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Camino Portuguese

September - October 2023
  • Mark McKinnon
A 28-day adventure by Mark Read more
  • Mark McKinnon

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  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    3

    Lisbon Day 1

    September 12, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Well finally arrived in Lisbon at around 9:30 this morning after a 30 hour trip.
    Nice warm sunny day spent walking around the city, up around the castle. Big crowds with a couple of huge cruise ships in the harbour.
    Had dinner at a nice little family run restaurant up behind the hotel (My Story Hotel, Rossio)    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    1

    Lisbon day 2

    September 13, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Another warm, sunny day spent sightseeing. Caught the No 28 tram 🚊 from the start through the narrow, streets near the castle to the end of the line, then back.
    In the afternoon we organised train tickets and accommodation for our start of the Camino tomorrow. Had dinner at the same restaurant as last night and had a nice walk back to the hotel through the busy streets.Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    11

    Camino Day 1

    September 14, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Albergaria-a-Velha to Albergaria-a-Nova. 6km!

    Got up early to pack our backpacks ready for the start of our Camino today. Thought we'd done well keeping our packs to 7kg, but they seemed a lot heavier once we had everything in them 😳
    Got the 9:30 train North to Aveiro then a bus to Albergaria-a-Velha, around 60km South of Porto, which is where we started walking. It was around 2:30 when we started, and around 30C so we only did 6km! Oh well, gotta start somewhere. It wasn't a bad walk, half of it through Eucalyptus plantations, so pretty similar to home.
    We are in our first albergue (hostel) but have a nice double room. Walked into "town" and had a huge 3 course meal for €12 each - nothing fancy but very nice 👍.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    1

    Camino Day 2

    September 15, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Albergaria-a-Nova to Oliveira de Azemeis 14km
    We are planning to do a few stages of 15km or so for the first few days to get used to the walking routine. We weren't able to train as much as last time and there is a Camino saying "start like an old person, finish like a young person" so hopefully that plan works. There aren't as many places to stay between Lisbon and Porto, so options are a bit limited. We started walking around 7. Met and chatted to a Portuguese fella for a while until we reached the first cafe for some morning tea, then walked by ourselves the rest of the way. Not too many other walkers around, but a few big groups of cyclists. The highlight of the day was walking through the old part of a historic village.
    We'd booked into a fancy hotel for the night for a pilgrim price of €70, and arrived a bit after 1pm, so an early finish. Had a look around town and just back after dinner.
    Forecast isn't great for the next few days, so looks like we're in for some rain 😳. Booked a B&B for tomorrow night.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese

    Walked day 3

    September 17, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Just stopped for a break in a little bakery after walking in the rain for the last 6km.
    Yesterday wasn't too bad weather wise. Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and got away around 9, cloudy but not raining. Started raining just as we stopped at San Jaoa de Madeira (John the Baptist) so we had lunch and stayed for a couple of hours, waiting for the rain to stop. Stopped in a church a little further along to get out of the rain again. We'd booked a B&B for the night which had a bar attached. The two dinner options were meat or fish. We got the fish, which we realised afterwards comes with potato and veges, whereas the meat dishes, which we have been having, come with rice and chips. Apparently that's traditional Portuguese. Since Lisbon not many people have spoken English, so we're never really sure what we're going to get, or how much it costs, until afterwards. Last night dinner was huge, had main meal first then soup, plus wine for €7 each!Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese

    Walking Day 4

    September 17, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Malaposta (Residential Solar) to Grijo Albergue.
    Another short stage. We got away a bit late, I woke up with a headache and the weather was terrible, raining and windy. It rained pretty steadily until we stopped for morning tea, then mostly dry until we reached Grijo.
    I had left behind somewhere a walking pole and went back a km or so to look for it. Unfortunately didn't find it, and in the meantime an Australian pilgrim got ahead of us and got to the albergue just before us. He took the last room with two beds, and we are in a room with six beds. Missed it by that much! There are now (5:13pm) two Canadians also in the room. So our first night in a dorm style albergue with bunk beds. Tomorrow about 17km to Porto.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    1

    Walking Day 5 - Porto

    September 18, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Grijo to Porto. 20kms

    Ended up getting a stupid migraine yesterday afternoon, so didn't have a great sleep. So we didn't get away until 9 and took it pretty easy most of the day. None of the forecast rain eventuated and it ended up a great day for walking.
    Got a stamp for our credentials at the cathedral and had a look around before walking to our fancy hotel. Sightseeing day in Porto tomorrow.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    1

    Sightseeing in Porto

    September 19, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Went through our packs this morning to lighten the load a bit and posted 2kg of gear back home.
    Spent the day looking around Porto, and like Lisbon, Porto is a very hilly city. So even though a lot of the sites are fairly close, you do walk up and down some very steep hills.
    Also like Lisbon, Porto has a very good public transport system, and we caught the metro 🚇 the 2km into town and back.
    In the morning we had a ride on the tourist "Magic Train" and in the afternoon a 50 minute 6 Bridge cruise along the Douro River, which was very nice.
    We're booked in to a nice local place for dinner, where we ate last night. Tonight I'm trying the Porto local speciality, which looks a bit like a fancy steak and sausage sandwich covered in a tomato sauce!
    Start walking again tomorrow, heading up the coast for a day before heading inland for the central route.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    2

    Walking Day 6,

    September 20, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Porto to Vila Do Conde 23km
    Had a nice breakfast at the fancy hotel then caught the metro to the coast at Matosinhos, and started the 22km walk North at 10am, following the coast to Vila Do Conde. The weather was pretty good for walking, a bit overcast and Southerly winds. It was flat all the way, with a lot of it on boardwalks.
    We got to the Municipal albergue at 4, but it was full, after opening at 3. One of the hospitaleroes suggested a unit with a double room for 50€, which seemed a bit overpriced but we took it. It's not too bad, and is right across the road from a restaurant where we had dinner. It was a bit better than last night's dinner, where they forgot to give me chips and we spilt my beer 😳.
    Looking like a few showers tomorrow, but we've booked a casa rural (B&B) for the night.    Read more

  • Mark McKinnonTravelerCamino Portuguese
    12

    Walk to Pedra Furada

    September 21, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We got back from dinner and Lynn noticed that the bathroom door was closed, and the undies which we had hanging on a line weren't there. Not long afterwards a woman knocked on the door and said that she'd moved the undies to a clothesline, and that someone was sleeping in the unit next door, which had a locked door off the kitchen (well that's what we thought she said, speaking Portuguese 🤔). Just after going to bed we heard someone opening the door with a key, and a couple who'd been at the restaurant walked in! Turns out we just had one of the two rooms, not the whole unit.
    Anyway, next morning was cool and overcast, but we just missed the overnight rain. The walk cut across from the Coastal route through to the Central route and was a nice walk once we got through the outskirts of town, through mainly cornfields and Eucalypt forests. We chatted with a Dutch woman for the last few km's to Arcos, where we had lunch.
    We got to Casa de Maria around 3:30. The bedroom was huge, and we chatted to and then had dinner with the two other peregrinos, Christopher from Liverpool and Susana from East Germany. Dinner was good and we met the owner, Antonio, who features in the Brierley guide.
    We were thinking of walking 31km tomorrow, but decided to do two short days instead.    Read more

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