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Camino Portugues
  • Linda Ranweiler
  • Kathleen Kryza
  • Linda Ranweiler
  • Kathleen Kryza

Camino Portugues

Linda and Kathleen on another adventure — walking from Porto (Portugal) to Santiago de Compostelo (Spain). An estimated 160 miles, 14 days on the trail with one rest day. Two days exploring Porto before and after. Come along with us! Read more
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  • Trip start
    April 21, 2024
  • Camino Portugues
    11

    Our day in Porto

    April 23, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    We spent part of the day with Bruno on a private “Off the Beaten Path” walking tour of the city. He was incredibly knowledgeable — about history, architecture, food, languages, and art (including street art). It was the best city tour either of us has ever taken. We got our first Camino passport stamp at the Cathedral … and shared a francesinha sandwich for lunch and cataplana for dinner — both typical Portuguese dishes. And it feels like we spent hours zipping and unzipping our duffel bags and backpacks and fanny packs, as we organized and reorganized our gear, getting it ready for tomorrow!Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Porto to Povoa

    April 24, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    We’re on the Camino for real! After breakfast we taxied to the beach north of Porto — and started walking at the Praia da Memoria obelisk. Most of the 13 miles to our destination in Povoa de Varzim were along a beach boardwalk, sometimes past sand dunes, always surrounded by wildflowers, and lots of bamboo stands. We walked thru a couple of small fishing villages, then thru a large urban area at the end. There were dozens of other pilgrims along the way, a handful of bicyclists, and many locals enjoying the boardwalk as well. At lunchtime we chatted with a young couple from Ireland at an outdoor cafe — she had recently walked a pilgrimage in Japan. Sunshine and a cool breeze were the perfect accompaniments to our first day. The hotel that was booked for us in Povoa was similar to the one in Porto: our twin beds were side by side in a very tiny room!Read more

  • Camino Portugues
    11

    Povoa to Beach Resort Hotel, Esposende

    April 25, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Today was Dia da Liberdade, and the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese revolution. It was another short(ish) day of walking — 13 miles, only 6 hours with breaks. Beach boardwalk, then inland boardwalk, some towns, a golf course, a quiet wooded stretch on a dirt road. Kathleen took lots of flower photos — spring is a great time to be here! We’ve been seeing the same people at break stops and on the trail, and everyone wishes each other Bon (or Buen) Camino! Our hotel upgraded us to a Jr Suite — and the twin beds were all of 18” apart, not smushed together like at the other hotels. Kathleen, of course, did her traditional headstand on the beach, and we had a great sunset view at dinner.Read more

  • Camino Portugues
    2

    Esposende to Viana do Castelo

    April 26, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    We walked 16 miles today, our longest so far — about 8 hours including breaks. Leaving town, we had to stop for a school parade — they’re continuing to celebrate Freedom Day. Our path today went from city streets to countryside to small villages to woodland trails, across bridges (including a mile-long scary one) and up rocky mountainsides. The rain started around 2:30, and we were ready with our rain jackets and ponchos. When we arrive at our hotels, the first thing we do is strip off shoes & socks and get our feet up … Aaaaah, sweet relief!Read more

  • Camino Portugues
    11

    Viana do Castelo to Caminha

    April 27, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    We dressed for rain this morning, but it didn’t last long and we soon stuffed the rain gear back into our packs. We have been using our hiking poles a lot ever since leaving the boardwalks — they are so helpful on hills (going both up & down), on slippery rocks, on cobblestones, even on staircases. We did a lot of socializing today: with women from California, upstate NY, and Australia at stops along the way. During dinner, we lingered for two and a half hours over a feast of shared dishes and a bottle of excellent wine from the Douro Valley — complements of the Design and Wine Hotel. While today was 17 miles long, it took us a full 9 hours including breaks — thanks to higher hills than previous days.Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Caminha (Portugal) to Oia (Spain)

    April 28, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    This morning we took a small 6-passenger water taxi across the Rio Minho into Spain. We chatted on the trail with people we had met earlier as well as new fellow pilgrims. Again, there was a variety of paths, and the day wasn’t too long — about 12 miles, taking about 6.5 hours with breaks. There were almost no services along the route, so we ended up eating snacks instead of a real lunch. (Note to selves: make sure to carry more food in our packs!) Arriving in the tiny seaside village of Oia quite hungry, we were dismayed to find the only two restaurants had just closed — but our hotel was at least serving drinks, which we supplemented with a bag of chips. We found a self-service washer and dryer, and washed a large load of our dirty clothes. Finally 8 pm rolled around, and we were the first two in the restaurant!Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Oia to Baiona

