To Santiago de Compostela: 249.1 km
Walked today: 11.7 km
Total walked: 397.8
Another good night of sleep. The feet are in much better shape. I am afraid I am getting used to the easy life of the tourist but I am ready to restart the pilgrimage.
Brenda found a laundromat so the first order of the day was to wash. Washing machines are a luxury on the Camino and since we have only one change of clothes the daily wash is a must.
We visited Porto's market which is very similar to the markets we know in Mexico city. They have a large variety of fruits here but the best thing for me is the cherries, there are all kinds of them everywhere. We got some fruit for tomorrow and we got back to the hotel to leave our loot.
Out again we had planned to walk to the river and visit some of the wineries that are located there. But we took our time, we stopped at the Igreja dos Congregados It was so peaceful in there that we found a spot in front of Our Lady of Sorrows and prayed our rosary.
I could not resist one more stop at the train station to admire the tiles and take more pictures. I am fascinated by the pictures of knights and battles.
Then down to the river Duero shore, we crosses over the
Dom Luís I bridge. It is a metal arch bridge that spans the Douro Riverbetween the cities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. At the time of construction its span of 172 m was the longest of its type in
the world. The construction was begun in 1881 and the bridge opened on 31 October 1886. Total length of the bridge is 385.25 m. This is very interesting for an old engineer like me.
The views of Porto are amazing from the other side of the river. Pretty soon we found a winery, Calem Cave. We were informed that the next tour in English was two hours away and the Spanish was even later. We must have looked disappointed because then the receptionist said she was expecting a group from the US and that she would ask for permission to include us. Of course we were accepted. The people were nice and we learned that Porto wine was invented because in the old daus, the Portuguese were selling wine to England but with the boat trip it would go bad and arrive as vinager. So they started adding another wine with higher alcohol content during the process. They call this a brandy (but it is not what we know as brandy). This would stop the fermentation and keep more sugar in the wine and that is how the porto wine was invented. There is a lot more to it, different kinds, different grapes. The important thing is that it is sweet and as a consequence I like it.
By then we were a bit hungry so to an Italian restaurant (yes, I know we are in Portugal but I like my pasta). Then walk back but instead of walking up the very steep hill to town we took the funicular. We met there a very happy young Korean girl, Joy, and had a nice chat.
Back uptown, we went for a sangria in the plaza nearby where we met Clare from Ireland (she is very nice), while we were with her the teens from NY came by to say hi and when we were getting ready to leave our friend Klemens from Germany arrived. Pilgrim style hugs and kisses all around and good byes though I expect that we will see all of them again in el Camino
And now, while we get ready for bed, we ask Our Lady of Sorrows to pray for us and help us in el Camino.
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