As we crossed an old roman bridge, now suitable only for pedestrian traffic, in a pine forest decorated with rows of wild calla lilies, about 10 km from the nearest town, we heard a siren’s wail of bagpipes.  A wedding procession?  Scottish observance of the day after the day after Easter? A funeral dirge? A short way on we found a lone piper standing on the side of the trail playing Amazing Grace.  We stood admiringly, he acknowledged us with a Buon Camino without missing a note, we dropped a contribution in his open pipe case, stamped our pilgrim passport with his stamp and walked on.

On our way out of Tui we were stopped by Ramon who, we were told, is on vacation in Tui.  The conversation was in Spanish: Santiago? Where are you from?  I had dinner last week in Santiago with the American Commercial Atache.  I have an article I want you to read.  Do you use WhatsApp? Ok I will send it to you.  Where in the US? Ah, I have a cousin that lives in DC, loves it.  America is a great country. You must see the Cathedral in Tui.  Spain is more beautiful than Portugal, we have better food. Have a good walk.   

And off we went to see the Cathedral, as directed. 

Ramon may be right about the food in Spain, but Portugal is unique.  2 points: it is clean in a Nordic sense.  Not a spot of trash to be found on the streets, a trash container always nearby.  Second, zebra stripes rule.  Traffic will be moving along at a clip pace but a pedestrian standing by the zebra stripes brings it all to a halt.    As we were leaving Esposende, the storm of the century town, we stood on the sidewalk ready to cross a road marked by those white stripes.  A van came to a halt, the car behind him did not.  The driver of the truck looked at us and assured us “it’s ok.”