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Camino de Santiago

August 2018 - April 2024
Portuguese Coastal way Read more
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  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 2

    Porto, Portugal

    August 30, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Porto 😍 ! I like you already. Finally here... Cannot wait to explore this beautiful city for the next few days before starting the Camino. Better get some rest before putting these boots to the test.

    Little minor ick to start Porto. Our metro broke down and we had to get off in the middle of no where to wait for another one. Hahaha. Oh well. At least Im on vacation. 😑😆    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    22
    Day 2

    Old porto

    August 30, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Beautiful city. Managed to get around by pointing at street signs. And looking confused. Why is the wine so cheap here? This is unreal. I think I'll be walking my Camino abit crooked. 🙄

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 3

    Old Porto day 2

    August 31, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After getting up at 11:30 (oops. But it is techically 6:30 Ottawa time), I visited the town of old Porto since it is my last day here and I head to Douro valley tomorrow. It was absolutely beautiful! The boat cruise took us under the Don Louis bridge and 5 more. This was followed by a walk to Gaia where I had the most spectacular views of old Porto. I then visited the tower of Clerigo which offers 360 degree views of the city. This was gorgeous but definitely do not recommend for anyone who is claustrophobic or impatient in crowds as we were stuck between narrow walls going up most of the time! The day ended with the visit of the world's most beautiful library - Livraria Lello. Oh and you can't forget the great food! Best mussels and olives I've ever tasted!

    Side notes:
    - I brought my hair straightener for nothing - it does not even fit in my universal plug. 😭 Now I'm stuck hauling it on the camino.
    - I think the hardest part about backpacking is not being able to buy any shoes or clothes or souvenirs. I'm sorry friends and family.😑😣😣😣😣
    - I will come back to Portugal with an empty suitcase to buy things.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 3

    Old Porto day 2 - more pictures

    August 31, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The famous train station of Sao Bento, the cathedral of Se from afar (where I went to get my pilgrim certification to start the camino), a nice little church along the way, the university of Porto, the famous library and a cute little Portuguese Chihuahua. I miss misty. 😭😭😭Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    1
    Day 4

    Day 3 - Pinhão, Alijo, Portugal

    September 1, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 31 °C

    So today was quite interesting! It started off with an uber trip to the train station to head to Douro valley for the day. The train ride was 3.5 hours each way which makes for a long day. The scenery however is absolutely beautiful. One of the most picturesque in Europe they say.

    So the winery I wanted to go visit Quinta de Bomfim was in a little village named Pinhao. I some how missed that and ended up in Pocinhos, 1 hour away. Apparently I wasn't the only one going to the wrong place; these two Romanian girls had also missed their stop. After realizing the next train back to Pinhao wasn't passing until 2.5 hours we decided to try to hitch hike and ask locals for a ride. Not enough that we all had language barriers but locals were looking at us like we were crazy. Apparently no one from that village goes to Pinhao. Ever. Oh well. A few hours went by with absolutely nothing to do and we were back on the train 2.5 hours later. To my surprise my missing my train turned into quite a nice encounter. This man noticed my shell on my bag and said oh you're walking the camino! One thing led to another we ended up talking the entire way back to my stop in Pinaha. He gave me tips about what to do, what not to do on the trail and the most beautiful life advice. " You do not come to Portugal with Canada in mind, or else youre not truly travellig. You don't shed a tear from the past or plan for the future - you only live in the present moment".

    Needless to say missing my winery tour and running into this wise man was probably meant to happen. We said goodbye and he drew a cross on my forehead and wished me a buen camino. I assume that was some sort of act of blessing.

    In Pinaho finally! I get to visit my winery! I missed the tour but get to enjoy the beautiful terrace with a glass of red wine and a glass of port (I have to taste both of their selections, right? 😂). These two Italian boys sitting next to me start asking me if I'm travelling alone. I tell them I am. They asked me why and I responded that I needed to do this at this point in my life. Their reaction surprised me. They said that I was very courageous for doing that and that they wished they had the guts to do that. Coming from a 25 year old guy who moved from Italy to live in Portugal for a year! Ide say that was quite the compliment! They gave me tips about where to visit next, we talked travels and countries and I headed off to catch my train back to Porto for tonight.

    First night spent in a hostel - please no one snore! Please.

