"If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk." - Raymond Inmon
The way merges once again with the Via XIX Roman road, marked by an image of a chariot and rider on several milestones. This road ran from Braga to the south of us, north the Santiago, and then east to Astorga mirroring the Camino Frances.
The town of Valença itself is attractive but its main draw is the fortress. We did not have time for sightseeing, the Way takes you through an impressive arched gate inside the walls, along a couple of shopping streets and past an ancient church before spitting you out through a narrow tunnel onto the avenue that leads to the bridge.
In the Middle Ages, Spain and Portugal were so powerful that they signed a set of treaties literally dividing up the globe between them. That's why these forts face each other across the river.
Tui north bank of the Miño River, facing south to the Portuguese town of Valença.
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| Fort in Valenca facing Spain |
This area has a rich history. There are thousands of artifacts from as early as 20,000 BC that have been unearthed here. In more recent time, after the campaigns against the Moors around 700 AD, the town lay abandoned the buffer zone between Moors and Christians for three centuries. Then it rebuild and was promptly sacked by Vikings and abandoned again for a couple of centuries.
Because both countries are in the EU, we just walked across the border. We lose an hour as well. Portugal is on GMT with the UK, but Spain is in the Central Europe time zone with the rest of western Europe.
Great day walking again with today's distance of 32 km (20 miles) being the longest we have remaining.
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| a few of the "church" cats in Tui |
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| From Spain looking south, rowers on the river, Valenca fort on the hill |
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| Tunnel leading to bridge and crossing to Spain |
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| Tui Cathedral on the hill top from bridge |
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| streets leaving Tui |
