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Camino Portugues de Porto 2024
  • Kathy Thielen
  • Kathy Thielen

Camino Portugues de Porto 2024

Camino #2, and this time, traveling with my sweet pal, Desiree! We start in Porto and plan for a 14 day trip with an extra night in Caldas de Reis. After Santiago, off to Finesterre for 2 days, then to Madrid for 4 nights. Les mer
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  • Reisens start
    15. september 2024
    Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen

    First Stop, Philly

    12. september 2024, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Sitting in the airport in Philidelphia, waiting with fingers crossed, hoping that they'll have seats for us on this next flight, Philly to Madrid. Desi's son is a pilot for American Airlines, so we're flying at a reduced rate, but on standby. Cross your fingers for us - it's gonna be close!!Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen

    1.5 Days in Porto

    13.–15. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Obviously, 1.5 days in Porto is not neeeeeearly enough, and almost a little heartbreaking for me. Tried to make the best of it nonetheless.

    Went to a city wine and food tasting Fri night, came home and slept half the day away. Today (Sat) strolled through a beautiful, centuries (probably thousands) year old cemetery, then went back out to the area we had toured the previous night to do a little shopping, eating and drinking.

    Neither of us were big fans of port wine, but both agreed that the vino verde is delicious, and we found some great craft beer as well. Liked the local pork sandwiches, called bifanas, and also enjoyed some thin crust pizza with vino verde on night two.

    Need to do some re-packing now to get things squared away for our first official day on the Camino!    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen

    Day 1: Porto to Vila do Conde

    15.–16. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    First walking day was a little tough. Started out from Porto Cathedral and took several miles and a couple of hours, winding through city streets before making it out to the coast to head north. There, we encountered throngs of people for the half marathon and volleyball tournament taking place. Very crowded!

    Finally made it through, but being a Sunday, the boardwalk and beaches were still very busy. We walked 14 miles, and after realizing we had completely miss-calculated the distance to our endpoint for the day, we called a driver (Bolt is the app) and let them take us the final 7 miles to our hostle.

    The beaches were gorgeous. At one point, there was a swimming pool built into the ocean! The beautiful lighthouse pictured is Farol da Boa Nova Lighthouse, near the outskirts of Porto.

    We reached our hostel, cleaned up and had dinner at a great little neighborhood Gastropub, just around the block from us. The food was delicious and included a salad with greens and a combo of fruits and vegetables I'd never seen mixed all together before. Hooray for new things. 🙂    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen

    Day 2: Vila do Conde to Esposende

    16.–17. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Got an early start and walked 2 quick blocks back to the ocean to head north for 15 miles. At about 1/3 of the way in, we cut more inland (probably about 1/3 sooner than we should have), leaving the boardwalk and moving into farmland. The sun was strong and at 82°f/ 27.8c (I know, AZ family, that's nothing to you, but that's why I moved away over 20 years ago!), it started weighing heavy on us. Even Desi, who is much more heat tolerant than I, was feeling it. Finally stopped for a bite to eat and cool water, then made it on to our night's destination.

    Before leaving the shoreline, we passed a fun momento stand, where pilgrims left a little something behind to represent themselves or where they were from. I added a Portland keyring. 😊 Can you find it?    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
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    Day 2 Cont: Inland & On the River

    16.–17. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Once we shifted a bit inland, we walked through a lot of farmland (mostly corn, kale, spinach and some pumpkins), and it got toasty. We, along with quite a few other pilgrims found respite in a cool church - some even realized that the stone on the ground outside the church was a cool relief. Desi and I had to resist the urge to lay down on the marble floor inside the church. 😅

    We then continued on and back toward the coast a bit to our hostel, which was just across from the Cávado River. There, we watched some kite surfers and a gorgeous sunset.    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
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    Day 3: Esposende to Antas

    17.–18. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Simple Simon day! We walked ~6miles today to Antas Guest House. It has a beautiful, private backyard with a swimming pool, and we literally had it all to ourselves from 11am-3:30pm today. There were dove coo-ing, calling g to each other, and flying about all day. It was a lovely day of rest that we both really enjoyed.

    Leaving our hostel this morning (first pic), the air was pretty heavy with smoke. Lots of wildfires all around (but no danger to us, just smoke). Still, very sad. Firefighters from 3 neighboring countries have been flown in to help.

    The second couple of pics are of a cool art piece on our way out of town. Tony Gorman, I need you here to act as my historian and deliver the details in a concise manner! We passed a mural timeline yesterday with a lot of people laboring, and it included women doing g all the same manual work as the men. This sculpture captured that too (she's in the very front).

