El Camino Portugues: Day 29 - To Ponte de Lima

To Santiago de Compostela: 154 km

Walked Today: 22.5 km

Total walked: 496 km

The sun was coming up when we left Fernanda's place. She had given us some fruit for our breakfast the night before. The day was cooler than yesterday. We started at good pace, the path and the surroundings more beautiful.

We walked up a hill and suddenly I realized I had not seen a yellow arrow for a while so after some hesitation we walked back. We saw in the distance a pilgrim, Natalia turning off. We had missed a turn, we lost 45 minutes a climbed a hill for nothing. It is not the first time and likely not the last.

After an hour we saw a cafe so we stopped for Brenda's coffee and my cha (tea) of camomila.

At around 10 am we found a little corner by a creek, it had a cover of trees providing shade and surrounded by bushes with a stone bench. The perfect place for our morning rosary. We were half way through it when Antje came out of a Quinta, climbing down a fence to get to us. When she saw we were praying she went to have a cigarette while we finished. It was so nice to see her and talk to her. Then, Gerhardt and Ferdinand arrived so we talked for a while, the guys left and we followed them soon after.

Donna had stayed also at Fernanda'slast night and she caught up with us too. I think today I was walking slower. My feet were sore And I was talking breaks often. The Portuguese love cobblestone and there are many roads with them. They are very hard on the feet.

We arrived to Ponte de Lima shortly after noon. It was a short walk. Only around 15 km. We found ourselves walking ng into a gigantic market. They have this street market (exactly like a Mexican tianguis) every two weeks. They sell anything you may want, it is a gigantic Walmart by the river.

We found our Pension Sao Joao, we got a basic room with our own in suit bathroom. They also offered to wash our clothing s for free. Brenda was very happy about it since she is the one that takes care of the laundry for us. Am I a lucky guy or what.

We found an outdoor restaurant just in front of the pension so we had a tuna salad for lunch. It was excellent. Natalia, Mel and Maria went by so we agreed to get together for dinner. Then Wonder woman and I went back to our room and slept all afternoon.

We walked up just in time for mass. The church is Romanesque and looks very severe from the outside but is beautiful weather inside. The religious art is amazing. After mass we went to the sacristy to get our pilgrim credentials stamped and the priest also gave us a blessing.

Then to dinner with our friends. Natalia had found restaurant, we had dinner with LeeRay and Annemarie, Yungben from Korea, Maria from Germany and Natalia.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by the fountain. There is public WiFi there (today we don't have it in our room) and surprise! We see our old friend Clements from Germany. We agreed that we are going to try to stay in the same place in Tui.

And now it is bed time so we ask our holy mother Mary to remember us, protect us and pray for us. Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners.