First Stop, Philly

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'reLeer más
1.5 Days in Porto

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 homeLeer más
Porto Buildings

Portugal has tile on many of its buildings. They're very pretty. These pics are all still in Porto. Throwing in a little street art here too.
Day 1: Porto to Vila do Conde

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.Leer más
Contact Me Via WhatsApp

Hi friends and family! If you want to communicate with me outside of this travel platform, please use WhatsApp. It works much better than texting. 🙂
Day 2: Vila do Conde to Esposende

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 theLeer más
Day 2 Continued: Shoreline & Seaweed

The beaches were beautiful, but the water is cold! Even the locals weren't really having it.
I haven't yet found out what they're doing with it, but workers were out, actively raking up the seaweedLeer más
Day 2 Cont: Inland & On the River

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 coolLeer más
Day 3: Esposende to Antas

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 wereLeer más
Day 4 Cont: Wildlife

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 ofLeer más
Day 4: Antas to Viana do Costelo

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 toLeer más
Day 4 Cont: Cathedral Santa Luzia

Rio Lima, stairs, smokey skies, and rest.
Santa Luzia is my mom's patron saint (Lucia).
Day 5: to Vila Praia de Âncora

Beautiful 10 mile walk, mostly along the coast with a few sections just a bit more inland. This place had a great beachfront with lots of restaurants. We had dinner here with another pilgrim we hadLeer más
Day 6 Cont: Tui, Spain

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 wasLeer más
Day 6: to Tui, First Night in Spain!

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 originallyLeer más
Day 7: Tui to Mos

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 kmLeer más
Day 8: Animals!

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 wasLeer más
Day 8: Mos to Puenta Sampaio

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°!
MoreLeer más
Day 9: Taxi to Pontevedra

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,Leer más
Day 10: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

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 trailsLeer más
Day 10 Cont: After the Rain

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 restLeer más
2 Nights in Caldas de Reis

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,Leer más
Day 11: Caldas d. Reis to Padrón

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), whichLeer más
Day 12: Padrón to Santiago

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!Leer más
Days 12-13: Santiago de Compostela

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,Leer más
Kathy ThielenWe've made the standby flight!!
OMG! How exciting! Fingers crossed! [Dianna]