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Camiño Portugués

April - May 2024
Four years later than planned, but thrilled to finally do it Read more
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  • Camiño Portugués
    1
    Day 1

    Arrived!

    April 22 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Easy flight and burst out laughing when I found the notes Paul left in my bag 😂
    Easy metro ride into the city and now have my credential ready to start walking tomorrow.

  • Camiño Portugués
    1
    Day 2

    Day one - Porto to Matosinhos

    April 23 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Up and out early, so that I was able to leave Porto Sé just before 7am. A leisurely stroll to Matosinhos for day one, followed by a delicious and cheap brunch, and a very long nap/reading session on the beach. Staying at my first hostel this evening, and also got my first official stamp!Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    21
    Day 3

    Day two - Matosinhos to Vila do Conde

    April 24 ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Felt like a proper walking day today!
    Up early and stopped for breakfast at Marreco, where I met a lovely old lady who told me she’d be too scared to ever hike on her own in case the got lost. By contrast, at my next proper stop in Vila do Chã (quick orange juice and percebes snack), I met an even older, visually impaired lady who is doing the hike on her own, with just her wits and her stick. Amazing.
    Hostel number two is rather fancy, in that it is a small palace. I did, however, have to ask of my roommate to move her shoes and socks away from my bunk as they were proper stinky. Oh, the joys of roughing it. Also met five cats.    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    Day 4

    Day 3 - Vila do Conde to Póvoa de Varzim

    April 25 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    A very lazy day, where the walk was the equivalent of popping down to the shops. If “the shops” were located on a beautiful and busy seafront. Which somehow I forgot to take any pictures of, despite spending three hours sunbathing and snoozing on the beach!
    It’s the 50th anniversary of Dia da Liberdade, so it’s a public holiday and everyone was out celebrating by having a stroll - it was lovely to see.
    Tonight’s accommodation feels like luxury compared to the last two nights - my own double bedroom with an ensuite, for the princely sum of £25.
    Glad I took a down day, as the next few average about 25km a day, and yesterday I developed a tiny blister. As the guys at the pharmacy told me today, while I was stocking up on Compeed - não há gloria sem dor!
    Have decided I would like a pink house when I grow up - and also one of those tile things at the front. But mine will be of Darth Vader, or A.L.F., or Jean Luc Picard 😍
    Also, portions are huuuge. I made a valiant effort but couldn’t finish even half of my dinner.
    I have not met any cats today.    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    1
    Day 5

    Day 4 - Póvoa de Varzim to Esposende

    April 26 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    Woke at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep, so finally gave up and hit the road just before 6am. Slight panic that the blister I have would hinder the journey, but after a while I didn’t even feel it.
    Lots of coffee stops to break up the walk, and quite a few cats. If I could, I would take them all home and look after them 😕
    Back to hostel living tonight, but have just the one roommate - Rita from London. Other walkers have been slightly standoffish but that’s ok - we’re all just doing our own thing, afterall. The locals on the other hand have been delightful and those little interactions have brought a smile to my face. From the man who came out of the cemetery to try and give me a walking pole someone had left behind - not a dead person, but a girl who’d just walked past and left it at the cemetery gate - to the cyclist who told me “de santo não tem nada!” when I said “santinha!” to his friend, to everyone who says “bom dia”, people have been friendly and welcoming.
    Also, food, glorious food! Had bacalhao a bras followed by arroz doce for lunch, and promptly fell into a food coma when I checked in 🤣    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    1
    Day 6

