Viana do Castelo to Caminha

Today is our last day in Portugal before crossing the Minha River into Spain. We decided to leave at 6:30am this morning because we wanted to take the Coastal route (you know, the one that's not on the coast) and it would be a little hotter there. The chocolate hotel was kind and had my breakfast ready at 6am.

This route went through several towns so there were plenty of opportunities to sit down and have refreshments in cafes. We came across one place next to a stream that had a lovely garden and beautiful pastries. We also walked on a old Roman road.

We found some grazing cows that came closer to check us out and we also stopped to, literally, smell the roses.

The original plan was to stay in Villa Praia de Ancora but Sue and Bob couldn't get a place there so the plan was revised to walk another 4 miles to Caminha, which would then make the next day's walk 4 miles shorter. We walked a total 19 miles today.

The hotel in Caminha was really nice and had a quite warm indoor pool. Dinner was interesting because a group of 10 people walked in without a reservation and a couple in their party were very upset that they couldn't be accommodated. They pulled the "but we're guests in the hotel" routine, similar to "do you know who I am?". We've started referring to them as "those people".Read more