Day 2 Fajozes to Barcelos (35.1 km) Sept 3

With two long days in a row there hasn't been time to blog anything, but today is a rest day so I can catch up a little...

On a long day like this we were lucky that the sky was overcast rather than the 30 degree temperatures that we have been experiencing the last few days.

After a splendid breakfast we said goodbye to Teresa and her lovely Country house and headed out for the long walk to Barcelos.

The night before Teresa had enlightened us to one aspect of the Portuguese economy as regards the deserted and crumbling buildings that we seen so much of in Porto and elsewhere. When it comes to renting the present renters have been grandfathered into the same rental agreements for decades and this could be handed down for generations. The only way owners could raise the rent was if the renters passed away or moved away or if they could offer them enough money to vacate the premises. Then with new tenant's a new rental agreement could be implemented.

So owners would have almost no income compared to present day standards and could not afford to implement repairs to their properties.

But leaving these thoughts behind us we headed out into the countryside walking through cornfields, the majority of which were framed by a row of grapes. For kilometre after kilometre we walked on cobblestone roads often framed by stone walls. We crossed medieval bridges and churches.

 

This 12th century church was built on top of a previous pagan site and excavations displayed in the museum next door exhibit artifacts from Roman times.

Women still wash their clothes in this community washing basin.

One cannot pass through Pedra Ferada without stopping for coffee or a snack at friendly Antonio Ferreira's bar/cafe and collecting another pilgrim stamp. Antonio photographs all pilgrims stopping by and gets them to sign his log book.

A missed turn after leaving Pedra Furada added an extra couple of kilometres to an already long day.

Glen, Cheryl and I slogged into Barcelos at the end of long day, a little ahead of the other pilgrims and Glen bought the beers and had them waiting on the table for the others when they arrived. It is sometimes the small gestures that can be the most appreciated.

 

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