    Day 5 - Esposende to Carreço

    April 27 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Christ on a cracker, that was a tough day!!
    Out by 8am and it was raining. And it carried on raining. And then it rained some more. And then, three hours in… sunshine! Bright, beautiful, burning sunshine!!
    A lot of walking through villages, but also some amazing forests, where I was very glad for my walking poles. A slight incident with another walker at a café left me seething - I mean, who just takes someone else’s coffee assuming it’s yours?!? - so I’ve had to try extra hard to be upbeat today.
    For the first time ever I turned to an audiobook to keep me going, and to shut the voices in my head who kept saying “why not just catch a taxi?”. Which I did, but only when I got to Viana do Castelo and just couldn’t face those last four miles in what looked to be rain again. And I was right, as it started raining as soon as the taxi pulled up to the door of Casa do Avô Horácio, where the owner sat me down, made me a coffee and have me biscuits with his home made marmalade 😊

    Also, met the most amazing cat with only half a tail - check out the video!    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    Day 7

    Day 6 - Carreço to Caminha

    April 28 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    As the song goes…. What a difference a day makes!
    Left much later than normal, but it was sunny and crisp and absolutely beautiful. Today’s walk has definitely been my favourite so far - most of it was with the sea to my left and green mountains to my right, the occasional walk through forest, mixture of boardwalk and rambling, absolutely perfect! It was bright but windy, but I think that just means extra kudos.
    At this point, a lot of the walkers have turned inland to take the traditional, central route, so the paths were much clearer of people.
    Stopped halfway at Vila da Praia da Âncora for a spot of lunch - yum, yum, yum! Then strolled the last 10km with a full tummy and a smile on my face. Found myself needing to hear Elbow’s One Day Like This, and it just seemed so apt to reach Minho river mouth, with Spain on the other of the river and those chords in my head.
    Had such a large lunch that all I wanted for dinner was cereal, so when in Portugal… chocopic it is!!
    Early night, for tomorrow I cross the river and enter España - ¡Buen Camino!    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    Day 8

    Day 7 - Caminha to Oia

    April 29 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    ¡Bienvenido a España!

    Sonder and serendipity were appropriate words for today.

    An unusual day in that I walked with people. As I arrived to catch the boat to cross the river, there was a large group and I told them to go ahead and I’d wait until they’d all crossed - the boat only takes eight people at the time. And how lucky that I did, for soon I was joined by three other solo women and we spent our day together walking to Oia. I love how walking makes people friends, and today I was lucky to know Berber (Germany), Nicola (Czech Republic) and Sasha (The Netherlands).
    Along the way, we share the road with others, share food and stories, then wave each other goodbye to maybe meet at some point.    Read more

  • Camiño Portugués
    Day 9

    Day 8 - Oia to Baiona

    April 30 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    The kindness of strangers.

    I completely forgot to get some cash out at my last big town, so have been using whatever little change I had left. This morning, I managed to buy a croissant, but couldn’t afford a coffee to go with. So the guy behind the bar “bought” it for me. Later on, as I was about an hour from my destination, I came across a little cafe. Soaked to skin (it rained all morning) and hoping against hope, I asked the owner if he’d accept card payment. “Te invito”, he said. I was so grateful but managed to scrape together my last 50 cents and a googly eye - he tried to wave it away and gave a coffee and two madeleines. That coffee was possibly the best coffee I’ve had this whole trip.

    As I entered Baiona, my first job was to find a cash point.

    Later, as I was looking at somewhere for lunch, I bumped into Sasha from yesterday. She joined me for lunch and we chatted, eyeing up what everyone else was eating. Our neighbouring table had something neither of us recognised - it’s empanada, said the guy at the table. He had the waiter give us some, and it was utterly delicious! Despite his ridiculous designer sunglasses and insistence on mainsplaning religion to us, he still shared what he had. We had a laugh because he told us about his many, annual pilgrimages. He’s done so many, I said he should be in the running for Pope!

    The hostel for tonight is as basic as they come, but it has everything you need- including lovely hot showers and a washing machine/dryer. Hurrah, for I am all out of clean, dry clothes! Esther in reception took pity of us (turns out Sasha is also staying here tonight) and moved bookings around so we could have bottom bunks. Showered and with clothes now in the dryer, I have settled down for a nap and a rest.
    It’s been a good day 😊    Read more

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