Leavng Galicia

This morning we packed our backpacks for the last time and walked to the station to catch the AlsaBus back to Porto. It was strange being on the highway, zooming past the landscape that had become so familiar over the last two weeks. We drove across bridges we’d glimpsed in the distance from the Camino, skirted the edges of villages we had walked through just a few days before. What had taken us 12 days to walk rewound in only 4 hours on the bus. That bus was going 3 days/hour which seems awfully fast.

From the bus station in Porto we caught a taxi back to the Sao Bento train station where we had stayed our first night in Porto and where our suitcases were being stored.

From there we had a short walk, fortunately all downhill, to the Hotel Exmo in the Ribeira district on the Douro river, our luggage clacking over the cobblestones as we navigated the busy sidewalks. We have a comfy room with a view up the hill toward Se Cathedral where our Camino began. Only two balconies this time.

For some reason we’re both exhausted from a day spent mostly sitting down. I think that’s due to today’s relatively complicated logistics compared to the simplicity of the last two weeks. On Camino you just wake up, find a yellow arrow, and start walking.

I promised Scott I wouldn’t really « see » Porto without him so tomorrow morning Ellen and I will catch a quick flight back to Paris. Until then I will only look at the pavement or the sky. 🫣Read more