving, which
blocked our path. So we waited and waited until he would leave. Suddenly he
jumped out of his car and came running up to us to see if we needed help. We
told him where we were headed and he pointed us in the direction we needed to
go. We decided that rather than wait for him to leave, we had better get
moving. So we bicycled to the t-junction and stopped behind his car. Suddenly
he jumped out again, only this time forgetting to put his car in park. As he
approached us I started pointing to his car and yelling that his car was moving
into the oncoming traffic. He jumped into it, put on the hand brake then got
out again to tell us what he forgot to say before. By then there were quite a
few cars lined up behind him and us, but no one minded. We found everyone very
chilled out and just took things as they came.
As we bicycled along the Minho River we arrived at
Villa Nova de Cerveira. Here we were entertained by a marching band with drums
and bagpipes as another spring festival was in full swing. So we stopped and had
yet another coffee, enjoying the entertainment before continuing on to Valenca.
When we arrived at Valenca we were tired and worn, having cycled more than
twice our planned length. We were ready for food and a bed!
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| Pipe & drum band |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We stayed at our first alburge! Bunks, bunk and more
bunks. A couple of sick people as well. We also met an Australian couple
staying there and joined them for supper in the walled area of Valenca. Had a
lovely visit with them. While the cost of staying at the alburge is cheap (5E a
night for each of us) we do prefer the luxury of our own room and bathroom.
Having tried out an alburge, we decided we do not have to do it again, we would
leave that to the youngsters.
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| Bunk room at albergue |
4 May 2014; 40k; Valenca to Arcade (supposed to be Redondela and 31k)
The Trail
Today we leave Portugal and enter Spain. We got on the
trail around 10am, being the last to leave the alburge as we were in no hurry.
Today was very hot! We stayed mostly on the trail as outlined in the guide book
all the way. It was very good riding and very beautiful. There were hills, but
nothing like we had seen before. We must be getting fit. At least the hills
were small enough that we didn’t need to get off and push the bicycles.
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| Across the bridge to Spain, so much for borders |
The trail travels through small villages and nice
paths. We quickly arrived at Orbenlle and a cafe which the guide book states is
the last chance to get fortified before entering an industrial park. We figured
we had better stop and get fortified. When we arrived our order was taken three
times within a 20 minute period. Forty minutes later we still hadn’t been
served and decided it was time to leave. Meanwhile we watched others arrive, be
served and carry on with their journey. When we started to mount our bicycles,
suddenly our coffees appeared. Not impressed, but we stayed and enjoyed them.
Then, when we went to pay, they tried to charge us for things we didn’t order.
All in all, we would recommend you not stopping here. Not only was the service
terrible (for us), but a little further down the trail there were a number of
local cafes to choose from. Funny how these small things can be annoying. This
was the first time we had such bad service so it took us by surprise.
Note: there is now a new path that
misses this area and the industrial area completely. This is not yet in the
guide book but would be well worth exploring. There are signs up about it so it
seems it may be a good alternative. We have read that the local café owners are removing the signs to this path, so keep a look out for it.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We were hoping to stay in Redondela but everything was
booked up by large groups of walking pilgrims. We ended up cycling another 8 kilometers
to Arcade, staying at Hotel Durate (which is in the guide book). The hotel cost
30€ for a room. Not only did it have a lovely hot shower, it also over-looked
the inlet and that evening we were treated to a lovely sunset. What a pleasant
way to end the day.
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| View over the inlet from hotel room |
That night we ate at the restaurant located next to
the hotel as we didn’t feel like walking into the town. We had a very delicious
meal but outrageously expensive! The cost of the meal caught us completely by
surprise as we were used to meals being very affordable. Perhaps they realised
they had a captured audience who were ravenous!
The Trail
Left the hotel around 8:30am. Today we had a short
easy ride planned, which would make up for the extra kilometres we did yesterday.
Before getting on our bicycles we went for breakfast at a small cafe that was a
few shops from where we were staying and perfectly located as it was on the
pilgrim trail. Gerry had their standard breakfast of freshly squeezed orange
juice, coffee, bread roll, ham and cheese, costing 2€. As Heather was carrying her
gluten-free cereal with her she asked for a cereal bowl, which they didn’t have,
so ended up eating out of a coffee mug. She topped her breakfast up with a
glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (too good to miss!).
