Caldas de Reis 24.1km (Hotel Cruceiro)

The subject of conversation at the breakfast table amongst the pilgrims was a) what does your forecast say? and b) how wet are we going to get? We had a plan to get away early and make a start before the rain and that worked for about 50m till our trusty ponchos were donned. So for the next two hours we walked through the suburbs and ever increasing waterlogged trails. We were so dogged in our travels that we missed the first and only cafe which is very unlike us. So it wasn’t until 17km into our mission that we sat down for some lunch, with the sun having burst through the clouds. Shoes came off as we ate some home cooked chicken empinadas and coffee. The remainder of the walk was enjoyed in t-shirts with us passing a milestone marker of less than 50km to Santiago de Compostela, two days walking after today. There seemed to be more pilgrims on the Camino, possibly having been on the Portuguese Central route and now joined to our Coastal route. Passing another cafe proved too hard so in we went for a beer and an ice cream. The last couple of kilometers into Caldas de Rais we spent talking to a young English couple who have lived in Porto for seven years. Checked into our hotel with only our shoes needing a little drying. 🙏Read more