Ermida do Senhor da Pedra at Aguda

Two train journeys from Aveiro and we were at Aguda. Delfim , our professor had invited us for lunch and what a beautiful lunch it was. His house right on the beach has a garden full of beautiful roses, lovely ramblers which smell delicious, nothing of those artificial insipid hybrids. These are the La France and Cardinal which grew in my grandmother’s garden.

A good lunch, a nap would have been just right but Prof. Delfim being an outdoors person decided a walk would do us good; we were to visit the Ermida do Senhor da Pedra which is commemorated in the Cantiga de São Simeão, a canto which dates back centuries and speaks of a damsel waiting for her lover, waits and waits and ultimately is drowned by the waves of the incoming tide…..

 
Sentada na ermida de São Simeão
Cercaram-me as ondas, que grandes são!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!

Não tenho barqueiro nem armador
Morrerei formosa no mar maior!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!
Eu atendendo o meu amigo!

This long trek was on the shore, the sea rough, the wild wind blowing sand playfully, the sea crashes angrily on the rocks, and the rocks shelter the visitors. Parents sleep whilst little children play the age old game of building sand castles. The trek would have been rough had there not been board walks that stretch for miles, that really makes the trek easy and gave us plenty of time to admire the dune parks. That was something new for me, all manner of weeds and tiny plants allowed to live in peace, nobody tramples them. Somebody mentioned dune treks, lovely.

The small chapel, Ermida do Senhor da Pedra, is built on rocks centuries ago and many say it was built on  a Celtic site of worship. The Ermida is truly surrounded by a very angry sea and the damsels lament can be heard as the sea rises higher and higher.

Inside the chapel has a well decorated altar with a Christ crucified but why is the entire altar bathed in an eerie green light? I am still wondering

On the way back we took a road away from the shore, on the banks of a tiny rivulet, so clean, so fresh. Great care has been taken to train the river into tiny waterfalls, weeds growing and flowering plants completes the serene picture.

The Boardwalk allows a comfortable trek.
Courtesy. Claro Oliveira

Ermida do Senhor da Pedra; Courtesy Joao Paulo Coutinho

Capela do Sr. da Pedra courtesy Joaquim Oliveira