We stayed around a while in O Porto. We enjoyed our time and rested. The rain slowly dried up. We wandered. And finally we left slowly, walking two days north along the Atlantic and coming back on the metro before finally committing to walking north. These pictures give you a glimpse of our days walking to Spain. The rain was no longer with us. We enjoyed out time.
We celebrated my 67th birthday wandering O Porto. Here we stopped a while to stand beside a statue of St. James (Santiago) in the museum of the Cathedral. 16 Jan 2010.
One time many boats like this once brought wine down river from the hills above Porto to age in the cellars here and across the river. Now they are mostly for show. 17 Jan 2010.
Stores are fancy here to draw customers. This one is especially fancy. 18 Jan 2010.
The breakfast room of the old, stately Pensao Grande Hotel Paris where we stayed while in Porto. 21 Jan 2010.
Apartments along the Duoro River in Porto. 19 Jan 2010.
Birds flying over the Duoro River. 19 Jan 2010.
This small fort guarded the west coast near Porto. Today it's only a backdrop for the men playing cards and a museum of memories of the past. 17 Jan 2010.
A boat passes a cloud and the setting sun on the Atlantic west of Porto. 19 Jan 2010.
Petra walks the Atlantic Coast on our way from Matosinhos to Vila da Conde. 20 Jan 2010.
In Sao Pedro de Rates we stayed in a refugio where we met our first fellow pilgrims on our walk from Lisbon. The two Brazilians in the back were on their bikes. The other two were from Korea. 21 Jan 2010.
Many of the side roads we followed north of Porto were narrow, walled, and paved with small square stones like this one. After a while the stones were hard to walk on. 22 Jan 2010.
Many Medieval crosses like this are at old crossroads in small towns. 23 Jan 2010.
This Saturday was horse-sale day. Loud, raspy music blared from bull horns to announce the event. We heard them from several kilometers away. 23 Jan 2010.
The country side, and me. Petra said it was time for me to pose with the beautiful background. Then she said I had to put the picture here. 24 Jan 2010.
Someone spent a lot of effort to create this model of a Medieval town along the road. 24 Jan 2010.
The number of guiding arrows got to be amusing as we neared Ponte de Lima and north to Valencia. I could get four into this picture. Before I thought of taking a picture, I had one place with five. 24 Jan 2010.
The Midieval (near) and Roman (far) bridges over the Lima River in Ponte de Lima. 24 Jan 2010.
Petra rests in Ponte de Lima. 24 Jan 2010.
Near here the designated pathway went over a pass and was a bit too rugged for our cart. We also missed a guiding arrow, As a lucky result we ended up on a paved road that went high over a different pass. It was a beautiful mistake. 25 Jan 2010.
We ended up that night in Paredes de Coura, a town with many huge boulders like this one. 25 Jan 2010.
The path was not all on pavement. 26 Jan 2010.
A huge castle guards Valencia on the Portuguese side of Rio Minho. Here we look down from the walls over Tui in Spain. 27 Jan 2010.
Walls of the fort. 27 Jan 2010.
An entrance to the fort in Valencia, Portugal. 27 Jan 2010.