Its been a while

I have been sick and struggling to continue my walk. But, that hasn't left me with the energy to write my posts. I have been crashing each night. Though I have much more recuperating to go, I do feel better. A short day today helped also. We switched from the coastal to the central route, and took a car to span them. It would have been about a 30 mile walk and we don't have time for that. But we did walk about 8 miles today after we got to the Central.
We left Porto on Thursday morning. Jayme headed on the Central path and the rest of us took the coastal. The first three days along the coast were a mixture of things. We walked miles and miles of boardwalk, through small towns and on a couple trails. The terrain was pretty flat, but it seemed we were either being battered by the wind and sea spray or burnt to a crisp by the unrelenting sun. But the coast is beautiful and wild and I am so happy we did it. It truly reminded me of the Maine coast. Along the way we stayed a night in Perafita in an old woman's house with rooms that had decks facing the ocean and listened to the waves crash all night. Next we stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment right in the middle of old town Vila do Conde, a very nice place. And last night we stayed in private rooms at the Albergue Santiago de Coste in Apulia. We stayed in the private rooms because it only cost 5 euro more than the dorm bunks with 14 other people. And tonight we are in a private apartment with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, living room, and dining, balcony around 2 sides of the apartment, and some strange 4th bedroom that is the size of a cell and has no windows. Lucky we don't need that room. But the place is huge, quite nice and only .5 miles from downtown, all for 106,14 euro!
The path has become so much more populated since leaving Porto. It is getting difficult to pop behind a bush for a quick pee because there is always someone coming along to see you. But, everyone is friendly and happy and there is a good energy. And the locals have all been wonderful. When leaving Porto we net a man named Francisco who spoke with Noelle in Spanish and Portuguese. He asked where she learned to speak Portuguese and was greatly amused when she said "you tube"! He was so proud of his city and the park we were walking in. He gave us a history of how it was built. And, he made my day when he was awed that I had been walking since Lisbon.
Sorry this is just a quick recap. We are out at 6:30 tomorrow morning. We have a lot of miles and the majority a straight uphill. I need rest for what is ahead. And in case you don't hear from me, I will be in bed sleeping, I am sure.Read more