    Camino day 1 starts tomorrow! I'm excited! And also found out there is bag carrying service from town to town should I get tired of hauling this 20 pound backpack around. Now that's good news! Let's see if I'll need to use it.    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 5

    Day 1 of Camino De Santiago!

    September 2, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    If I had one word to describe today it would be "wow". Although I barely slept in the hostel last night (shared rooms really suck), it was an awesome day. I met a polish girl at the hostel in the morning, and we ended up walking together the entire day. At first I wasn't too keen on walking with someone, but after a while I was so happy we had found each other as the day just flew by! We talked about our countries, purpose for doing the camino and travels. We had a wonderful lunch by the sea. After 25km she was quite tired so decided to stop for the night in Vila Do Conde where most pilgrims were stopping. I said I would too if they had two single rooms. She did not like the shared rooms either and wanted to sleep alone tonight. They only had one room available so I told her she could have it and I would keep going as I had the energy to do so and something was telling me to do it. We exchanged numbers, hugged and wished each other a buen camino. We hope to cross each other again.

    Little did I know continuing the walk would make me fall on this amazing town! This town has the feel of a Portuguese Quebec City it's quite strange. The owner of my hostel is from France so was so happy she could speak French to someone! She upgraded me to a big room because I was doing the camino (but I honestly think it's because I was French like her lol). She introduced me to all the guests and offered suggestions on where to eat. I toured the town and noticed a Ferris wheel next to the casino and not too far from the bull fighting arena (I know - this town has everything possible!!) So I decided to hop on. What a view! I ended the night with an amazing dinner and amazing conversations with the restaurant staff as they knew Marlene (my French hostel owner) and were very friendly!

    Back at the hostel in my private room and I think I will sleep very well tonight... 😍

    Ps. I think I should pace myself on walking for the days to come - I don't want to be done this camino in only a week! 😐 lol    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 6

    Day 2 of Camino De Santiago

    September 3, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Omg today was brutal. From km 1 to km 20 I wanted to give up and take the bus. Thank God I did 30km yesterday because I never would of made it to this village today. My neck and back hurt (from carrying this majorly overweight 20 pound backpack), I now have 3 major blisters on my feet and my hips are killing me.

    I met some French people along the way who I thought were quebequers (they were wearing a QC flag poncho after all) but turns out they were from France. Their daughter lives in Montreal so they bought the ponchos last year when they went to visit her lol. I don't know what it is but it's such a nice feeling for French people when we hear someone else speak our language. There were alot of people ou this route today. I did not like crossing so many pilgrims. The road was also terrible after the first 4k. Stone roads, damp forests and poor villages. It was also very rainy all day which maybe played on my mood!

    From the looks of it online every place was booked in the stop-over village for tonight. Luckily my savior (Marlene the French owner of my hostel yesterday) came to my rescue! She phoned her friend in this village at the Esposende guest house and hallelujah - she found me a 4-bed bedroom to myself for 16 Euro!! I couldn't of been happier. I went to the store to buy food to make a salad and a bottle of wine and am taking the evening to stay in and lay on the patio with my book. I met a Spanish gay couple at the hostel before supper who were adorable. They must be 70 and doing the camino. I was able to understand that they like Canadians and that they did the camino Frances. That's about all. My Spanish is terrible. I later met a German woman who gave me advice on which way to take for the rest of the camino for it to be less busy. And how to take care of my blisters. Apparently alot of people get them on this walk - I'm not the only one!

    Anyway, I hope tomorrow will go better for my physical self. I've decided to abandon my walking sticks in hopes of liberating some weight. They're awkward and I don't use them anyway since the landscape is literally flat. There goes 20 Euro for nothing. Let's hope this 1 pound off makes a difference for tomorrow!

    P.s. I am obsessed with this wine! I've never tasted such a thing before. It's a red wine but almost fizzy... Whatttt. My new favourite wine ever. I hope we have it at home! Mom and Mireille you would love this one!
    P.p.s. This village looks soooo cute but I literally can't walk anymore so I'll have to skip the visiting. It took me 15 minutes to walk to the grocery store when the GPS said 3. 😑    Read more

  • TravelerCamino de Santiago
    Day 6

    Day 2 - More pictures

    September 3, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Why doesn't this thing let me post more than 6 pictures at a time!!

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