Day 4 - 30 kms to Viana do Costello

After a sleepless night I awoke to find several pilgrims already gone. Two things occur to me 1. I must have gotten some sleep and 2. I was inspired by how svelte these pilgrims were at leavingRead more
After a sleepless night I awoke to find several pilgrims already gone. Two things occur to me 1. I must have gotten some sleep and 2. I was inspired by how svelte these pilgrims were at leaving without a peep. They are clearly more experienced at this than I. I found today long and hot without a lot of shade. I was excited to meet Rhonda Downey from New Brunswick. She is the first Canadian I’ve met. We walked together with Anje from Germany and decided to take the unofficial coastal route, described as ‘more adventurous’. We has a mix of narrow cobblestone streets, wooded trail, carriage lanes and beach walking.. Even though I was tired, I could not resist exploring this lovely small city. I will sleep well tonight in my private room.Read more
Deze ochtend al vroeg uit de veren zodat ik om 7 u kon beginnen aan mijn dag! Mijn kamergenoten gingen allemaal de centrale route op dus ik wist dat ik alleen ging wandelen.
Toch maar mijn lange legging en lange tshirt aangedaan want de burns were burning!
Het duurde een klein uurtje voor ik de stad zelf uit was en weer langs het strand kon wandelen. Wel wat meer wind dan gisteren maar gezien ik mezelf had verplicht heel de dag mijn lange kleren aan te houden, was dat eigenlijk ideaal!
Rond 9 uur werd het tijd voor mijn second breakfast: een espresso en iets wat ze hier een croissant noemen, nu ja ‘t was zonder melk dus kinneke content, en nog eens voor maar 1,5 euro!
Kort daarna week het pad af van de kust en liep ik door een combinatie van duinen, velden van boeren en kleine dorpjes. Wel lieve boeren, want ik ben slechts 3 keer en evenveel km verkeerd gelopen tot een oude boer mijn de juiste richting aanwees 🙃.
De laatste 8 kilometer begon ik toch echt last te krijgen. Doordat de achterkant van mijn benen zo verbrand waren en de huid helemaal strak stond, ben ik onbewust anders gaan lopen waardoor ik al snel een blaar ter grootte van mijn duim kreeg. En dan bedoel ik even groot als dat mijnen duim lang is, GROOT DUS.
Na nog een snelle Pilgrim’s Lunch (soepeke, veggie pasta, kommeke fruit, badkuip wijn en een theetje voor 11 euro) heb ik de laatste 5 km op puur karakter gedaan. Mijn voeten waren er echt klaar mee!
Gelukkig kwam ik het laatste halfuurtje een ouder Brits koppel tegen waarmee ik al heel de dag haasje-over aan het spelen was en liepen we het laatste deel samen!
Thank god voor mijn hostel vandaag! Wel weer het bovenste bed maaaaar met gordijntjes, stopcontact naast mijn hoofd en een handdoek even groot als België 💗 Ah ja, en een zwembad!
Na mijn post-walk pintje ben ik nog even snel de Aldi binnengewaggeld voor ontbijt en wat fruitjes voor on the road.
‘K ga nie liegen, ik heb wat schrik voor morgen 😅
Totale afstand: 53 kmRead more
Day 2 of walking the Camino: At breakfast, Bill asked for 6 eggs. The lady making them must not have believed he could have eaten all of them. She would set 2 at a time down and look him in the eye and then ask “more?”. She did that twice 😆. We watched some of his birthday videos (he may have teared up a little) and headed out. 16 miles from Vila do Conde to Esposende! 🥾 Started out feeling strong and full of energy, but by mile 11... let's just say our feet and hips had other plans. 😅 The aches kicked in, but the views, cultural sites, little towns and perfect weather kept us going. 🌞 Grateful for every step, even the painful ones! Here’s to pushing through!Read more
Another beautiful day absent rain.
Today was a 14.7 mile long, windy, roadside slog to Esposende.
Roy’s face is wind/sun burned but he is in good humor.
We haven’t found any Peregrino specific offerings. While expensive Roy has chosen his meals wisely & has enjoyed them. We are tired with aches & pains. Turning in early. Tomorrow is a longer walk.