    April 29, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    A 12-mile day that took about 5.5 hours. Sometimes the Camino followed the rocky coast, sometimes we shared a “yellow brick road” with occasional bicyclists, and it seemed we climbed steeper mountains today than any previous day (we are very thankful for our hiking poles). We arrived in Baiona famished, and found a restaurant just before the hotel, for a very late lunch. Bocadillos are ginormous hot baguette sandwiches — and go great with Estrella Galicia cervezas. We had lots of time before dinner (WHY do Europeans like to eat so late??) so we walked down to the marina, climbed up the to the medieval Monterreal Castle — and were allowed into into the (empty) Yacht Club by Kathleen saying she is a sailor in the US. Camila, the delightful young bartender working there alone, was thrilled to entertain us — with a wine tasting!Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Baiona to Vigo

    Apr 30–May 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    We started with all our rain gear on, as the forecast was rain for the next 6 days. But it miraculously stopped in the early afternoon, and the sun and partial blue sky cheered us. More hills today — we think the steepest yet. So far we’ve met and chatted with pilgrims from Ukraine, Italy, Estonia, Austria, Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany — Helen from Australia wins the prize. Women seem to outnumber the men … and more seem to be traveling with their friends rather than their partners (like us)! A few times this week we’ve gotten off the Camino path, but today was our biggest blooper. We usually get to our hotel by looking at google or apple maps when we’re really close. We looked too early today, and instead of hiking the trail near the water’s edge and getting off within 3 blocks of our hotel, we ended up hiking waaaaaay up to the highest point in the city (318´ in elevation, where the famous Horse statue is) then down again. (On the attached map, yellow is the Camino and red is more or less our path.) All we could do is laugh when we realized our mistake! (And keep our legs up on the hotel room wall even longer until the aching settled a bit! Beer, wine and pizza helped, too. )Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Vigo to Redondela

    May 2, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Yesterday was our rest day in Vigo, so we got to sleep in a little, didn’t have to zip and unzip everything, and lingered over breakfast. Walking outside, we wondered why it looked like a ghost town. May 1st is celebrated big time here — a Labor Day holiday with flags and balloons, parade and speeches. Some locals celebrating by spilling out of the bars in a different type of “labor.” In keeping with the local spirit, we treated ourselves to a massage, and at dinner we shared a huge seafood platter and bottle of delicious local white wine, Albariño.

    Today we were back on the Camino — 9 miles, 4.5 hours. More slowly climbing of the city streets to get from Vigo Baja to Vigo Alta … and once out of the city we reached a lovely wide dirt path thru the woods, where we could walk side by side instead of single file — sooo much easier for our conversations! (You think we might run out of things to talk about?) The forecast had been for rain, and we were dressed accordingly, but ended up blessed with sunshine most of the way. (Just like bringing your umbrella assures the rain will hold off. ) Arriving in the village of Redondela, we met up with more pilgrims than we had ever seen in one place. This is where the Coastal and Central Portuguese Caminos come together. We are now less than 100 km from Santiago. How did that happen so quickly?    Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Redondela to Pontevedra

    May 3, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 57 °F

    Ninth day of walking. Only 12 miles — which doesn’t seem long to us, ever since doing the 16- and 17-mile walks. There were two peaks to climb today — sometimes these are paths up actual hills, more often they are roads that go past occasional houses or through villages. There was a good bit of forest walking, which always feels good. Even in the rain.

    Small things offer big delights when your days are spent walking. When we opened the door to our hotel room, instead of the usual twin beds smushed together, there were THREE twin beds with space in between each of them! It felt positively luxurious.

    For dinner we found a tapas bar that opened at 7:00 (hallelujah!) and since it was still pouring we treated ourselves to a taxi ride. A local delicacy is choco — or cuttlefish, cousin to the squid. We were brave and ordered choco croquettes. The inside was inky black — because they are actually cooked in their own ink. 😱 Edible, but not delicious. The salad, sausages, and potatoes were good, and the wine, only €2.50 a glass, was perfect.    Read more

  • Camino Portugues
    11

    Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

    May 4, 2024 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 61 °F

    Sooo many pilgrims walking out of town this morning! But as people found their own pace, the crowd thinned out. It rained the ENTIRE 13 miles, and we ended up dripping wet, with shoes squelching and spattered with with mud. There were puddles and mud on most of the paths, and we encountered two flooded streams rushing over the Camino, quite unnerving. The first one we were able to ford, completely drenching our shoes; the second one turned all of us back to find an alternate route.

