The 28 km from the donativo to the next stop felt harder than normal.
Did I take my antidepressant? Yes.
Did I not sleep well? No, I definitely did.
Did I drink too much do the blood of Christ at dinner? Probably.
But it wasn't just me. It was far more hills and a lot of walking on the road and in more populated areas.
“Those bloody hills damn near killed me!" Paul the Irish man said behind me, as I walked through São João.
"Right?! Today's been rough!"
"Yes, and tomorrow's Porto. A bit psychological innit? We're halfway there now."
Halfway there.
But you know what Porto means for me? My buddy has arrived.
She arrived at around 9 p.m., after flying for over 24 hours and missing her connecting flight in Madrid. We followed her nose to good smelling food which led us to a Korean bbq place...for her first meal in Portugal (I know, I know, but it did smell real good y'all).
I've never had Korean BBQ, so I didn't know we had to cook it ourself. I was flipping through the whole menu looking for something cooked.
"Wait, people pay to go out to eat and...still cook?" I asked.
"I know, I know..." Katie said.
After dinner we walked out of the restaurant.
"Alright, ready to roll these barrels of meat back to the hotel?" I asked Katie. A man walking in snickered.
"Well. He speaks English," I said.
"Okay, I can't believe this, but I'm so tired that one drink is hitting me," Katie said. "Aaaaaand you're looking at me like 'you're a little bitch,'" she said laughing.
"No I'm not."
We crossed the street to the hotel and I picked up the key from the concierge. I see Katie doing a little tipsy dance in front of the elevator.
Well then.
Ironically, Katie was the first one up the next morning. Unfortunately, since it's Sunday, nothing was open for a while.
"I’m gonna get a shower. If you need to get coffee. I won’t be offended. Cuz I don’t need it," Katie said.
"Oh, okay. Good to know. Thank you! I will."
Translation of what that conversation actually was:
"Go get your bean juice so you’re not a cranky bitch later."
"Thank you for enabling my addiction."
I went on my Sunday search for coffee. The only cafe that was open had a long line out the door. I took my place in line behind two ladies. I heard them switch in and out of English, so I took the opportunity to compliment one on her hair color. Turns out, they were pilgrims too! Yanna was from Slovakia and Tatianna wasn't Irish but had lived in Ireland (I forget her country of origin...), so her English had a kilt to it (I typed "lilt" but kilt kinda works...).
They were doing a much shorter trail, just from Tui to Santiago, about six days walking. They were in Porto just because they loved it. They said they'd met a lot of Americans in Portugal.
"Better see it while you can, Europe just keeps getting hotter."
"I mean that's the whole world right? With climate change? Half of the US is on fire every year."
"True, got to see it all before it goes underwater."
We chatted a bit about the different recycling habits. I haven't seen many places to recycle here. They said in countries like Poland, the Netherlands, etc. if you go out for a drink, companies will charge you to use a cup, and then when you return it you get your money back, to reduce the amount of plastic being thrown away.
"That's great the companies are involved. Because in the US I recycle, but it feels disheartening. All the data shows it doesn't matter what individuals do if companies don't do it too."
"Ahh, but can't be cutting into those profits now, can they?"
"No, but who are they going to sell stuff to if we don't make it?"
"The planet will make it, but we as a species won't."
"Nope, we know many species have gone extinct with drastic weather changes."
They invited me to drink my coffee with them, which worked because it turns out the shop didn't allow takeaway coffee.
We sat and chatted about the Camino, insurance problems, work complaints, etc. They couldn't believe I only had 15 days paid vacation and no sick leave.
"They just really don't care about you over there, do they?" Yanna asked.
"Nah we're just cogs in the machine."
Even with more work benefits, they were also exhausted from their jobs. "We want to see the planet before the world burns."
Same ladies, same.
They talked about struggling to book accommodations on the Camino.
"Yeah, we found a brothel," Tatiana said.
I laughed, thinking she was kidding. She wasn't.
"Wait...seriously? There's a brothel on the Camino?"
"Oh yes, we saw it on booking.com. It had very high ratings."
"Oh I bet it did..."
"Then we read the comments. One said 'the girls are so nice' and another 'very clean!' And we were like oh this looks great! One said 'mediocre'. And we were like hmmm. And then they said 'Pedro runs a great place,' and we were like oh how nice, a family place. But turns out Pedro is..."
"The pimp..."
"Yes....And the photos...it is covered in red lights."
"Spectacular."
I showed them the Camino app so they could hopefully find somewhere to stay where they wouldn't be expected to perform sex work.
When I got up to leave, I said "So ladies, any other world problems we want to solve?" They laughed. "Stay away from brothels now...or don't, I won't judge, buen Camino!"
I went back to the hotel, to find Katie completely dressed, shoes on, and passed out on the bed. She cracked an eye open.
"Sorry that took so long," I said.
