The pilgrims of history travel enter the historical center of Viana do Castelo via the old Porta de Santiago which now opens into a modern Praca Republica. We departed the plaza, northward, away from the busy city. Outside the city, the trail to Ancora cuts across the hills where the cathedral of Santa Luzia stood. They did not feel as steep since we trek along the hillside. We went past some villages, treading on painful cobblestone. Tall medieval-age stone walls along the road made the streets even narrower. You’d pick up a loud rumbling sound of a vehicle coming downhill, and get ready to hug the wall to let it pass. After a bit, we were glad to be on the flatlands again. Halfway to Ancora, we have glimpses of the pretty coast. We are now more or less 150 km away from our destination. The trek has been predictable, as was the scenery–a chapel here; a cross there; and a cafe nearby. Some views are picturesque: a milling pond fed by small streams; or, not as remarkable, a railroad crossing.
This time, we had little difficulty locating our lodgings, Hotel Meira. It was right on the Camino route. Our room was not ready for check-in, so we found ourselves in the hotel bar. Lunch beckoned. We’ve only sustained ourselves with trail mix so far. The bartender welcomed us. He said though, the kitchen was closed. But he could whip up an egg omelet and some old bread. And a coke, I added hankering for a thirst quencher. Andre was a chatty American eager to hear news from San Francisco. An ex-pat, he gave his short bio–he was born in Connecticut where his mother still lives. Andre has lived in Portugal for a while and found work as a barkeeper/chef at a hotel. He struck us as the hippy kind-pony tailed, goateed, suntanned, and who found in Portugal’s laid-back life, his place in the sun. He then gave us our second great lesson for the Camino:
Lesson 2: “The Camino Provides”
Our exhaustion was noticeable—it was hot that day on the trail. He recommended we ice our feet. We’re willing to try anything to relieve the tiredness from miles of walking. Guaranteed, Andre exclaims. We offered to buy a couple of ice bags, but Andre shrugs it off as on-the-house. Clasping the plastic bag of ice as if it were gold, we head for the elevator. For the next five stages, we bought ice from a bar or supermarket for foot care.
On the last stage before Santiago, I saw that my toenails have come back to their normal color. We swear to its efficacy. Praise be to Andre, we uttered with gratitude.
Donning our “touring” sandals, we set out to explore the city. Better known as Vila Praia de Ancora, a quaint resort town not far from the Spanish border. There’s a long esplanade and an expansive sandy beach. Colored cabana tents dot the beach and gave a pleasant relaxing scene. Were we to seek some quiet touring, this is probably one place we would revisit. The summer August crowd has gone. The beach looked quiet and enticing.
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Not far from the hotel, I spied a shop front with Chinese writing. I recalled a piece of previous local advice that in Portugal we could find anything at a Chinese shop, so in I went, and took a glance at the various odds and ends being sold. Do you have a phone charger, I inquired. Yes, the Chinese shopkeeper nodded. Even more wonderful, it was two euros cheaper than the one I purchased at Viana do Castelo. I felt better now that we could keep our devices fully charged instead of swapping devices as the other one gets charged. The anxiety is real given that from Ancora, we will cross the border into Spain. Who knows what this new environment would be? We were also going to trek more inland with distances between lodgings further apart. My Vodaphone SIM-enabled phone must be constantly at full charge for emergency calls (I used a separate iPhone just for photography to conserve the battery power on our emergency phone). Now, we can charge our phones all night at the same time.
Thankfully, dinner was served early at the hotel itself. No hunting for dinner tonight, the day was really exhausting. It was one of our longer walks. The charger, the ice bags, and a nice dinner guaranteed a good night’s rest. We were ready for Spain.