Day 15: Rest Day in Tui & Valença

12.7k👣 16Z🧡

We did need to rest, and both slept to 10:30!
When we finally got moving, we had a bite of bananas, yogurt, and croissant for breakfast
Then we walked to the Forteleza de Valença, BACK across the Miño/Minho River into Portugal
Along the way, we saw where an ancient theater had space in a plaza for seating on stones and for performing
We took our first "we're in España" photos by the welcome sign and enjoyed the walk on a protected walkway on the small bridge over the wide Rio Miño
Headed up up up to the Forteleza constructed in the 12th century and added to in the 16th & 17th centuries
Got to see a local family coming out of Mass in all their finery with a little baby in white - a baptism!!
Lots of tourist shops with lots of tourists
Lunch at a cafe - tuna sandwiches on thick brown bread - yum - and a pastel de nata. My last for the trip? 😢😢
Remembered we hadn't paid for lunch, so we raced the 4 blocks back apologizing profusely 😅. Told the café owner about the expression "being out to lunch," which we certainly were! She said some people leave without paying on purpose !!! so I paid a bit more to cover some of their loss the next time that happens.😅
We were heading down, following the yellow arrows when we met Josephine from New Zealand, who was having trouble finding her way down the Camino, so we traveled together a bit.
That is, until we met Theresa from Porto, who was there on a day trip with her family. She initiated the conversation, asking (in Portuguese) if we were on our way to Santiago. It was a very lighthearted conversation - what amazed me is that she seemed to just expect that I would carry on in Portuguese even after she learned we were from the States.
We came back across the bridge, following the Camino arrows, so we got to walk a bit of what we missed yesterday
Visited the Cathedral in Tui - basically Romanesque by its structure, but all the ornamentation was very Baroque - not my fave. The museum room had lots of silver pieces (chalices, bishops' staffs, and such). The cloister was beautiful. It had the most magnificent chart of history that was fun to take time with.
Afterwards, we headed back to the apartment in the light rain, where we caught up with Abby & Eric
I started this entry, but ended up taking a short nap. Such a cozy space!!
We watched the VP debate for the upcoming election on YouTube. I was a little shocked when the commercials came on and they were in Spanish- Oh, right! We're not in the US!
Packed up for tomorrow and headed to bed.
Tomorrow is a regular day - about 20km, with rolling hills. My feet are feeling much better, so I'm hopeful I can make it all the way.Read more