Credentials for the Rota?

[LesBrass]

Hello folks - I went into Lisbon Cathedral yesterday to purchase some credentials for next years walk... I'm hoping to walk from Lisbon to Santiago next spring ... fingers crossed!

It got me thinking... do we need credential of any sort for the Rota Vicentina? Is there a certificate that we'll collect at the end? And even if we don't need to, would it be possible to still collect stamps along the way... or will folks be surprised at us asking? And is there a specific Portuguese equivalent credential that I could purchase?

I know that the walk is not about collecting stamps and getting a certificate but I love looking back at my credential and remembering all the places that we walked to and stayed at... I would like to be able to do this for the RV.

I'd welcome your thoughts

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, LesBrass,
There is no Rota Vicentina credential or anything like that. Maybe you should suggest that to the promoters! As far as stamps go, I know that in Portugal, like in Spain, most establishments have stamps that they use for business purposes. Only problem is that most of them aren't very decorative-- they just have the name, address, phone. When I walked from Lisbon in the early 2000s, I had to get stamps in all sorts of weird places since there was no pilgrim infrastructure at all. I got them from farmacias, post offices, cafes, etc, but as I said they were not among my more memorable collections of sellos!

 

[jsalt]

Hi Les, here is the credential I used on the Rota Vicentina. Any one will do, but get it beforehand. As Laurie said, most businesses have a stamp, and they will apply it to your credential if you ask them nicely. When there was no stamp I wrote something in myself.
Jill

 

[LTfit]

Interesting that you did that Jill. I guess if one were to walk from Sagres all the way to Santiago (or even to Lisbon or Porto) it would be nice to have a collection from the start, even if it were only to jog ones memory. As I walked North - South starting in Santiago do Cacem I didn't even think about having a document to stamp.

 

[LesBrass]

Thanks folks for the information. I think we will endeavour to collect stamps. @jsalt I love the notes and comments on yours! What a good idea, it makes the document totally personal... I might copy this.

 

[LTfit]

@LesBrass when are you planning on starting?

 

[LesBrass]

@LesBrass when are you planning on starting?

We're flying into Lisbon on the 7th October and I think we start walking on the 8th... I'm not at home and can't 100% remember if it was the 8th or 9th but we have 15 days from the 7th... and I'm really looking forward to it!