Day 4, To “Casa da Fernanda”

Another beautiful day on the Camino Portuguese. We left our room in Barcelos at 8am and stopped by the bar next door for a croissant and coffee. Tonight we are staying at our first real Albergue; Casa da Fernanda.

The day started by us leaving the city then making our way past rock wall lined rural lanes as we moved more into the countryside. We’re obviously in wine country with vineyards all around. Finally, we arrived at our Albergue, Casa da Fernanda. There are 12 beds in shared spaces. One room with 4 beds and another with 8. Jay and I are in the smaller space with a young couple from Belgium.
There is also one Italian guy and two elderly women from Canada. (Those two have each done around 15 Camino’s!) There are also five women from Brazil that are part of a hiking club.
Tonight after a wonderful communal dinner, a guitar was passed around and the Belgium woman played and we sang old John Denver and other great sing-along songs. This albergue pretty much sums up the difference in staying at private accommodations vs. albergues. At an albergue you may lose privacy (and possibly an insuite toilet) but you gain friendship and community. For me, I like a mix of the two. If I were 30 years younger, I’d stay at an albergue every time. In any case, today was really fun.
Tomorrow we’re off to Labruga.Read more