Day 32 - In Valença and Tui

To Santiago de Compostela: still l117 km
Walked today: 16 km
Total walked: 563 km

España!!!
We made it to Spain, now is only 117 km to Santiago de Compostela.

One of the first things I learned today is that the town is called Tui in Portuguese or Galician but it is Tuy end Castilian (Spanish) and the river is Minho end Portugal but it is Miño in Spain.

Today is a day of rest for us, we woke up late.  It was already  7 am when we finally woke up.  Another luxury, usually we are too early for the free breakfast at the hostels but today we actually sat down at a table and had hot beverages.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon walking in the Fortaleza, the old town of Valença so the plan for today was to walk the 3 km to Tui and spend the day there

We walked on the avenue around la Fortaleza and arrived to the old bridge.  We were told it was built by Eiffel, the same man from the tower in Paris and the bridge in Porto.

Borders are almost non existent in Europe but there were policemen just waving the cars through at the Spanish end of the bridge.

We followed the Camino to the cathedral, la Catedral de Santa Maria. We entered and went straight to the chapel of the Holy Sacrament. We were alone on this magnificent mediaeval and holy place.  The perfect place for our rosary in front of Our Lord.  We were halfway through our prayers when a pilgrim came in. She asked if she could join and she prayed the rest of the rosary with us.

Later we talk for a bit, her name is Marian and she's from England. She told us that some years ago she rode her bike into Santiago with her husband and saw the pilgrims arriving. Later they tead a book "the field of stars" they decided they were going to come back and walk the Camino but a few months later he died. She came back to walk el Camino by herself and brought the ashes of her husband to spread as she walked.  Just like in the movie "the way".  I almost dropped a tear at that moment.

After the chapel we did the tourist visit to the cathedral.  It is amazing, no comparison to any of the cathedrals we've visited on this trip.

The chapel of Santiago has this picture of Santiago Matamoros. The story is that in the middle ages when the moors invaded Spain. A Christian king leading his army in Clavijo, was getting ready for battle. The moors had the advantage.  The king prayed to Santiago asking for help. The next day the battle started in favour of the moors and when it looked like the battle was lost, Santiago appeared riding a white horse and led the Christians to victory.  Perhaps this is the reason why Santiago is the patron saint of Spain.  Santiago Matamoros, Santiago the moor slayer.

 

The cathedral also has a lookout with a view of the river and Valença. The lookout is in a garden out from the cloister

When we walked around the cloister we saw women in a side room chopping leaves and evergreens.  They explained that today is the feast of Corpus Christi and that they will celebrate this weekend.  Part of the tradition is to make pictures in the floor with flowers and leaves and they are getting ready.  They told us we should be able to see this pictures this weekend as we walk through the villages and towns of this region.

Then we went to the roof and to see the Tower of the cathedral.  While we were out in the tower I asked a lady to take a picture of Brenda and me.

Suddenly she asked, were you with a group having dinner in the Fortaleza last night? 

I said ooops I am sorry because we had been very noisy, telling stories and laughing.

She said it was OK, they usually end alone in restaurants and then she started to tells us back our stories from last night. Including stories of blisters and feet.

After the cathedral we had lunch and went to get a sim card with a Spanish telephone number. 

We had been told that we could attend mass at the Convent of the Doroteas at 6:45 pm. So we had some time to kill.  We were having an ice cream when we saw of friend Clemens, the 78 year old German pilgrim.  It was another nice reunion.  We made a date for dinner for Brenda's birthday a few days and a few kilometres from here.

Then to mass we went.  We had a surprise when we read a plate outside the convent.  Sor Maria Lucia de Jesus took her habits in this convent and resided there for 17 years.  She was Lucia of Fatima.  One of the sheppard children who saw and talked to Our Lady in Fatima.  We attended mass with the nuns in the same chapel where Lucia (soon to be blessed Lucia) attended mass every day for many years. Wow!

We finished the day with the 3 kilometre walk back to Valença in Portugal.  Tomorrow we walk into Spain.

Today we ask Saint Telmo (San Pedro Gonzalez), patron saint of Tui and of sailors to pray for us and for all our priests, monks and nuns who have dedicated their lives to the service of Our Lord.