We left around 10:30, after a leisurely morning of
chatting with other pilgrims. We decided to stay on the N550 today rather than
follow the route in the guide book which went off road quite a bit. Gerry’s
foot was still hurting him and we wanted to minimise him walking on it as much
as possible. We didn’t know whether we would end up pushing the bikes through
mud or up/down hills if we followed the yellow arrows; we knew if we kept to
the main road we could stay on the bicycles. As well, it was only a short ride
today so the main road would be bearable. We were surprised at the amount of
traffic we encountered, which ended up making the trip not so pleasant. However
the drivers were very patient and gave us, as cyclists, a wide berth. Thus, we
felt safe even though it was quite noisey.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We arrived in Ponteverdra around noon and stayed at
Hotel Madrid for two days. The hotel was easy to find, which was a relief. Once
our bicycles were safely secured, we showered and found a local restaurant
where we had a lovely tortilla for lunch. The tortilla was huge and delicious.
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| Spainish tortillas |
As Gerry was still recovering from his fall he decided
to sit in a cafe and people watch. Heather went on to explore the old town
which is full of interesting ruins. Unfortunately all museums and churches were
closed for siesta between 1 and 4pm. It did feel a little eerie to be one of
only a few people on the street during the day. It was always surprising to see
the streets come alive after 4pm.
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| Old town Ponteverdra |
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| Shell shaped church containing statue of St. James |
7 May 2014; 21.3k; Ponteverdra to Caldas de Reis
The Trail
Left around 9:30am and arrived at Caldas de Reis around
1:30pm, following the trail all the way. The weather was excellent today, with
lots of clouds to keep us cool without being cold. We passed lots of pilgrims on the
trail. We stopped for coffee at San Amaro which is a very tiny village with
three cafes, all doing a great trade from pilgrims. Here we met a group of
pilgrims from Holland.
From here the trail became a gravel path with a high point of 123 metres, and yes, we had to push our bicycles up again as the climb was very steep. Overall, the trail today was great for cycling, even though we had to do a bit of walking and pushing of the bicycles. We rode on tiny gravel roads and paths through fields, small villages and vineyards. We felt really great upon our arrival, not even a bit tired. This meant we were able to enjoy the town as soon as we arrived, not needing to have a nap right away. This was a very pleasant day.
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| Nice riding |
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| Enjoying coffee at San Amaro a popular pilgrim café note the shell design |
From here the trail became a gravel path with a high point of 123 metres, and yes, we had to push our bicycles up again as the climb was very steep. Overall, the trail today was great for cycling, even though we had to do a bit of walking and pushing of the bicycles. We rode on tiny gravel roads and paths through fields, small villages and vineyards. We felt really great upon our arrival, not even a bit tired. This meant we were able to enjoy the town as soon as we arrived, not needing to have a nap right away. This was a very pleasant day.
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We stayed at Hotel O Cruceiro, which is a combination
of hotel and alburgue, although only a few beds were dedicated to the alburgue.
Our bicycles were safely stored in a secure storage room around the side of the
building. It was a nice hotel with good
service and good coffee. As we were hungry we out for a pre-supper meal of
tortillas, which was enough to fortify us until the morning.
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| The trail can get interesting ! Stone steps! |
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| A pilgrims sense of humour |
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| The trail can get narrow |
8-9 May 2014; 18.1k; Caldas de Reis to Padron
The Trail
Left around 9am. We followed the trail in the guide
book today, enjoying a nice easy ride. We had perfect cycling weather. Perfect
cycling trails. Only a few challenges. A well marked trail. Overall a great
day. You can say a lot about a bad day--what challenges you faced or what could
be better--but a great day is just that, a great day :-)
 |
| A new meaning to the word Crossroad |
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| Enjoying a great day |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
Arrived at Hotel Chef Rivera around noon, where we
stored our bicycles in the secure parking under the building. This was a
perfect place from which to spend two days exploring this fascinating town. Of
course, we had to try to Padron peppers. To make a more substantial meal, we
had a tortilla with them. It was nice to be able to try local food that was
gluten-free.
The cover of the Brierley guide book we used had a
picture of a cross emerging from the rocks and a statue looking away into the
distance. The picture was taken here, at Padron, and we had read that it was
worth visiting. So, we climbed the hill to Mount Santiaguino, the location of
the picture. There we found a quiet little field on the hillside above Padron. It
was a long steep climb that was well worth the effort. This was one of the most
peaceful places we have ever encountered and we highly recommend everyone
passing through Padron to spend some time here. For us, the importance of the
site was that it represents an aspect of the life of St James, while Santiago
represents his death. This is where St James preached when he was in Spain,
while Santiago is where his body was brought to after King Herod beheaded him upon
his return to Jerusalem. The site is a small green field on a hillside with a
small chapel overlooking the town and the river. It feels like it has not changed
much over the centuries. For us this was a highlight of the pilgrimage. No
great cathedral. No monuments. No statues. In being less, there was actually
more. There was something we could feel rather than touch or see. We hope this
site stays as it is, unspoiled for centuries to come.
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| Mount Santiaguino |
Also well worth the effort is a visit to the Iglesia
de Santiago Y Padron Cathedral. The Cathedral
hosts the original stone where it is believed the boat that was transporting St
James’ body was tied to. The stone is also believed to be a Roman altar
dedicated to Neptune. You may have to ask the keeper of the Cathedral to put
the light on so you can see the stone clearly. It is worth asking, and you have
come this far so don’t miss it! Note that enroute to the Cathedral we were
hijacked by a cafe owner from across the street. This cafe owner asked us to
sign his book and to take his photo and our photo with him. Look out for him;
he is a happy soul who loves talking to pilgrims and has dozens of books to
document the pilgrims he has talked to over the years.
10-14 May 2014;
24.9k; Padron to Santiago
The Trail
Our last day on the trail and our arrival at Santiago.
We left around 9:30am. Today we again had a very
pleasant ride, easily following the arrows, until we neared Santiago. Entering Santiago was confusing as the
arrows were constantly disappearing. Fortunately the locals recognised us as
pilgrims and directed us to where we needed to go, most of the time without even
asking us if we needed directions.
Mont Agro was suppose to the high point of the day, at
260 meters. However, much to our delight, we found that climb easy. By now,
though, we were wise enough not to celebrate as you never know what lies ahead.
And sure enough, we encountered our hardest climb of the day just over the
bridge at the Rio Sarela. This is the point where you could take one of two
routes into Santiago. At this intersection sat a group of men, busily chatting.
One of the men saw us coming, ran into his home and came back with a basket of
shells, determined to sell us one. The pilgrim shell for Santiago pilgrims. We
figured we made it this far without a shell, we didn’t need one now. We chose
one of the routes, which turned out to be a bit rough, causing our bags to have
a difficult time staying on the bike. However, we eventually made it to the
busy streets of Santiago and the Cathedral.
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| Nearly there, whooppee |
Rather than go straight to our hotel we first went to the
Cathedral and just soaked up the atmosphere. Heather’s entry was one of quiet
solitude, while Gerry was taken by the crowds.
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| Made it at last |
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| Does this mean no more cycling ? |
The Recovery (food and accommodation)
We stayed for four nights at Nest Hotel, just outside
the old section of Santiago. The hotel was recommended by BikeIberia as a bicycle
friendly place where we could store our bicycles until the courier picked them
up to return them to Lisbon. It definitely was bike friendly, as the staff went
out of their way to help us. The hotel was well located, within a short walk to
the old city. We had a great room with a balcony overlooking the main street,
where we were able to hang out our newly washed clothes on our portable
clothesline.
We decided to treat ourselves to a meal at a very nice
restaurant. Gerry had an amazing burger, with chips and all sorts of
accompaniments; Heather had a gluten free pasta that sounded more exciting than
it tasted (at least it was filling).
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| Treating ourselves at a nice restaurant |
The day after arriving we went to the midday pilgrim
mass, arriving at the Cathedral at 10:30am to find the place already packed.
Cardinal Pell from Sydney happened to be there and gave a nice speech about
taking life one step at a time, just like a pilgrim. At the mass there were pilgrims
from all over the world, some coming via foot, some via bicycle, many via car
and tourist bus. After mass we got to see the swinging of the giant incense
burner Botafumeiro, which was originally used to fumigate the sweaty and
disease ridden pilgrims in the medieval times. It probably was useful even
today! The crowd went wild, snapping whatever electronic device they had that
contained a camera, in hope of a good photo.
