step, step V

Today we started late - at half past eight breakfast was served with so many delicious things that we couldn't try them all (especially because the wine the night before was served in a glass that was too big and I was slightly tipsy from it 🙃)

and so the departure took longer. In addition, there was some excitement among all the guests because most of them wanted to come to Ponte de Lima today and there was no accommodation available because of a festival. Luckily, we also booked in advance here (or at least we thought so).

We were greeted with folk music from the village singer at breakfast, as a part of the festival. It seems to be a big thing here.

We left Casa around ten and planned to hike leisurely today to arrive in Ponte de Lima around 5 p.m. The route was very beautiful. The landscape is getting more hilly and green now - many farmers harvested corn today.

We had company during the lunch break - a cute little dog wanted to cuddle and play - we couldn't resist 😀 and had to spend some time with it.

We continued on beautiful field paths or under grape arbors.

The wind was blowing lightly and it was cloudy at times - on the sunny sections, we started sweating again and were grateful for the water fountains that seem to appear more frequently along the way now. The signs, the many very old stone crosses along the roadside, and small chapels indicate that we are now on the original Portuguese Caminho de Santiago - I wonder how many people have walked this way before us???

The beautiful wayside shrines we pass by are also a delight and a joyful sign of how far we still have to go 😀

And from time to time, we also meet other pilgrims, some of whom we have already met before, while others are new to us.

So, in the end, we arrive in Ponte de Lima, quite exhausted, and are somewhat shocked to see a large number of caravans and tents right at the entrance, where we were supposed to find a beautiful riverside promenade - the festival had caught up with us again. It almost feels like the entire country of Portugal is here in this small town.

At the hostel, we were surprised to find out that our booking was for the wrong date and there was no bed available - not in this hostel, nor in any other hostel or hotel, according to the information we received. So, there we were, somewhat at a loss - then we came up with the idea of calling our next accommodation and asking if we could arrive a day earlier - we were really lucky, a room had just been cancelled 😀 - and the next surprise, the hosts of the Casa are German. So we only needed to find a taxi to take us from PdL to Rubieus (25 km). In the hustle and bustle of the festival, we found a few English-speaking policemen who explained the way to the bus station. If we wanted a taxi, it could only be from there - after all, it is a festival and the city is blocked off, and all the taxis are busy 😒

We found the bus station - there were about 35 buses and many people - no taxi in sight - so I ran around and approached several people to ask if anyone speaks English. Two friendly men then led us to the taxi stand, and the driver even knew the address of the Casa where we wanted to go - are we not the only ones with this kind of experience??? We were glad to be in the car and escape the crowds - after a peaceful hike, the large number of people today was really overwhelming 😀

And we didn't want to attend a festival like the BRN or Elbhangfest.

From the car, we also see burnt sections of the forest - it looks eerie.

A long and exciting hiking day is now coming to an end - tomorrow we will spend the day here in the Casa - that will also be nice, Sophie now has my cold 😒

And it will be interesting to hear how the hosts of the Casa ended up here.

good night

P.S. Pictures will come tomorrow - the internet is very slow here and I am tired now...