    Took lots of pics along the short walk today, making it take longer than needed. Included is a pic of a little bit of the wildlife we saw along the way in the last pic. 😅    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
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    2This guy has a great face and a fantastic tail!He was a sweetie, pretty young and in the same yard as the other dog. They seemed to be good pals.

    Day 4 Cont: Wildlife

    18.–19. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    A few more domestic critters were the closest contact we had with the local wildlife (outside of the doves who seem to love the area and all the trees). They've been with us for the past couple of days, cooing and cawing to each other.Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Leaving in the morning to head out, the air was pretty heavy with smoke from wildfirefires 🙁
    A marker with tokens and .omentos left behind by previous pilgrimsIgreja Santiago de Costelo da Neiva. This church also had a beautiful century right next to it.

    Day 4: Antas to Viana do Costelo

    18.–19. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Rrrrg, I suspected I wasn't going to be able to keep up very well with updates on this. Ah, well . . .

    We did another 10 mile walk on this day and reached Albergue Santa Luzia, sitting right next to the Cathedral Santa Luzia, majestically perched at the top of a hill in Viana do Costelo . . . via a 660 step staircase. We survived and made it!

    The route we took was all inland, through small towns, an estuary, and stretches of beautiful woodland trails. Near the end, begore coming to our 660 steps to the albergue, we cross over the Rio Lima on a large bridge, busy with both foot and car traffic.    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Crossing the bridge over rio Lima. The Cathedral is in the distance, on the left side of the hill.
    Cathedral Santa Luzia, end destination for the day.660 stairs . . .2That's the ocean, down in the distance, barely visible through the smoky sky. 😕1

    Day 4 Cont: Cathedral Santa Luzia

    18.–19. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Rio Lima, stairs, smokey skies, and rest.
    Santa Luzia is my mom's patron saint (Lucia).

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Cathedral Tui
    Loved seeing these senior ladies hanging out together in the square2Me and my date, having a beerThe waiter chased my date away!

    Day 6 Cont: Tui, Spain

    20.–21. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Tui was hopping, and we had gotten far north enough of the rain to have beautiful weather again. Lots of other pilgrims and friendly locals. Didn't find any pilgrim priced meals, but the food was delicious and worth every euro. Tui had a lot of beautiful plazas, parks, cathedrals and people watching opprtunities.Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    There were several of these cool oceanside swing sets along the way.Wait, I had no idea that sheep actually have long tails, but it has become the standard to dock them

    Day 6: to Tui, First Night in Spain!

    20.–21. sep. 2024, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Short day, 7 miles. We started out, not taking too much heed of the impending rain. We had our ponchos, but I don't think we were mentally prepared for the downpour that came. We had originally planned for a total of 10 miles, and then a taxi ride 12 miles up to Tui, but after a soggy 7, we called for the taxi. No guilt, no regrets.

    We left, walking along the coast for a stretch before the trail took us inland, meeting a few sheep, goats, and snails along the way.

    This first set of pics is on our path from Vila de Praia Âncora to Caminha, still Portugal.    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
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    Day 7: Tui to Mos

    21.–22. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Tui to Mos was a long, 14 mile day, through a lot of beautiful woodland paths and streams, with a gorgeous garden cafe stop along the way.

    Stayed in a rental home that night, which was a couple of km north of the Plaza and festivities in town. Had a great dinner in the Plaza and a peaceful night's sleep, but could hear the faint percussion of the drumming in the Plaza at 5am still the next morning.Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    A Dog and His Rat

    Day 8: Animals!

    22. september 2024, Spania ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    This dog in the first 2 pics was fantastic. As we were first approaching, he was in a perfect, upright sitting pose, with a dead rat just off to his side. I'm assuming he had slain the rodent and was quite proud of himself. Kinda bummed that I didn't move fast enough to get that posed shot, but it will be ingrained in my memory for quite some time. 😅Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    In the morning, before the fog burned off.
    Ria de PontevedraRia de PontevedraLots of these lilies along the trail these past few days.Lérez RiverLérez River

    Day 8: Mos to Puenta Sampaio

    22.–23. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    This was an 11 mile day, but felt longer (to me) because we were more exposed and the sun was strong. I felt as though I was melting, but when I checked the temperature, it was only 68°!

    More beautiful scenery and stops through small towns along the way, as well as some gorgeous views of the Ria de Pontevedra, where the North Alantic Ocean and the Lérez River meet.Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Huge wall/retaining wall covered with natural greenery. Des is throwing the AZ Sun Devils hand sign.Iglesia de la Virgen Perigrina. This was designed with a scallop motiff.Iglesia de la Virgin PeregrinaSweet couples enjoying each other's company on a bench outside of a shop in one of the plazas.