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| Mass at the Santiago Cathedral |
The Cathedral is amazing, done out in gold, carvings and pillars. Overwhelming. Equally overwhelming were the crowds and this wasn’t even the busy season!
We decided to get a final stamp in our pilgrim
passbook that would be representative of Santiago. To do this we had to go to
the pilgrim tourist office (stamps are not given at the Cathedral). In addition
to our stamp, we were surprised to be issued with a certificate of our journey,
with our name written on the certificate in Latin. As they did know the Latin
name for Heather, her second name was translated instead.
Santiago is definitely a place to people-watch as
pilgrims and other tourists from all over the world arrive. It was fun seeing
the varying reactions of the pilgrims as they made the final few steps of their
pilgrimage to the Cathedral, knowing they too had arrived safely at last. Santiago
is full of history and every church in Santiago is worth a visit, as each is
beautiful in its own way. While there were many tourists and pilgrims here, and
it was May, we got the feeling that summer would find Santiago overcrowded.
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| Outside the Cathedral at Santiago |
We finally packed up our bicycles for transport back
to Lisbon and caught the plane to England for the next part of our journey.
Given we were travelling for another four months, being able to hire our bikes
from BikeIberia and receive such great service made our pilgrimage very
enjoyable.
Summary
In general we found the Portuguese to be very helpful
and friendly and they would go out their way to help a pilgrim. Before we left
on our trip we were warned that Portuguese drivers were really bad and you had
to be really careful if you were cycling. We found this to be the complete
opposite and were pleased at the patience and curtsey of the local drivers.
Gluten-free Eating on the Camino
One of our challenges on
the pilgrimage was for Heather to maintain a gluten-free diet. Prior to leaving Brisbane we downloaded a
Portuguese and a Spanish card that described what Celiac Disease is and the
requirements of a gluten/wheat/oat-free diet. This card was our lifesaver and
we used it everywhere we went. You can down load them from the web site glutenfreepassport.com.
We found that
eating gluten-free in Lisbon was very easy as Portuguese cooking is wholesome,
using fresh ingredients and almost everyone who worked in the restaurants
understood what was needed for a gluten-free diet. We tried to eat at smaller
owner-run places as they were often more knowledgeable about food. Thus, most
restaurants were able to provide gluten-free meals. We also found that the noon
meal was a very large meal which, if we ate, meant we only needed to eat a
smaller meal in the evening. We did this whenever we could. This process worked
really well when we were tourists, but we soon found out that once we began
cycling the Camino it was not possible to eat a big lunch and continue riding.
Shopping for gluten-products in the grocery stores was hit and miss. Some of the larger grocery stores sold a few gluten-free products so we were able to buy these and put together some light meals. We also found that outside Lisbon it was more difficult to find gluten-free products in grocery stores. Gluten-free rice rounds were sometimes available, as was peanut butter.
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| Gluten free supplies on the road |
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| Gluten free standbys
Often the fruit and vegetables in grocery stores
were very sad looking. At this time of year, however, the mandarins were
fabulous everywhere. Potatoes are plentiful but hard to carry. The trick, we
soon learned, was to find out where the local markets were and shop there. Markets had an excellent supply of beautiful
fresh fruit and vegetables and we headed to them whenever we stopped for the
day.
Generally the meal on the
road included gluten-free rice rounds/crackers, some kind of cheese (the small
Edam cheeses travelled well given they were individually wrapped), cucumber,
Philly cream cheese or peanut butter with bananas (when we were lucky to find
one that was ripe but not mushy). A mandarin was always a nice snack.
We generally stayed at places that included breakfast,
which consisted of bread, ham and cheese. This was great for Gerry but not
Heather. Thus, our own supplies came in handy for breakfast, although often the
cheese that came with breakfast was gluten-free. Note that the price for the
accommodation was the same whether or not you ate the breakfast, but this
didn’t bother us as we were always happy to have a nice bed and a hot shower at
the end of the day.
