Fão

We moved away from the coast today and entered a more rural landscape, walking on cobblestones and dirt paths. The continued rains here have made a muddy mess but at least in the villages, forests and vineyards, while it was chilly, we weren’t battling that stiff north wind. It did rain a lot today but there were also sunny times and a rainbow! The forests were lush and beautiful but some of the ways we went down the mountain would definitely not be approved by my orthopaedic surgeon! We crossed over the river Nieva on a sketchy looking concrete block bridge and I held my breath the whole time! Ultimately we clocked 19.75 miles, 48,515 steps and 58 flights of stairs today- a record for me and I feel it tonight!
Passing through the villages we visited so many churches and chapels. There is understandably a particular devotion here to Our Lady of Fatima and almost every church has some type of remembrance. At Castelo de Nieva we saw the first church in Portugal ever consecrated to S. James- it dated back to 862 AD. In Viana do Castelo we walked over an iron bridge called the Ponté Eiffel to cross the river Lima- it was done by the Eiffel school and was pretty cool! Before we climbed the 600 feet up to our alburgue (rooming house) we stopped for a Pilgrim meal, a set menu including wine at a cheap price. Delicious! We are staying at the Alburgue San Luzia which is connected to the Sé (cathedral) - the reward of having the most amazing view of the city was worth the effort of the 600 meter climb- there are many sweet pilgrims also now staying here who we now consider our friends- now off to sleep- more adventures tomorrow! Fingers crossed the rain stops!!Læs mere