LIVE from the Camino My Camino Torres - November 2024

Camino Chrissy said:

David, I figured this out for myself a long time ago and diligently stick with it.
I'm loving your pictures, including all of that wonderful blue sky you are having. Are the temps coinciding nicely with it?

Click to expand...

Temps have been surprisingly warm. There was quite a cold snap in October. Those who followed my Hospitalero thread may recall an excursion with friends to a nearby pueblo canvelled due to snow at our destination. That made me second guess what I had brought for cold weather. "If it is this cold now," I thought, "what will it be like a month later further north?" So instead of sending my newly acquired University of Salamanca hoodie ahead to Santiago, I took it with me as an extra layer option.

Big mistake. Most of my walking has just been in a single layer (tee shirt).

Camino Chrissy said:

David, I figured this out for myself a long time ago and diligently stick with it.
I'm loving your pictures,

Click to expand...

Sometimes, we can know something well and still lose track of it. Then we need a refresher course.

granpiscator said:

Paulo Almeida has published that the largest image of the six found on the main facade, the one with a "zurrón"(I’m not sure of the correct term in English: ¿pilgrim's bag/satchel?) is the oldest sculptural representation of Saint James known in Portugal. This is the central figure of the three on the right.
It can be distinguished in your photograph.

Click to expand...

The middle one here?

Tuesday 12 November 2024, Vila da Ponte - Beira Valente

It was quite a pleasant walk today. It started with a steady climb through a number of switchbacks heading towards the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Necessities, on top of a nearby mountain overlooking Vila da Ponte. Of course, the Camino route takes you there. Actually, it doesn't take you all the way there. It passes by just short of the top. So when I got to the intersection, I was faced with a choice: keep going, or keep climbing as I had been for another couple of switchbacks. I chose the third option: leave my backpack at the intersection and visit the Sanctuary and Miradouro without it. The view was really quite stupendous.

A little later, I stopped for a bathroom break at a cafe in one of the villages I passed through today. My sister, the doctor, has suggested I expand my diet from the BART + soup I've been trying to stick to, to something more substantial. Just avoid spicy foods, she says. Well, the cafe happened to have the first pasteis de nata I've seen since entering Portugal, so I had one of those.

There was a lot more pavement and cobblestones setts on the route today. The use of the setts has been expanding from just in the villages to also around the neighboring farms. Still not as prevalent as I remember from some parts of the Portugues, but I am seeing more of it.

Yesterday, and even more today, I've also been seeing more olive groves. At the start of the Torres, the agriculture seemed to centre more around livestock. Over the last few days, that has changed. There are a lot fewer farm animals. The focus is more on what you grow than what you raise.

When I got to Moimenta da Beira, I decided to stop in a pharmacy. I told him that the loperamide didn't seem to be doing anything and was there anything he could suggest? He strongly recommended sachets you take daily after a meal (lunch or dinner). I got him to recommend a local restaurant, a basement place as it turned out and went there for lunch: frango asado, rice, fries, and a slice of apple tart for dessert. I had a sachet (mixed with a little water) at the end of the meal. And I've gotta say. I have been starting to notice a significant difference. On the way out of Moimenta da Beira, I stopped at the supermarket to get something for supper. I knew that the albergue here in Beira Valente has a nice kitchen, but there are no other food options.

The last 4 km to Beira Valente were also quite pleasant. None of the sweeping vistas that had presented themselves at times earlier, but a nice country walk, more often than earlier off pavement or stones.

The albergue here is a nice looking albergue in an old schoolhouse (there is still a blackboard on the wall in the dorm - it was behind me when I took a photo of the room), with a fully appointed kitchen. It is a hands-off arrangement. You find the key (I was told the location be the previous pilgrim) and let yourself in. Then you stamp your credencial, fill in your registry page and leave the required amount "hidden" in the book (since there is a note telling you where to put the money, it is hardly hidden).

Since I got here it has just been a relaxing time. I may try to go to bed early and leave a little earlier tomorrow. It looks to be a bit of a longer, tougher, day.

Photos: view from the Miradouro, a couple of other expansive vistas, a walk through the woods, a cross in the wall, the albergue dorm room.

caminka said:

Thank you. Geira is one of the next on my list (the other is Olvidado) so I will be combing through your notes and comment on the forum.

David, are you continuing on the Geira? I am a bit bogged down with stuff for the next two weeks, but I could try and squeeze it in and see how far I can come before you catch up?

Click to expand...

Continuing on Geira is the plan.

unadara said:

Hi David
I'm wondering about your foot and think you should see a Doctor, even though you talk to your sister. I walked for many days with One swollen foot (no injury) and found yes as I walked the pain eased and I accepted it. In the Meseta a volunteer Red Cross ambulance were helping pilgrims and I thought I would ask. They stuck a BIG needle in to the sole and drew out lots of Matter! turns out I had a blood infection and it would not have gone away, Many times we are told that taking pain medications can mask a true state of affairs. I do hope your foot heals and admire your fortitude but I think with the stomach issues now you need it sorted. Its so hard to stop once you are walking I know. (Camino Torres sounds great as did Salamanca volunteering).

