Camino Português Day 8 - Rubiães to Tui

I had another Camino message that I took a photo of yesterday, but my French isn’t good enough to be confident of its meaning, and Google translate was coming up with some nonsense. So the obvious person to ask was my friend Sophie, who has just been honing her French whilst walking the Via Francigena. She came back to me with a translation and the backstory of how Saint-Exupéry was writing about his survival after crashing in the desert. The bit I loved from the translation is ‘to survive you must walk, walk’.  I don’t feel I need walking to survive any more, but I do feel I am more me when I am walking.

I started the day early again, after a poor night because of the heat. I had another croissant from two days ago, even staler now, and an accidental peppermint tea that I fortunately spotted before I put milk in it. I then watched with interest as the South Korean man who was in the hostel kitchen with me squeezed the juice of a whole lemon on to his cereal and milk.

Feeling the cool air outside was great, I admired the poppies in the field, a bridge that the feet of ages had worn down and some magnificent horned cows, together with a river complex with the drainage canal falling down into the main waterway.

I caught up with my American friends Bill and Trinda who I saw a few times today, and then at the first cafe stop I talked to Shavon & Tasha (who had been in our group for dinner last night) at the cafe at the top of the hill, Tasha sounds so unnervingly like our daughter Tasha’s friend Helen I thought they must be related. They very kindly had a look at my back for me, as the mirror had led me to think that I had a sore from my rucksack. The bit I showed them seemed ok, but sadly when I got to my base tonight I could do some gymnastics to see it in the mirror, there’s definitely a nasty patch. Hopefully it will cope for another week, there’s little chance that I could keep any sort of dressing on my skin whilst it’s so hot.

Then Lizzie joined me for a committed breakfast of a nata and a chocolate croissant. We commiserated about how sad we were going to be in leaving Portugal behind today. Because she did the Fisherman’s trail before this, she will have been in Portugal for a month. She wants to say farewell to the country by staying one more night and aims to go into Spain tomorrow having eaten as many pastel de nata as she can. We  agreed. Pastel at every cafe today.

Then followed a lovely woodland section which was slightly tricky underfoot, this became a very mindful activity. Though I also stopped to make a note of how mindful it was… I have to take notes as I walk for this blog, as well as photos, so that the day doesn’t blur into one lovely experience, but there are times when it is good to not have my phone out at all.

Out of the woods to have a wide vista open up with mountains in the distance. There haven’t been big views on this walk so far, so this was a lovely surprise.

Bill and I talked about whether we could live here, or run an albergue. We agreed it was a lot of relentless work, you’ve got to have a calling, I think. And walking the Camino and having those adventures would be quite different to changing bedding for 30 people every day. I’ll miss the cheerful Bom Días and Bom Caminos from passersby or out of windows though. I wonder whether it will be the same in Spain.

Then followed a peaceful section, walking on my own, passing a sign saying I’m half way, and then a surprising encounter with a Russian woman doing a hard sell for the pies she was selling, I didn’t need one at 9.30, but thought I’d support her by buying a drink. It was a disappointingly   warm and grubby can. But the sugar gave me a boost.

I’ve been feeling a bit underpowered this morning, tired after my bad night, with a slightly niggly foot, and although I could appreciate the more open landscape with gorse and vistas lining the path, it was feeling like an effort.

So it was brilliant to see Lizzie coming up behind me, as we talked together for at least an hour about how the walking affects us, about what we learn from walking,  how we have learnt let go of anxieties, or at least let them walk alongside us. And about how we will eventually reintegrate into our real lives.  And all of this conversation was in her second language. She said ‘I suppose that life is the Camino, and the Camino is life’. That can be my message for today. She also recommended a poem by

Rumí - The Alburgue, which I will be looking up.

As we walked on together, we caught up with Bill approaching Valença, the last town in Portugal. Yesterday’s hill walking dream team were reunited, and we celebrated by having a strong second breakfast. Whilst the others had cakes and coffee I had a tortilla with an excellent Portuguese drink filled with electrolytes, and could feel the benefit of both, whilst also feeling a real sense of something coming to an end. I was walking on to Tui, they were staying in Valença, and who knows if our paths will cross again.

We said goodbye, and I thought about what we had also discussed about acceptance, that part of this is learning to let go of people too. You make very strong connections, but you know they are temporary.

Although it was warm, it was nothing like the heat of yesterday, and so I had the energy to go and look at the ancient bit of Valença. It is a hill fort, built to protect Portugal against the Spanish and French invaders, and there’s still a sense of the shape of the old fort. It’s famous for linen and towels. Not a lot of room for them in my rucksack sadly.

And then it was the bridge over the river into Spain. As a Brit, the lack of fanfare in crossing from one country is quite noticeable.

As I was approaching the opposing Spanish hill fort of Tui, I met Erin, a young woman from NYC. She is one of the many pilgrims who are going to start their Camino here. To get a Compostela, the certificate of completion, you have to have walked at least 100 km to Santiago, and that’s where Tui is. Thus there are a lot of new walkers excitedly getting ready to start their journey tomorrow. Erin and I went to the Cathedral to get our Credencials stamped, and we talked about the experience I had had so far. it felt interesting to be an old hand.

Whilst waiting to check in to my accommodation, I wandered round Tui old town. It is spectacular, an ancient hill town with winding streets and stone walls.

And Spanish cooking now. I stumbled into the Caballo Furado o Vello restaurant simply because it looked like there were locals in there. It was a find, with interesting food well cooked at a very good price. And although I would have been content eating on my own, I was very happy that within minutes the couple on the next table had struck up a conversation with me. Keith and Lorraine are Gibraltarians, and they have also walked from Porto, but had stopped for a rest day today.  What lovely people. I learnt a lot about aspects of life on the Rock that I hadn’t thought about, and we shared experiences of our walks so far. I really hope I meet them again tomorrow.

My hotel (for that is what it is, instead of a hostel - though at the same price) is amazing, built round one of the towers that made up the city wall. The views were extraordinary, over the town towards the river. And it’s directly on the Camino, very easy for tomorrow. My ice cream followers will be pleased to know that I found a gelataria, and so I had a raspberry cheesecake ice cream whilst looking at the view.

I also popped into the cathedral again - I don’t know enough about church architecture, but it seems to be needing extra supporting braces.

The evening was spent socialising with friends in the square, and then I came back to sit in the sunshine in the hotel garden in the tower. There I met two new guests, Eimer and Sean, being shown round by the manager Maria. They asked me if I’ve had a good time so far. It’s so great to be able to reply ‘it’s been brilliant’.

Stats

Distance travelled - 12.5 miles/20 km

Total ascent - 1092 feet/ 333m

Local tipple - Estrella beer with some crisps for dinner, there’s been plenty of calories today!