Credencial in Porto

[Ivar Jovialus]

Hi,

We are planning to start our pilgrim walk from Porto to Santiago next week and were wondering where we can get the pilgrim credential in Porto?

Ivar Jovialus

 

[elzi]

Hi,
you can get a credential in the cathedral in porto.
there was a desk on the right as you go in (with postcards and such) we asked there.
bom caminho!

 

[kstaylor]

Can a credential be picked up in the cathedral at any town on the route? Should it always come from the church where one starts the pilgrimage? I plan to trek the Caminho Portuguese next April. Although I will most likely start in Porto, if time permits I start farther south, perhaps Coimbra or Tomar. Would I be able to acquire a credential in one of those cities as well?

Obrigado,
Kit
http://www.arovingvision.com

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Kit,
Where you get the credential is really up to you. Lots of albergues also have them. As far as places south of Porto that would have one, I wouldn't bet on finding one anywhere but in Lisbon. (Available in Lisbon at the Igreja dos Martires, on the Rua Garret in the Chiado). I may be wrong about that, but I don't think I'd take a chance. The Camino is not very well known at all south of Porto. So, just to be sure, I'd either get one before leaving home from your national friends of the camino organization, or if you land in Lisbon or Porto, pick one up before you start to walk in one of those smaller places.

Laurie

(and by the way, the Confraternity just posted an on-line guide for the Lisbon to Porto segment -- there's one for the Porto to Santiago part as well -- check it out at: http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm (shameless self-promotion by one of the authors )

 

[kstaylor]

Laurie,

Thank you. I'll be in Lisbon for about a week before starting the pilgirmage, so I'll get the document there if I plan to start anywhere but Porto. But as I look at time constraints it looks more like a start in Porto. I'm figuring almost a month just from Porto to Santiago as I'll certainly want to stop for a day or more in Vila do Conde, Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, Valenca/Tui, and Pontevedra.

Kit
kst@arovingvision.com
http://www.arovingvision.com

 

[peregrina2000]

Hhi, Kit,
This may be kind of off topic, but I've spent a couple of years in Lisbon, and I have both a list of restaurant recommendations and my own "walking tour of Lisbon" that I'd be happy to share with you if you are interested. Just let me know and I'll post them here or PM you.

I think you'll love Lisbon. Laurie

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hi - I've just had a note from a pilgrim about a new albergue in Ponte de Lima - any information such as the address, number of beds and contact numbers would be most welcome.

 

[kstaylor]

Hhi, Kit,
This may be kind of off topic, but I've spent a couple of years in Lisbon, and I have both a list of restaurant recommendations and my own "walking tour of Lisbon" that I'd be happy to share with you if you are interested. Just let me know and I'll post them here or PM you.

I think you'll love Lisbon. Laurie

Laurie,

Thank you. Why not post the restaurant list and walking points here -- I suspect that most of us planning to do parts of the Caminho Português will be in Lisbon at some point. I did spend about four weeks in Lisbon, but that was 1980. For this upcoming trip my wife and I plan to spend part of the semana santa through Easter in Braga, then about a week in Lisbon. She can only get two weeks vacation and will fly back to Seattle from Lisbon, then I'll go to Porto and start walking toward Santiago.

One Lisbon question I have is about smoke. I see that Portugal has some new smoking laws, but I've no idea how they are enforced. Are there any bars/clubs where we can enjoy fado without choking on smoke? From my 1980 stay in Lisbon I recall seeing a guy smoking while jogging! And -- I was more tolerant about being around smoking back then -- a German I was lunching with had me ask the waiter for an ashtray, and I heard one of the most memorable phrases from that trip -- "O cinzeiro do Português é o chão."

I looked through your excellent Lisbon-Porto guide -- a very useful project. Nice work. Thank you again.

Kit
http://www.arovingvision.com

 

[peregrina2000]

Good idea, Kit, I'll post them on a different thread with an appropriate title so people can find them more easily. Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Just a quick p.s. on the smoke question you posed. Portugal passed the same no-smoking law that Spain did, but unlike in Spain, it has actually been enforced and applied as adopted. I think that the percentages of smokers in Spain and Portugal are comparable, but it's totally different in restaurants and all public buildings. There is simply no smoking in Portugal -- it's wonderful!

Laurie

 

[kstaylor]

Just a quick p.s. on the smoke question you posed. Portugal passed the same no-smoking law that Spain did, but unlike in Spain, it has actually been enforced and applied as adopted. I think that the percentages of smokers in Spain and Portugal are comparable, but it's totally different in restaurants and all public buildings. There is simply no smoking in Portugal -- it's wonderful!
Laurie

Thank you again, Laurie. That is indeed good news. We were in Spain this January and found the intensity of smoke in Madrid a bit difficult. Perhaps Catalonia has stronger laws or just better enforcement than Madrid, but Barcelona was much more comfortable for us -- nice non-smoking areas in all the cafes we went to.

Kit
http://www.arovingvision.com

 

[pilgrimyogi]

I am beginning my second camino in Porto next month. I did the Camino Frances in October but had to leave in Leon. Do I need a new pilgrim passport or can I use the one I have?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Yogi, you can use the one you have.

 

[pilgrimyogi]

Thanks, Rebekah. That's one item checked off my list!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Yogi, you can use the one you have.

Rebekah knows more about the Camino than I ever will, but that sounds bizarre to me - to re-use one that ended in Leon, then re-starts in Portugal! Why not get a new one free from this web site? [See bottom on this page!]
I'm off in May from Salamanca and was delighted to get a free one here.
Stephen
http://www.calig.co.uk/camino_de_santiago.htm