Click to expand...

I accept that is a possibility. Certainly if it spreads or gets worse, I will look to see someone. But if it doesn't, and is still the same when my Camino is done, I think I am probably better off taking it to my own doctor, with whom I can communicate more easily.

Wednesday 13 November 2024 Beira Valente to Lamego

It was a long day today, 27.5 km over 8.5 hours (which did, to be fair, include a stop for lunch). I left at about 7:15 and arrived at about 3:45. There were plenty of climbs and descents (more descent than ascent, but still plenty of steep hills to climb). I think I managed okay. But tomorrow is going to be longer and tougher. I expect I will be able to make it, though.

It was also a cold day today, or colder than usual. I didn't take my puffy jacket off at all during the day, and in the early morning, I also put a spare pair of socks on my hands. My phone said it was 3° at that point. It also got quite windy. When I made my first cafe stop for second breakfast, they had a nice fire going in their woodburning stove. Fortunately, it was not also raining, at least, not until just as I was arriving at my destination. I think there is less chance of rain tomorrow and it is supposed to warm up a little bit.

With all of the ups and downs today, there were some spectacular views that reminded me most of the Salvador and Primitivo caminos I did last year. It is really hard to capture in a photo, though. It is so big that you want to switch to a wide angle lens to get more and more in the shot. But paradoxically, that just makes it look smaller. Sometimes it works better to zoom in.

In addition to things already mentioned (olive trees, chestnut trees, etc.) there were a lot of apple orchards today. A few at the end had apple trees like I am familiar with, shorter and wider. But many of the large orchards I walked through focused on a different way of shaping the apple tree, guiding the growth with poles and strings like a trellis and keeping them tall and very narrow and planted every evenly in very straight rows.

The first real location of note was Ucanha, where there was a fortified bridge (fortified with a tower on one end). Apparently this was built by the local abbot to ensure the successful collection of tolls. You can climb the tower, and I did.

My next stop was Santo António de Ferreirim, where there is a former Franciscan convent. Attached to the convent is another 12th century tower, which had belonged to the family of the nobles who sponsored the convent. When I saw it ahead of me in the distance I did a bit of a double take, worried that the route had circled me back to Ucanha. There were a lot of changes in direction on today's walk, and it was easy to lose track of which direction I was walking in. For €3 you can tour the church and see the 16th religious art commissioned for it. I spent a bit of time doing that. "No hurry" was my motto today.

I stopped again a couple of villages later, in Britiande, for lunch. I was alerted by @caminka's notes to the presence of restaurants in the village. Since they were a little off the route, I would have completely missed them otherwise. I picked a likely looking one to eat in. When the waitress came to the table, I was told it was pork cheek and mashed potatoes today, was that okay? I don't know if anything else was available (although I think I did see another diner having his pork cheeks with fries). I said it was okay and it was a substantial lunch. I opted for the fruit salad for dessert so that I would have some fruit or veg. It all came to €10, €9 for the lunch and €1 for the dessert. Come to think if it, the waitress may have just been telling me the daily special and there may have been other options. In any case, it worked out fine.

From there, it was walk the final leg into Lamego. I had booked in a place recommended by others, the Residencial Solar da Sé. It is right opposite the cathedral and I had been advised to ask for a room with a balcony overlooking the cathedral. Such a room was duly offered. When I got there, I could see that my request must have given them a chuckle. That entire side of the building is covered in scaffolding and netting.

I looked up what to see in Lamego. Besides the cathedral (of which I have a sort of a view) there is a diocesan museum and a castle. I looked up the closing times for those (6 for the castle and museum, 7 for the cathedral) and decided to have a bit of a rest before seeing things. Unfortunately, closing times did not exactly match what was advertised. The castle, it seems closes at 5. I got to walk around the castle, but with high winds and rain, I didn't want to stick around too long. The cistern part, which people had seemed quite impressed with, I was told was at another location and was already closed.

Then I went to the Museum. The sign outside said it was open until 6, but at 5:30, all the lights were out inside it. The cathedral at least had an open door. And there were a few people inside as well. But it, too, had almost all of the lights off. And it was clear that the tourist visit package was not on offer at this time.

So I came back to my room. It had been my intention to go out again for a supper, but when the time came I found I didn't really have the appetite or the will to gave the rain. So I just stayed inside and wrote this. Next I will probably have a shower and get ready for bed. I negotiated an early breakfast (included) at 7:30 tomorrow, because time will be of more importance. When I wrote the email address I was given for the albergue in Mesão Frio to ask for a bed tomorrow, I was told (by the Tourism Office who replied) that pilgrims are being housed with the bombeiros (volunteer fire fighters). I asked them to let the bombeiros know to expect me. I want to be sure to arrive tomorrow begore the Tourism Office closes, do they can tell me where to go and reassure me that I am expected.

Photos: scenic vista, tower fortifying the bridge, another scenic vista, convent church (does anyone have a clue how that balcony on the right was to be used?), view of my balcony and the cathedral, inside the cathedral 1.5 hours before closing (it was actually much darker than that, the camera automatically compensates).
Note: back to thumbnails