Day Three: Barcelinhos to Lugar do Congo

Today was a very good day! We woke up around six to get ready, pack up, and head down to breakfast (this hostel provided breakfast ...) and were met with a smorgasbord of options: fruits and breads and pastries and jams and juices and coffee and sausage and cheese and eggs .... yum, yum, yum. We ate and then headed outside -- where it was raining 😣 No big deal: we put in our rain gear and started our journey. Spanish words of the day: llueve (rain), charco (puddle), and plato (duck -- because ducks like rain). 

We started out exiting Barcelinhos via bridge into Barcelos; the benefit of walking through big cities so early in the morning is that the streets aren't full of cars or people yet, so it is much easier to spot the yellow arrows. Also: CJ and I decided that's why I'm so good at the spot it game -- I had a month of practice playing a game of real life spot it last Camino! After about an hour and a half of walking, we came to a cafe where we ordered cafe con leche to fight off the chill as well as some caramelas de fruta -- my favorite non chocolate Spanish (and apparently Portuguese) candy. Also having breakfast at the cafe were the Australian couple: Bernie and his wife. It turns out Bernie has been a school teacher in a catholic school for thirty seven years teaching history; though he says he might just stay on the Camino and not go back. haha He and his wife completed the Camino Frances two years ago. 

We increased our elevation today (another phrase for "walked straight up hill"), but the trails were more little town and forest and less cobblestone, which was a welcome change to our feet. I enjoy the peace that comes with walking in a serene setting -- of enjoying the blooming flowers and looming mountains and trickling streams, even the occasional stare from the cows and sheep and greeting from Camino dogs. I think of how strong the little old ladies are in these mountain towns, walking with their carts to gather groceries and working in their gardens; pilgrims huff and puff up the streets of their town, and they just smile from under their heads of silver hair. I hope I am as strong when I am as old -- strong mind and body and spirit. 

After another stretch of walking we came to a cafe for lunch -- sandwiches with ham and cheese. I know you're thinking "of all the things to eat you have a ham and cheese sandwich"? BUT the hand and cheese are not quite the same as at home and it is placed on a freshly baked baguette; it really isn't the same at all. And after lunch we continues to walk. 

And walk. 

And walk. 

Until we finally arrived at Casa de Ferdenand, our destination for th night. Except their weren't any beds left. And the next albergue was over fifteen kilometers away. And why are the accommodations on this route so few and far between?! I think one of the biggest differences between the Camino Frances and the Caminho Portuguese are the albergues (or lack there of); and even when you do stumble upon an albergue, it sleeps six or ten; maybe twenty if you are lucky. Where is everyone else supposed to stay?! When I saw in the guide book that there were few albergues with few beds, I thought the route mustn't have many pilgrims. Wrong. It's like playing a mountainside game of musical chairs, and if you don't have a bed when it's time for sleeping, then you must keep waking. So keep walking we did -- but we landed at Casa Sagres, a private hostel run by a really sweet Italian woman. The place is really clean and well kept; only three single beds and a bunk bed in the room with a bathroom, and then in a separate room a kitchen with dining room table and washer / dryer. Also staying here tonight are two Italian women -- they speak no English, we speak no Italian ... so things are going well. haha Everyone gestures to communicate (I think my years playing charades with intubated patients gives me an edge) and smiles enthusiastically when we guess what the other had to say. After we settled in and took a nap and washed our clothes, we ventured to the only restaurant in the tiny town --we could have made dinner in the kitchen, but the grocery store had only raw meats, carrots, peppers, and bananas (it would have been like playing Portuguese Chopped). We ordered the pilgrim menu, which included soup, bread, drink, and  "plate of the day" -- our choices for said platen included pork, turkey, tuna, and something that the girl described as "a mix of three birds". Now I can only think of two birds I eat on a regular basis, so what the third one would be is anyone's guess (although I'm just throwing it out there that parakeet in Australian means "tasty bird"); but that's what we orders -- and it was actually really good! 

After dinner we went to the church; today is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima -- all along the Camino route are blue arrows showing the pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal; we passed where the route diverged today. Pilgrims travel to Fatima as well as Santiago. The lady at the albergue told us that they would be saying the rosary in the church tonight. Well maybe they did, but I must say: it was the strangest service / rosary saying that I've ever been to. Ever. They did say decades of Hail Mary's ... but only three. They never said an Our Father. They also said another Mary prayer in decades. And in between decades of prayers we sang the Ave Maria. And then, as if things weren't strange enough, they there in a communion service for good measure -- no concentration, just all of a sudden a priest (who didn't even bother to take off his jacket) appeared, took out the concentrated hosts, and everyone lined up. So so so strange. BUT we did get to pray inside the church tonight, which was wonderful. 

And now I'm laying on my top bunk, ready for some sleep. Here are a few photos from today: 

The path might be on an incline, but at least it's dirt!! 

Someone got his Camino shell today!! The shell is the symbol of the Pilgrim: many paths, one destination. Now CJ has one on his pack, too! 

So many pretty flowers today!! Also: those lilies and birds of paradise flowers just grow WILD around here. As in we pay ten dollars a flower and I could have free bouquets because they grow along the sides of the roads. Sheesh. 

 A large percentage of the homes (like this one here) have tiles on the exterior; of course I think this is fabulous and am trying to figure out how to incorporate this into my future home ...

Breads and pastries and cakes -- oh my!

A little break ❤️

Just a little bridge chillin in the countryside ... 

Seventy four kilometers down, one hundred seventy one to go ... 

Today while walking through the woods we heard choral music playing, like at a church. At first it was faint, the the further we walked the louder it grew until it was very loud and I was dying to know where it was coming from -- and then it just stopped. It was maddening. And we had no idea where it came from or what it was. (Another pilgrim told us later that it was a ceremony for our lady of Fatima.) 

Dinner !!! 

I think our feet look pretty good! 

The site of the worlds strangest rosary ... 

And our beds for tonight. 

Thanks for all your prayers -- they are surely helping. I had a lot of time to pray on my journey today; and you are all in my prayers. 

Bom Caminho.