Tuesday May 21, 2019

Ponte de Lima, Portugal—Day 6; 8000 steps

Proverbs 6

v. 16-19  There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.  I would say other people hate these things too.  Fortunately they’re rarely seen along the Camino.  Pilgrims we have met are polite, helpful and willing to share their cookies or their scoop on albergues.  They speak kindly of one another. They hope to be not troublemakers but peacemakers, not just along the Camino but in the wider world of their everyday lives.  Thank you, Lord, for the good intentions of pilgrims we meet.  May we also be a blessing to them.

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It’s our day off and we slept late—until 7:20 anyway.  Our included buffet breakfast (oh, what a luxury this is for pilgrims!) was a typical European spread with the addition of sauteed eggplant, a big bowl of fresh cherries, a loaf of quince jelly and—oh look!—a tray of pastels de nata.  As we ate, dreadful jazz versions of two Christmas songs played over and over through the sound system.  We went back to our room and opened the balcony door.  The marching music outside started at 8:40.

We have to be careful going down the front steps of the hotel, as the last step is right into the street with no warning sign.  We had a slow wander through the sunny streets of the old town as marching music poured cheerily through every lamppost along the riverside largo.  We admired the bronze bull and various statues, popped into the Romanesqe church finished in an intriguing mishmash of styles, viewed the bridge from all angles and had a quick look at an art exhibit in the medieval prison tower.  All the pilgrims were gone and the next batch was not in yet, so it was only us and the locals.

After a while Maurice painted on a shady bench by the river and I settled with my writing on our balcony with the drying laundry.  The music was not so bad, really.  Onward, Christian soldiers…and the caissons go rolling along.  We had a lovely pilgrim dinner on the terrace at the restaurant downstairs.

The marching music continued until at least 8:30 when Maurice closed our balcony door and turned on the TV to drown it out.