    Day 9: Taxi to Pontevedra

    23.–24. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Desi, like so many other pilgrims (including me on my first trip), has tendinitis, and I've finally convinced her that the only way to heal it is to stay off her leg for a day or two. Begrudgingly, she agreed to a taxi for an 8 mile drive up to Pontevedra.

    Pontevedra is a great town! Lot's of great restaurants, shopping, plazas, gardens, people watching, and a university. The Lérez River runs just above the old part of the city, and the university is just north of it, in a more modern setting. There is also a cultural center there.

    I milled about a little bit on my own, and later that afternoon, Desi and I did more sightseeing and eating. We ended up spending more than a couple of hours at a great outdoor restaurant, Carabela Gastro Bar, where we had delicious meals, and I lost 4 games of backgammon (Des was rolling doubles left and right! 🤨).    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen

    Day 10: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

    24.–26. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    And then there was rain. We stalled until 10:45, waiting to see if it would ease up a little, but then put on our ponchos and started walking. Today was 14 miles. The route took us along open trails as well as through paths in the woods. It's funny how, even though my shoes were soaked through, I still found myself trying to step around puddles. 🤣

    At our first cafe break, we got a chance to shake off a bit of the rain and get some food. The place was packed with wet pilgrims. We met a great gal from NY City, Joanna, there, and she ended up walking the rest of the day with us. She instigated some very thoughtful conversations, making the time pass more quickly. 😊    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    2As soon as I began to approach this dog, he immediately rolled over for a belly rub.Coming into Caldas de Reis, Rio Umia.

    Day 10 Cont: After the Rain

    24.–26. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Desi, Joanna, and I made another cafe stop around 4 in the afternoon, and sampled some delicious, flaming chorrizo. As we finished up there, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and we enjoyed the rest of our walk, sans ponchos!

    Of course, I took more animal pics along the way from there.    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Had coffee at a cafe just off the river, start of the 2nd day here. Very peaceful.

    2 Nights in Caldas de Reis

    24.–26. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Had 2 nights in Caldas de Reis, as a friend had recommended hanging out a little longer here, and Desi need some serious icing and down time for her tendinitis.

    The first evening was very nice there, but the weather was so crummy the next day and evening that I really didn't do much exploring. Totally missed the healing hot spring waters that the town is named for. 🫤 Next time!!Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    This is an hórreo. These were used to store grains.
    A lot of pilgrims on the trail today!1The framework for most vineyards is created with slabs of stone for the upright supports.I can't tell you the name of this little church, but I sure loved how it looked with the sky.My Yo La Tengo shirt. It's bright and sunny to me, but it summoned the rain both days I wore it hereThis was a great cafe. I had a delicious tortilla (Spanish omlette w/ potato & onion) & a 1906 beer.Me and my shadowGourds in the gardenGourds in the tree

    Day 11: Caldas d. Reis to Padrón

    26.–27. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    We did 12 miles to Padrón today, with just a little rain in the morning. It was a beautiful walk, beautiful scenery.

    Had a fantastic dinner here (food was great, service was a little weird), which included the famous pementos (peppers) de Padrón. They say that about 1 in 20 is spicy hot, but there's no real way to know which one it will be. My very first pepper was one of those 1 in 20. 🤣 No others since then, and I've shared two more plates of them with Des since that first bite. They really are delucious.Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    Capela de Maria Magdelena, our starting point out of Milladoiro.
    Just 4 km to go!

    Day 12: Padrón to Santiago

    27.–29. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Final walking day as pilgrims! The distance between these 2 points is just shy of 16 miles - Des' ankle was not going to be able to tolerate that distance, and I just plain didn't feel like doing it! So, we caught a ride up to Milladoiro, and walked an easy 5 miles into Santiago.

    I think I took just as many pictures on this short walk as I typically would on a 14 mile day. More gorgeous sights, plenty of pilgrims, and more animals, of course.    Les mer

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  • Kathy ThielenCamino Portugues de Porto 2024Kathy Thielen
    We have arrived!
    Botafumeiro hanging in the CathedralI lit a couple of candles, one for Mom and one for the U.S.Pilgrim shadowCity Hall, across the Plaza from the Cathedral. There was a pro-Palestinian demonstration this day.Front corridor of City HallDes went for the churros, I went for a tortilla (not pictured). 1906 is a great beer here!This is a pic that Des took somewhere along our travels. Eating a sammie on the trail!

    Days 12-13: Santiago de Compostela

    27.–29. sep. 2024, Spania ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Santiago was even more lovely than I'd remembered it from my first visit, 8 years ago. The Cathedral was beautiful, without all the scaffolding that had been there before.

    We took lots of pics, checked into our boutique hotel, cleaned up, and started wandering. We re-connected with a couple of other pilgrims we'd met on the trail earlier on the trip and shared some delicious food and great company.Les mer

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