The prelude to our 200 mile walk along the coast of Portugal takes us to the country’s second largest city, Porto, where red tile roofs mirror rural southern France, which was the starting point of our first Camino journey nearly four years ago — also in September.
This new walking episode arrives with less preparation. Not so much in the sense of walking-of-miles-preparation, but in the study of Portuguese history, briefings about the small towns along the Camino path, and the soul searching as to what I want to learn along the way.
No matter. Learnings are thrust upon me, no matter how ill prepared I am. Take for instance the fact that port wine originated in Porto, but I learned a nuance. If you are ever in your favorite restaurant, sipping an after-dinner port, your companion may say, “Did you know port wine originated in Porto, Portugal?”
Somewhat armed with greater detail, you’d now say, “Yes, of course, but not exactly Porto, but in the nearby town of Vila de Gaia.”
That’s the lesser known city south across the river Douro where Nancy and I are prepping at the Hilton Hotel Porto Gaia for our 15-day walk. The hotel features a panorama of the river and sits just four-thousand-plus steps east of a bridge bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
From the Porto airport late afternoon on a Wednesday, an Uber driver fought urban traffic before crossing the river into an old city paved with cobble. We arrived at Vila Nova de Gaia, where, I learned later, the mixing of port wines originated under red-tile warehouses hundreds of years ago.
Between the driver’s twists and turns and near-swipes of parked cars, I was distracted from the drive by a connection to a watercolor hanging in my home. The only seeming difference from our painting and Gaia’s narrow cobble streets was that Gaia’s colors were stone pale. Our painting at home boasts hues of purple, maybe even accents of green, if my memory served me correctly.
Five minutes later, walking into the hotel lobby, I learned the historic importance of Gaia to the purples of port wine. In front of me hung a huge wooden sculpture fashioned out of port wine barrels. Later walking along the riverfront, the Avenida de Diogo Leite positioned Gaia as the originator of port wine and Porto, across the polluted Douro, as the upstart.
Following up on a conversation, I researched claims the Douro contained unsafe levels of vibrio cholera and residues of anti-depressant drugs, antibiotics, and other medications. Yes, everybody is a little easy-going here. The notorious vibrio cholera is the agent responsible for the disease cholera — and, yes, in fact a 2019 study published statistics that confirmed the pollutants and explained newspaper reports I read that fishing production is way down.
So, I did see some teens jumping off the famed Dom Luis I Bridge, but you wouldn’t catch me dangling my feet into the water.
Why, when — somewhat by accident — I booked the Hilton Hotel Porto Gaia. It turns out, the hotel is brand new, featuring a luxury spa unlike anything I have seen in my life? Thanks to Hilton Honors points, I swam laps in pristine water and steamed away my business stress. That exercise was followed up with an walk across the river into Porto, 225 steps to the top of the Church-of-the-Clerics tower, a got-lost route to dinner, and a pleasant walk along Rue das Flores where a soloist sang La Vie en Rose.
Her tones pulsed against ancient walls, colorful storefronts, and the empty glasses of port — all fodder for photography.
My iPhone camera was my friend. If I’m lucky, I will end up with some shots that will rival that watercolor on the wall at home. I wanted unusual angles, so I stretched my hands over bridge railings worrying my phone might fall 171 feet into the river. All that stretching and tip-toeing and leaning was rivaling my foot traffic. Nancy and I booked eight miles, sufficient practice for the walk that will eventually take us into Spain and the city of Santiago.
