El Camino Portuguese
Penece to Tui, Spain
It rained during the night and it was scheduled to rain all day. I lay in bed as the downpour hit roofs and ran out don pipes and hit drain covers. It was going to be another day in waterproofs getting wet on the outside and the inside.
The camera was moved moved to the inside off my rucksack and I set off in the rain and it remained there until the rain unexpectedly eased off in mid morning. Contrary to the forecast, it stopped raining .
I passed one of those places where distances are given to other famous places but the two important ones for pilgrims here were Fatima 300 kilometres and Santiago de Compostela 135 kilometres.
I walked on and my water proofs were beginning to dry out but my boots and socks were wet through. I reached a highpoint and beyond the sloping vineyard, the hills in the distance were obscured by low lying cloud.
I reached Valenca, the last town on the route in Portugal. It guards the northern border as defined by the Rio Minho. It is a small town with a large fortress perched on the top of a small hill.
The fortress had been undated several times to provide defence to advances in warfare and the introduction of gunpowder and cannons.
A view of the defences from the inside of the fortress and of one of the entrances into it.
Another entrance.
One of the ditches between the outer and inner defences of the fort.
A view of the railway that skirts the fort before crossing the river.
A view of the box girder bridge with the railway on top, the road underneath and pedestrian walkways on the outer edges. And then it was Spain.
A Spanish post box.
The cathedral in Tui.
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