    Along the way we met Jason from Seattle who was walking at about the same pace as us, We spent much of the day chatting with him. He was charming and a character and meeting him was the highlight of our day. That and lunching on another bocadillo the size of our heads — and they gave us a packet of mayonnaise! We miss American condiments!

    After dinner (which included a scrumptious caldo Gallego, the national soup of Galicia), we walked down to the chuch where we were treated to amazing traditional Galician music — a chorus of singers with bagpipes, drums, tambourines and hurdy-gurdies. Celtic music blended with Galician music is rousing and goes back centuries. Standing ovations and encores should happen more often in churches.

    As of today we have walked 135 miles with only 27 to go!    Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Caldas de Reis to Padron

    May 5, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    It’s our second to the last day … yikes! Misty rain today, not the heavy thunder showers that were predicted. Most of the path was off roadways, so quite pleasant. We arrived at our rural hotel before 4 pm — and it’s one of the nicest we’ve stayed in. Plus, it has *real* hangers, and towel hooks in the bathroom … again, we are thankful for the small things!

    We met some boisterous Aussies as well as a sweet couple from Ireland and two couples from Calgary. As we sat outside listening to music, talking and sipping wine, the SUN appeared. It was heavenly to feel it on our (three days of rained-on) bodies.

    Our daily morning mantra is “Our only job today is to walk, and be grateful.” We do, and we are. 👣🙏🏽    Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Padrón to Santiago!

    May 6, 2024 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    It was a bit confusing this morning, to find our way back to the Camino. But NO RAIN! So no rain gear! Free at last — and dry!

    We made two stops, first for cafe con lèche and later for a ham & cheese bocadillo. We stopped for an emotional photo op at the 10k obelisk, marking that we two met 30 years ago at a 10k race (which we were power walking). When we arrived in Santiago, just around the corner from the Cathedral, we heard someone shout, “Linda!” We looked around and saw the first friends we had made on day one of the Camino, Aisling and Callum from Cork, Ireland. They said they had been hoping to see “the girls” before they left, and were watching for us in the crowd streaming by. After completing our journey standing in front of the cathedral of St. James (and a bit overcome with emotion), we laughed with them for almost 2 hours! We saved our visit to inside the Cathedral for tomorrow, when we will have all morning free.

    We met up with some other pilgrim-friends (Jason, Bill, and his friend Marco) for a last dinner together, and shared a plateful of the famous Padrón peppers (which weren’t available at our Padrón hotel dinner). “Most pimiento de padrons are as about as mild as your typical bell peppers, which have zero heat on the Scoville Scale. However, about 1 in every 10 peppers will give you a surprising jolt of heat. It's a bit like playing Russian Roulette with your tongue.” No one at our table appeared to get jolted!    Read more

  • Camino Portugues

    Santiago back to Porto

    May 7, 2024 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 70 °F

    Sleeping in! No rush at breakfast! But … yes, we want (and need) to walk. Our bodies seem to like this active daily routine. And we needed to collect our Compostela, the certificate we earned by walking to Santiago. We followed other pilgrims to find the office where this happens. They check your pilgrim passport filled with stamps from churches, cafes, and lodgings all along the Camino, making sure you got at least 2 each day. Then they present you with two very ornate personalized certificates, one in Latin, the other in Spanish.

    The inside of the Cathedral was like nothing either of us had ever seen; the photos will not do it justice. There was a cathedral museum that we didn’t have time to visit — and a pilgrim museum that we heard about but never found. Since we’re already talking about doing another Camino, we’ll catch them then — as well as the trip out to Finisterre.

    We bumped into several of our pilgrim friends on our morning walk-about. Kathleen was so good about exchanging contact info with everyone; I have no doubt she’ll be receiving visits from some of them!

    Our taxi driver arrived just before 1:00, and the 2-week trip on foot took only 2.5 hours to return by car. We arrived in Porto in the midst of thousands of university students celebrating the end of their studies by parading in the streets — most of which were closed to traffic. We eventually got to our hotels — and Kathleen met up with her husband Jack, who had come to Portugal to celebrate their 10th anniversary. We had a final dinner together, and tomorrow will visit the famous bookstore where JK Rowling is reputed to have been inspired, and take a sailboat wine-tasting tour down the Douro River.

    What an incredible journey this has been!    Read more

    Trip end
    May 9, 2024
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