We have read of the frustration of cyclists with the extensive use of cobbles for the roads in northern Portugal towns, and even between towns. We feel that too, particularly with the small wheels and no shock absorbers. But narrow roads with no shoulders and moderate traffic are even more of a consideration. So it was that we looked at three possible routes from Braga to Barcelos, and chose one that we hoped would have less traffic, but where Street View (commonly known to us as Little Yellow Man) revealed a lot of cobbles. Our thinking was affected by the weather forecast too, because if the rain that had been falling in the night continued, the cobbles might be very slippery. In any event, we had to start with the road (N103) and could decide on cobbles when the turnoff came.
N103 is over there. Needless to say, we have to watch for cars that could aggressively turn for the Porto autovia, cutting us off.
When we were working with the Google Little Yellow Man, there were some spots on the Google recommended route where he had feared to tread. We found out why. The route turned first to dirt, then to the famous crushed or broken tiles, then rocks, then cow patties, and finally basic pasture. We felt like we were back in England, but we lacked any hapless Brits to blame!
Dodie saw this stream coming on the GPS and it looked like we might need to retrace our steps. But there was a little bridge, so the show carried on, though a little poopy.
We popped out of the swamp and onto some regular street of Barcelos. We now had to do about 5 km of continual traffic no shoulder riding, despite all efforts to avoid it.
You can see that Dodie is concentrating and none too pleased at having to merge onto that road.
Soon we began seeing posters advertising the Feast of the Crosses, which of course meant nothing to us. But then we came to some sort of fun fair, and we spoke to a guard at the entrance. Go on in, he gave us to understand, it was part of the Feast of the Crosses. How do crosses figure in a fun fair, I asked, but I could not understand the answer.
The fun fair soon gave way to an enormous clothing market. It was all low quality but new stuff, often with what appeared to be brand knock offs. Where do they get all this?
Next we hit some kind of cross related displays, seeming to originate with districts surrounding Barcelos. It might be that there was a competition for best cross related display. Flowers are part of it. Stay tuned for more on that too.
And wow, now we had a pretty big mainly veggie market. Of course this also included disgusting dried cod, but also some cheese and some bacon type stuff.
We have learned that all this beloved cod is not local but comes from Norway. You can see that in the little signs here.
We had by now found our hotel and stashed our bikes and gear. That included now being separated from our food stocks, so it was time to see what was on offer for street food. There were lots of vendors of kebab or burgers, but I was hoping for Portuguese BBQ chicken, or something like that. Portguese BBQ chicken seems to be mostly a Montreal myth about Portugal, and there was definitely nothing like that in these streets.
There was one stand that was flame broiling "something", called prego. I looked up prego in my translate program, and it said "nails". What? But Google also said "prego" was famous in Lisbon. ?? Anyway, we lined up, for there was a line for this, but not for any of the kebab stands.
It was now our time to start learning more about what was actually going on in this town. We began at the Bom Jesus da Cruz de Barcelos basilica. Yes, that is the same Bom Jesus (Good Jesus) of the sanctuary in Braga, that we missed visiting. It really is something special, and we recommend checking out Scott Anderson's excellent account of it. The legend is that in 1504 a black earthen cross appeared to a shoemaker next to the fairground in Barcelos. This quickly triggered a procession, the building of a large wooden cross, and soon a chapel. The thing snowballed from there, so now we have the basilica here, with lots of black crosses. But we also have a multi day festival, that included (yesterday) a Semana Santa type procession, and yes, a fun fair. The market, though, might anyway be a regular Thursday thing.
Something really unique about the Bom Jesus da Cruz celebrations is a focus on flowers, and specifically the creation of flower and seed based art on the floor, so reminiscent of the sand mandalas done by Buddhist monks.
We left the basilica and strolled briefly down the walking street it heads up. But soon we entered the town tower, called the Porta Nova Tower, which had been part of the defensive wall system. Now it was devoted to extensive displays of figurines by Barcelos artists.
I climbed the tower, and from the top got a nice overview of the old town. You can see how beautiful this place is, especially dressed up for the festival.
Here is that flower carpet from ground level. Note the rooster theme and the Camino shell theme. The Camino and the Rooster and the Bom Jesus are the town's main things.
There is a castle (or palace) above the river bridge, dating from 1400. It is mostly a ruin now. But it does have the story of the Barcelos rooster posted on its wall. There are very many versions of this story floating about, many reproduced on post cards. The basic idea is that a pilgrim from Galicia (where Santiago is) is falsely accused and convicted of a crime. He goes to the judge, who is eating a rooster, and tells him that if he is unjustly hanged the rooster will jump up and crow. The pilgrim is hanged, the rooster crows, and the judge rushes to the gallows, to find the pilgrim did not die. In the story on the wall here, the pilgrim is saved by Santiago, who is supporting him under the feet. In other versions, the noose was too loose. However, and this is news (even to the people at Tourist Information!), the rooster in this story is not the colourful rooster on sale in all the souvenir shops. Who is that rooster? Stay tuned for the surprising answer.
Walking back from the castle to the old town, we noticed a long building undergoing restoration. Look at this original beam. Probably should replace it!
We came upon the pottery museum as we walked back through town. The museum has been there for 25 years, and has custody of 9000 pieces from around Portugal and its former possessions. However today only a small exposition was in place. This included some "avant guard" things that were maybe tutus with legs, and a lot of figurine based items. You be the judge!
In the lobby, a photo of a remarkable pottery carrying feat.
But now at last the truth about the rooster. The rooster image has traditional folk roots in Portugal. It's hard to see in the second photo below, but there were various rooster portrayals, dating at least to 1906. Rooster designs evolved over the decades, but the whole rooster thing took off when the symbol was grabbed by the approximately 40 year long dictatorship (Estafdo Novo), as a symbol of a new day. That dictatorship was still in full flight in the mid 20th century, when an artist, Manuel Torres, came up with the black background, red hearts version in a poster for the , wait for it, Bom Jesus Festival of Crosses for 1955. Between Bom Jesus and the Estado Novo, the Rooster took off!