"Oh I was hoping you were with a guy," she said.
Since when has that happened?!
"Not lost, not without coffee, not with other pilgrims ...with a guy?"
"I don't know it's just where my mind went."
K.
We got breakfast and started exploring the city.
Katie reserved us tickets online for the Livraria Lello, and while we waited we went to the Igreja do Carmo, a church with a museum. We walked in and it was cash only.
"I don't have euros yet," Katie said.
"I do," and I snuck a Jew into a Catholic Church in Portugal. Fuck you, Inquisition.
"WOW," Katie said when we walked in.
"Ooo, the spoils of white supremacy," I whispered.
"You Catholics really like ornate shit. Jewish places...do not look like this," she said.
"I need to get gum so I can whisper inappropriate commentary into your ear without coffee breathe," I told her.
Almost all of the imagery was focused on the crucifixion.
"It's so gory!" Katie said.
"Yeah suffering is a big part of Catholicism."
As we walked closer to the altar, we saw more diverse imagery.
"Hey, this is who I'm named after!" I said.
"That doesn't sound like you at all," Katie said.
"I know, I identify more with the other Anna in the Bible. The prophetess everyone thought was crazy. At Jesus' circimcision she told Mary 'the sorrow you will feel for this child will be like seven swords piercing your heart.'"
"That sounds more like you," Katie said.
"I know."
"She probably wasn’t crazy, it was everyone else not paying attention."
"That’s what I keep telling people!" I exclaimed as we walked into the catacombs. Katie cringed as we stepped over a skeleton. (Trigger warning: images of human remains below.)
By nature of being catacombs, there were lots of relics and full on bodies down there.
"What are these?" Katie asked.
"Reliquaries. Those have body parts of saints."
"WHAT?!"
"I mean they could have secondary relics, like something they touched."
She moved over to the next box, grimaced and walked away. A parent covered his sons eyes.
We finished looking at bodies, crucifixes, vestments, and portraits of men, and went to use our tickets at livraria lello, apparently the most beautiful bookstore in the world.
It was super crowded and the Instagram models were flustered trying to get pictures. One such not model was not.
And she was also just happy to see Toni Morrison represented on the walls.
After the library we walked through some beautiful olive trees by the Clérigos Tower.
"I kind of just want to get a drink and just sit here, but I know you're not good at doing nothing," Katie said.
"Well I'm here to learn," so we did.
I think we made it a solid 15 minutes before Katie said "okay let's go...." and I hopped up.
We went into then Clérigos Tower, which was attached to a church, and saw many more crucifixes and paintings of men, which the Jew did not fully understand.
"Aww look at that baby with that strawberry," she said.
I giggled.
"Wait. That's a heart isn't it?"
"Yup."
"Why....are Jesus' nipples and belly button black?"
"Maybe it's showing his decay, like that he's already dead?" I said. "Or actually, it's that they nipple twisted him after the scourging. It's in the Bible."
"Wait is it really?" She asked.
"No, I’m full of shit."
The first two floors of the museum were all Catholic art and history, but the third floor took a hard shift-- exhibit from a local artist made out of plastic pulled from the ocean. Its purpose was to increase self awareness about all that we throw away.
After a claustrophobic and steep climb, we made it to the top of the tower, with a gorgeous view of the city.
We descended back down the crowded stairs (I mean really...how small were these monks? Did the smallest one get nominated to be the bell tower person? Like the flyer in a cheerleading group?). Then, we took an Uber to a local spot Katie had recommended to try the Francesinha sandwich. We were picked up by an eccentric Uber driver, Mario. He was happy and chatty.
"Welcome, Anna and compañera!" he said, and seemed eager to chat with us.
"It's a beautiful city," I said.
"Yes, and you have beautiful eyes."
"How do you know, I have sunglasses on?" I said (I am my own cockblock. Always.)
"I just know."
He turned on music and danced and sang, and pet people's dogs at stoplights.
"Mario, you have good energy," Katie said. "You love life."
"Thanks, I love you too," Mario said.
As we were riding, I had my hat in my lap. I saw the tag on the inside.
"Wow, this is a men's hat too," I said. Katie said nothing.
"You already knew that didn't you?" I asked.
"Um, yeah."
We tried the famous sandwich (it was alright), and walked back to our hotel. We had tickets for a light show at the Clérigos for later that evening. We had no idea what to expect.
As we walked out, Katie said, "I think that was about climate change."
"Ok, I thought the same thing but I just had a conversation about it this morning so I thought I was projecting."
"No that was definitely about climate change."
Afterward, we walked to the Ribeira district, to have dinner, port wine, and enjoy the riverside sunset. It was full of performers, couples on date night, and...us.
It was a gorgeous night.
"You know we have to walk up a big ass hill to get back to the hotel right?" Katie said.
Just 270 km to Santiago, y'all.
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