Ponte de Lima

Barcelos - Lugar de Corgo

27.5k👣 42Z🧡

Up at 6:30am to be ready with bags pack for pick up by 8
Breakfast at 7:30: lovely buffet with rolls, muffins, cake (!!), yogurt, slices of ham & cheese, slices of melon, kiwi, and oranges, along with coffee
Joe absconded with a muffin in his napkin - it was delicious at lunchtime!
Got the number of a taxi just in case
Headed out in to the rain
A local helped us find the Camino in town
Sore feet, stiff hips, full heart
More vineyards and cornfields along the cobblestone path
To the tune of "Clang, Clang , Clang Went the Trolley:"
Squish, squish, squish went my sneakers.
Vroom, vroom, vroom went the cars.
On our way to Santiago.
Bom Caminho, wherever you are!

Left the old town to large apartment buildings into more retail and residential areas
Greeted 2 mail carriers on motorbikes. One asked what my piles were for. In whatever Portuguese I could pull up, I said I used them to go up steep (high), but since the way was all roads here, I didn't really need them. With that, they wished us a Bom Caminho and puttered off.
Cobblestone, cobblestone, and more cobblestone. Appreciated having Compeed on my heel to prevent the "meat tenderized" effect of cobblestones
Came to a decision: shorter, but cobblestones (so less traffic), OR
longer on asphalt with more cars. We chose cobblestones.

Climbed a hill to a fancy restaurant. Popped our heads in to see if they were open to use their bathroom. They weren't, and we didn't. Only a km up the road they promised. With Joe's upset stomach, that was NOT what we wanted to hear.

But we persevered and finally found the WC at a beautiful church with a large covered open area in front. Lunched on leftovers there with Tony and Helen, 2 Aussies with great attitudes. Tony was packing his mandolin and guitar inside his backpack! Told him about our concert on 19 Oct; maybe we'll see him there.

Fueled after a WC stop & lunch
After some movement, Joe's GI started hollering. Luckily, we found an albergue called Casa de Santiago. The host understood completely, and Joe was feeling better after using the restroom. The host said it was still 10 km to go. When I countered that I believed it was 8km, she waggled her head: maybe 8, maybe 8-10, but maybe 10. Uh oh.
We found a home goods store (like Home Depot) after a km or so, and decided to ask there for help calling a taxi. At 3:30 and another 8 km to go, we just decided getting in with time to clean up was more important than walking, and since I was beginning to limp with very short steps, it seemed like the smart thing to do.
After finding no Bolts and then no Ubers in the area, I tried to call a taxi service BUT was reminded I'd only gotten data, not phone minutes on my eSIM. We went into the nearby Home Depot and got a young clerk's help in ordering a taxi from Barcelos
What we had walked between 9 - 3:30, the taxi was able to do in 15 min !!! And 10 min after that, we were at Casa de Fernanda.

Fernanda is a force of nature. With her husband Jacinto, they offered freshly made hors d'oeuvres (fritters and grilled peppers - only 1 in 10 is spicy 🤪), a full dinner (soup, bread, roast chicken, veggies, rice & beans, white and red wine, with port and chocolate biscuits for dessert), followed by "fire water" !!! more port and wide-ranging conversation. Food production to health care to social understanding in Japanese society, we were all over the place.

More to share tomorrow. Suffice it to say it was WONDERFUL.

Taking tomorrow off to let toes heal a bit.Read more