In Porto - Day 1 On the Camino
/We were up early in anticipation of arriving in Porto and walking our first steps on the Camino. The Whitbys made the 50 km (30 mile) drive to drop us off at the Flix bus station in Coimbra. Lots of hugs and our first wish for a ‘Buen Camino’, and we boarded our bus for the 1-1/2 hour trip to Porto. We made our way through the maze of the huge TIC bus/train station in Porto and David ordered an Uber on his phone (isn’t that amazing?) and within minutes, we were heading to our hotel downtown.
It was too early to check in to our hotel, so we registered, left off our packs and headed on foot to Sé do Porto (Porto Cathedral) where our Camino would begin. The weather so far has been superb. Blue skies and warm temps in the 70s. We couldn’t have asked for better. We considered this an auspicious start.
The Sé do Porto sits regally atop a steep hill. The cobblestone street climb was a bit strenuous and we noticed that we weren’t the only ones to stop en route to catch our breaths. It was very crowded on the cathedral terrace… pedestrians, bicyclists, tourists from all over the world, even a singer crooning Stevie Wonder tunes.
We joined the queue waiting to enter the Sé. The Italian lady in line behind us sang along with Stevie Wonder. We paid our €4 each to enter the cathedral and asked for a stamp on our pilgrim ‘credencial’ signifying the beginning point for our Camino. The stamp was unceremoniously given. We were now official pilgrims walking the Camino.
We explored the Cathedral, marveling at its grandeur, walking its arched aisles adorned in iconic Portuguese azulejo tiles, and peeking into side altars and chapels dedicated to various saints and martyrs. We crossed the transept for photos of the beautiful, golden, grand-to-excess, main altar. I ducked into a pew to say a quick prayer for a friend, forgetting just how hard those wooden kneelers were on my knees.
After exploring the Cathedral, we found the first Camino marker which, of course, begged a photo. Then it was time to find some lunch.
The statue of Vímara Peres, a knight in armor, was hard to miss. He looked so stately and dignified atop his steed. A 9th-century Galician nobleman and military leader, Peres was charged by King Alfonso III to reconquer the region from the Moors which he did. Today, Peres is considered a major national figure instrumental in the founding of Portugal as a state and country. The statue was designed in 1968 by Barata Feio.
We threaded our way through the crowds back down the hill and sought out a place for lunch. We wanted something fairly quick since we were hoping to walk at least a couple of miles on the Camino before day’s end.
One small restaurant offered a menu with photos. ’Moelinhas’ … described in English as ‘chicken in a savory sauce served with bread’ sounded great. We ordered it along with a Super Bock beer (fino… small, as Michael had suggested). The stew looked good when it arrived, but after a bite or two we knew this was not chicken tenders as we’d expected… tough and gristly. Google Translate solved the mystery. We were eating chicken gizzards. Hmmm! The bread was quite good as was the beer.
A note… my very basic Portuguese, the fact that many people here speak English, and that most signs are in both Portuguese and English (even at the Multibanco/ATM) made getting around fairly easy. Catherine mentioned that 80% of Portuguese words were the same as Spanish (though some may be pronounced differently) which made my attempts at speaking less tenuous. It didn’t work with gizzards, unfortunately, but otherwise we did quite well.
With beer and bread in our bellies, we hit the trail heading towards Vilar de Pinheiro, finding the first Camino marker, then losing our way, then finding the markers again with the help of the Wise Pilgrim app that David had downloaded. We were still in the heart of the city when we stopped at the Igreja do Carmo.
We asked at the entrance for a stamp for our credenicales and the attendant there showed us the way to the gift shop. Susanna gladly stamped our ‘pilgrim passports’ and wished us a Buen Camino. As we were leaving, we noticed the scallop shells on sale, symbols of the Camino. We returned to purchase them and Susanna reminded us that pilgrims do NOT purchase shells for themselves, but rather for others. I promptly bought one for David and he bought one for me… both gifts sealed with a kiss which briefly entertained all the visitors in the shop. We thanked Susanna and made a quick exit, continuing on our way. We walked about three miles following the yellow Camino arrows, found a Pingo Doce supermarket for some bread, cheese and tuna which would suffice as an in-room picnic dinner, then Ubered back to the hotel.
The Peninsular Hotel has a big sign above a tiny little entrance door. The hotel must have been quite grand at one time with beautiful azulejo tiled walls depicting historical and religious scenes, a marble staircase, open lounge areas, and a grand center atrium rising four levels.
Our room could be best described as a postage stamp size. No complaints really… it was clean and basic and we just needed a place to sleep and get organized. It was, however, definitely tiny with barely room to walk between the end of the double bed and the wall. We managed just fine and even got our laundry done.
Tomorrow, we begin the Camino in earnest. Join us. Don’t worry about blisters yet. We’ve got good shoes, Darn Tough socks and lots of band-aids!
Bom Caminho!