El Camino Portuguese Arcos to Barcelos

El Camino Portuguese 

Arcos  to Barcelos

I wanted to get away early and breakfast was only scheduled to be at 8.30 so I ordered a packed breakfast instead and I was away by 7.10am just in time to see a stunning sunrise

I made a detour through the centre of Sao Pedro de Rates, a locally reverred saint said to have been ordained by St James himself past the village church in the main place...

...and an unusual municipal clock tower nearby.

I walked out of the village and up the hill where the tarmac gave way to forest tracks. The geology was also changing to sandstone which had he'd been used for many of the dry stone walls surrounding the fields.

And yet another way marker with the distance to Santiago de Compostela.

And I passed those odd flowers with just a stem and a pink flower with no leaves ad this was such a better picture than the one I posted before.

It was a long walk but there was some shade and there was a thin layer of cloud so it was bright but not too hot or blinding sunlight. Finally I reached BArcelos and  started across the bright over  the Rio Lima.

A water mill to the base of the bridge on the far side.

Looking up at the church and some of the former defence walls.

And the BArcelos cockerel which has became a symbol of Portugal and there are many of these birds with different paint jobs around the city.

The story goes that a pilgrim was falsely convicted of a crime and he protested his innocence and foretold that should he be falsely convicted that a dead cockerel would rise from the sheriffs table. The sheriff ignored his pleas and as he sat down to his supper, the cockerel rose from his plate. He hurried off to the gallows and found that the pilgrim was still alive thanks to the intervention of St James and the Barcelos Cockerel.

The municipal offices housed in a grand building.

Barcelos is famous also for its lively market held every Thursday and since it was a Thursday when I arrived, the market was in full swing.

A colurful view of the fruit and vegetable part of the market.

The quinta where I was staying.

Looking back up the drive.

A view of one of several courtyards.

I would be seeing a lot of these which are granaries and storage for crops with a distinct overhang so the vermin can't climb in.

The entrance hall to the ground floor and through some double doors...

...the sitting area and through another set of double doors...

...the bedroom.

Elsewhere on the rambling site was the dining room and sitting area in front of a large hearth...

...and more seating at the far end.

Breakfast was to be served in the breakfast room, housed in some converted farm buildings .