Our decision to cycle the Camino rather than walk
meant we needed cycling clothes as well as travel clothes. To minimise our
luggage as much as possible, Heather invested in hiking pants that zipped off
at the leg, changing into shorts. She used these to cycle in, wearing her
cycling underpants for added comfort. In this way, after we finished the
pilgrimage, her pants-come-shorts would be good to wear for the rest of our
journey. Gerry chose to take special cycling shorts to cycle in.
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Gerry's Gear
Portugal Camino
Pack List - April 2014
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Clothes
|
Gear
|
Must
Have
| ||||
2
|
Bras
– light weight
|
1
|
Cloths
line & 10 pegs
|
1
|
utensils,
just in case
| |
3
|
Travel
undies
|
1
|
Wash
cloth
|
1
|
Small
backpack (each)
| |
2
|
Merino
polo tops - short sleeves
|
1
|
Travel
towel
|
1
|
Tea
towel
| |
1
|
Merino
turtleneck - long sleeves
|
1
|
Toiletries
| |||
1
|
Merino
tee shirt - short sleeve
|
1
|
Toilet
paper
| |||
1
|
Travel
shirt – long sleeves
|
1
|
Glasses,
cleaner and cloth
|
1
|
notebook
| |
1
|
Fleece
top - long sleeves
|
1
|
Hand
cleaner
|
2
|
biros
| |
1
|
Merino
undershirt
|
1
|
camera
& batteries & charger
|
1
|
document
folder
| |
2
|
Socks
(less if not cycling/hiking)
|
1
|
sunscreen
|
Tickets
& receipts
| ||
2-H
|
Pants
zip into shorts
|
1
|
Lip
balm, H
|
1
|
Passport
| |
2-G
|
Shorts
|
1
|
blow
up hanger
|
1
|
Memory
stick, with doc copies
| |
1
|
PJs
|
1
|
Lightweight
Sleeping bag
|
1
|
head
lights or torch's
| |
3/4
|
Hankies
|
1
|
Sleeping
sheet
|
1
|
Cash
Card
| |
1
|
Down
vest
|
1
|
Debit
card & attached account
| |||
1
|
Water
proof cap/beanie
|
1
|
Camino
Guide & Portugal Map
| |||
1
|
Raincoat
|
1
|
Credential,
1 each
|
1
|
Money
belt & travel wallet
| |
1
|
Walking
shoes
|
2
|
Portuguese
language book
| |||
1
|
Sandals
and\or thongs
|
1
|
Drivers
licence & IDL, 1 each
| |||
1 Long Pants - G
|
1
|
Travel
insurance document
| ||||
Cycling Clothes
|
First
Aid kit, small
| |||||
1
|
Cycling
underpants
|
1
|
iPad
mini
|
Spacy
| ||
2
|
Cycling
shorts
|
2
|
iPhones
|
Wound
dressing
| ||
1
|
Cycling
wind vest
|
Travel
charges & cables
|
Elastic
bandage
| |||
1
|
Cycling
top - long sleeves
|
Sport
tape
| ||||
1
|
Neck
cover
|
1
|
Large
backpack
|
Antiseptic
cream
| ||
2
|
Cycling
gloves - short & long
|
1
|
Small
day packs
|
Re-sus
mask
| ||
1
|
Cycling
shoes
|
1
|
Backpack
rain cover
| |||
Wear
on plane
|
Carry on plane
| |||||
Lisbon sights
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| Christ the King Monument, looks like the one in Rio only smaller |
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| Mall in Lisbon |
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| One of the many city squares |
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| Café in a city square |
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| Subdued entrance to very expensive hotel |
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| Monument to the Discoveries |
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| Belem Tower |
On the Trail
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| Bikeways were always welcome |
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| Who is lost, there it is ahead ! |
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| Up we go. |
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| Through vineyards |
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| OK I need a break ! |
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| A great day |
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| Entrance to a disused Quinta (Manor house) |
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| Gravel Road |
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| Lots of cobbled roads, bumpy even with suspension |
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| Great views |
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| Corn storage or Espigueiros Common in rural Portugal |
Australian friends of the CaminoAustralian Friends of the Camino a web site for all things Camino
http://www.pilgrimsinsydney.org/
Pilgrims in Sydney
