Day 7 - Walking to Ponte de Lima

It was a cold, damp night at the Estabulo de Valhinas and we slept poorly. There was no breakfast available in the morning, so we left early, quietly closing the gate behind us.

A light morning mist hovered over the newly planted fields providing an ethereal look to the local landscape.

We somehow missed the only cafe that served coffee in the little village. Woe was us! We were, however, pretty psyched about getting to Ponte de Lima, so we managed to contain our despair. We’d been on the Camino for a week and were looking forward to a day off.

The day warmed and the sun came out which immediately improved our attitudes. We heard some nearby baaing and stopped momentarily to let some sheep pass on the path.

Vineyards are everywhere in Portugal. We walked under a canopy through a tunnel of grapevines which seemed absolutely lovely. David pointed out the tiny grape clusters that were just beginning to form.

We seemed to have walked forever. We were hungry and jonesing for our galao and pastéis de nata when we began seeing signs for O Farinheiro Pasteleria… only 5km (3 miles) away. These encouraging signs… “Keep those feet moving!”, “Don’t give up now!”, “You can do it!” … were strategically located about a kilometer apart and we began looking for them. (Great marketing!!) When we finally reached the main road, we saw another pilgrim we knew at a different cafe, but we begged off. We wanted O Farinheiro and we finally found it.

We sat down for our morning treats and I overheard two American voices at a nearby table and couldn’t help but say hello and ask all the usual questions… where r u from? Are you walking the Camino? Turns out, this American couple had lived in Portugal for four years on the outskirts of Ponte de Lima, right on the Camino. We chatted a bit and they left.

We finished up and got back on the path. A mile or so later, we saw them chatting with neighbors. They called us over, asked us into their beautiful house for coffee and just like that, we had new friends, John and Pam, in Ponte de Lima. We chatted about living in Portugal, things to see in Ponte, about being ex-pats, history of the area, and everything in between.

John had mentioned we should be on the lookout for a large mural of (Queen) Dona Teresa who was historically instrumental in granting Ponte de Lima its royal charter in 1125, making it the oldest town in Portugal. This was especially interesting because the charter was granted three years before Portugal itself actually became an independent country in 1128.

Nearby was the Capela de S.Tiago. It took us a minute or two to figure out that S. Tiago was Santiago, touted as the only chapel on the Camino that is always open. We stamped our credentials, donated a euro and moved on.

There are chapels and shrines and statues all along the path and their frequency increased as we neared Ponte de Lima, a major stopping point for pilgrims. Below, pilgrims leave tokens to St. James along the path.

Pilgrims enter the town along the Avenida dos Plátanos, a pedestrian mall lined with majestic plane trees originally planted in 1901. It’s incredibly beautiful to walk under these stately trees, the Rio Lima flowing below the path.

The ‘new’ bridge came into view first.

And then the old bridge appeared… a stunning mix of 1st century Roman and medieval construction and design.

The canopy of plane trees opens and the town reveals itself before us.

We made our way through the pilgrims, visitors and locals and crossed the bridge. How many other tired feet have crossed this bridge? How many others have looked down at the flowing waters of the Rio Lima? We ask ourselves these same questions over and over… ten thousand, hundreds of thousands, millions? Never an answer. This is just so awesome!

We found our ‘apartamento’ for the next two nights about a half mile up the road in a private home that accommodates pilgrims. Up the stairs… always up steep stairs at the end of a long day… and into a pleasant bedroom room, a mini-kitchen and bathroom that allowed us to step into the shower with sucking in our stomachs. The host spoke no English, but we used Google Translate to get salient points across. We never saw her again. We just left the key in the mailbox as instructed when we left.

We joined our new friends, Pam and John and about twenty other ex-pats for a quick drink at Margem, then begged off to find some dinner. There’s no dearth of restaurants and cafes in Ponte de Lima. We chose the lovely Patiscas located on the return route to our room and ordered ‘Bacalhau com Broa’ and a bottle of vinho verde. Bacalhau com Broa is a traditional Portuguese meal featuring baked salt cod (bacalhau) topped with a light crust of crushed cornbread (broa), olive oil, garlic, and herbs, served with potatoes and fresh veggies. The portions were huge as is usually the case in Portugal and we were hungry. It was wonderful. We waddled back to our room, tired and full.

Next time, join us as we explore Ponte de Lima and learn more about the oldest town in Portugal.