Our Camino Journey: Porto

Overlooking the Ponte Dom Luís I

This is the second entry in our Camino Journey.  To learn more about how we discovered this pilgrimage, read Discovery.

After years of planning and preparation, departure day finally arrived.  We were so excited to begin our adventure!  We hadn't traveled to Europe for personal reasons in several years, and now we lived 90 minutes from the MSP Airport. After taking a shuttle to the airport, two flights, and a cab ride to our hotel on the edge of Porto, we were exhausted.

After a quick freshening up and some rehydration, we were excited to take a walk and explore the city.  We found the Parque de Serralves only a few blocks from our hotel and saw incredible peacocks in the gardens.  I had seen photos of the tile on houses, but to see it firsthand was incredible. 

The next day we walked to meet our tour group, the best way to see a city with such a short window of time. We saw fantastic churches; from the Church of Saint Ildefonso, to the Chapel of Souls to the Igreja do Carmo and Carmelites, two churches near each other, separated by Portugal's skinniest building.  We visited the famous Llelo Library, considered "the most beautiful bookstore in the world".  After a quick stop at "the fanciest McDonald's in the world", we toured Sao Bento station, with intricate tile work depicting important events in Portuguese history.  We walked across the famous Ponte Dom Luís I bridge, which spans the River Douro between Porto on the north bank and Vila Nova de Gaia on the south bank.  Designed by German architect, Téophile Seyrig, a disciple and business partner of French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame), the Ponte Dom Luís I had the longest span of any metal bridge in the world when it was completed in 1886.  

We then took a tram down to the banks of the Douro, where we boarded a boat to go up river and see four more of the bridges in the Porto area.  We ended the day treating ourselves to a Francesinha, a Portuguese sandwich made with layers of toasted bread and assorted hot meats such as roast steak and wet-cured ham over which sliced cheese is melted by the ladling of a near-boiling tomato-and-beer sauce called molho de francesinha.  Interesting.  And yes, we found a brewery.

After the tour, we returned to the Porto Cathedral to go inside and once again, we were amazed by the architecture and intricate decor.  It was an incredibly surreal feeling to be in such beauty and only a hint of what we would see on our journey. The marker in front of the Cathedral reminded us we were only a few short hours away from starting our Camino.  The marker includes the traditional scallop shell and yellow arrow to guide pilgrims heading to Santiago de Compostela. The shell is not only a traditional symbol of Saint James; it is also a metaphor; its lines represent the different routes pilgrims travel from all over the world, and all of the walking trails lead to one point: the tomb of Saint James in Santiago de Compostela.  Inset is a number, representing the number of kilometers to Santiago.  From the Porto Cathedral, it is 248 km.

If you want to read more, I split the entries into the Portuguese and Spanish stages, followed by our visit to Madrid.  I hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did!  Also check out Tim's video on his YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/29N5tulTzQY 

Portuguese Stages
Spanish Stages 
Two Days in Madrid (pending)

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