Hotel Del Mar.Read more
Heute waren es etwa 16 km. Wir waren ganz froh, dass die Etappe etwas kürzer war. Bei Katja machen sich nun doch einige Blasen bemerkbar, außerdem schmerzt manchmal der rechte Mittelfuß. Es ging heute anfangs wieder viel über Holzstege, an der Küste hinter den Dünen, später auch mehr im Hinterland, wo der Pilgerholzsteg häufig entlang der normalen Wege gebaut war. Was für ein Unsinn. Es ging vorbei an einem Golfplatz, an Gewächshäusern und Gemüsefeldern. Nach knapp zwei Stunden waren wir reif für eine Mittagspause. Leider bot der Ort Apulia,den wir gerade passierten, überhaupt keine Möglichkeit dazu. Keine schattigen Bänke, kein Hinweis auf eine Bar oder so. Wir haben den Ort dann verlassen und in dem anschließenden Wäldchen auf einem schattigen Steinhaufen gerastet. Der nächste Ort Fao war da schon etwas einladender, dort haben wir in einem kleinen Laden Snacks und Getränke gekauft und nochmal gerastet. Dann ging es über einen Fluss und weiter den Fluss entlang nach Esposende. Wir haben die Stadt auf der Uferstraße passiert und sind jetzt in einem kleinen Hostel namens Hello Esposende, haben ein Zweibettzimmer mit eigenem Bad und mit Meerblick. Leider ist es hier sehr hellhörig, und die Türen klappern und knallen die ganze Zeit. Nach unserer Ankunft waren wir im Waschsalon Wäsche waschen und haben uns im Supermarkt Dr. Oetkers Pizza geholt und im Hostel gegessen. Jetzt noch bisschen im Zimmer chillen mit Blick aufs Meer.Read more
Wir hatten heute alles dabei. Von Vorfreude bis Langeweile am Flughafen, eine abenteuerliche Landung mit nochmaligem plötzlichen Hochziehen der Maschine, Rückflug Richtung Spanien und dann doch noch Landung in Porto. Abends das leckere Essen am ersten Etappenziel gab uns das Gefühl das er nun losgeht, unseren Muschelweg.Read more
Woke up: Pousada de Junventude (albergue)
Destination: unknown
Bored, bored, bored was most of today.
But I did wake up feeling no where near as bad as I thought I would. So that gave me a good kick of motivation. As well as the mindset I would get as far as I could.
I headed out alone. And was alone for most of today. There was a never-ending boardwalk that also cut in land which got super lush. Eucalyptus trees. And lots of allotments.
Oh and I bumped into Julia and Greg, the volunteers from Boston, working in the first pilgrim hostel in Porto. How coincidinks is that? Literally bumped into them - how can you be in a completely different country for 4 days and meet people you know, 50km away, at the exact same time. The Camino, sure lets you know with synchronousity that you doing something right by being here.
The Camino also Provides - and so it did. Only 20 mins after wishing I’d brought the physio ball for under the feet, a cyclist flagged me down and just randomly gave me a golf ball. No words, no actions with it. Just gave me one. Which came in plenty handy this evening in relaxing my feet.
I’d changed my footwear not too long in as I felt certain pain. Glad I did as I spotted the beginnings of a blister. So I changed, with much more room, and ventilation to the feet. So tied my boots on to my bag - although little did I know how long I was going to be in them.
Some signposts along the way LIED! They said from when you started a particular section it would be 12.5 km till Esponede (the ideal destination for the day).
And so on one boardwalk section, that took inland, taking me (now I know, away from the Senda Literol path to the official coastal) - it made me aware I had only 2.5 km to go. Brillant - I’ll book my hostel then!
Happy as only previously I was half tempted to stop in a albergue on the path. Was super cute but it felt too rural for what I was after. Especially if the destination was so near.
I ploughed on. Walking into forest tracks, aware of a female pilgrim not too far behind. The birds chirping in my head cheerleading me on. I came to a cross roads, and it was this point I realised I’d followed Camino signs off the senda litoral and on to the official costal. As I could work out why I was off the path marked on my phone, but the signs were saying different. It was at this point a man on a tractor beckoned me to come towards him, and then shouted “Santiago” of which we replied yes. And so she replied “that way, that way”.
Camino provided directions too apparently.
I walked with the pilgrim who caught me up for a while, an Irish woman from Dublin. At this point the cobbled roads were starting to hurt. And some rocky parts too were starting to really be felt by my under foot.
Coming into a small village, I spotted a church, and veered away from Irish woman. Also wondering whether they may have a stamp, as I’m still needing my first of the day. As I turn, I spotted resting the Dutch lady who was opposite me in the hostel last night. She followed my lead when I asked if there was a stamp, and she said oh we must check.
With that we headed in, leaving the other pilgrim to walk on ahead. There was a stamp. It was also at this point we realised we were again staying in the same place tonight so we set off together.
I found out Rianna, is also here on a grief journey and came to be and walk with her mum, three years after her passing.
We gained on the fellow pilgrim, who was clearly struggling. But she was adamant her town and lodgings was next.
It was at this point I checked how far we were away. 7.5 km (another 2 hours)! Stupid tourist signboards. Trust issues ahoy now!
And I’d booked my accommodation. So where I had hoped to walk as far as I could then book a place, that did NOT go to plan. My pace began worsening, the cobbled streets got atrociously cursed. And then to top it off, I had to walk a long bridge, but the pedestrian part was closed off so there was a makeshift scaffolding situation to walk on. That swayed!
This time I unclimbed my bag belts from me. Can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it last time, yes I can swim, but that back pack is gonna sink a person.
And so I trudged on. Although the last 20 mins with the help of a friend, won’t lie.
I arrived. I checked my feet. I showered. I went out for tea with Rianna and finally sampled Portugal’s dish, Fransescina (interesting!
How much my body can do tomorrow, is anyone’s guess. But I’m hoping it finally finds its rhythm, and this whole the first three days are the worse’s gets put behind me.
PS - cute check in texts by Angel and Lesley
Body check:
O blister behind right baby toe,
O blister forming to the side of my heel left foot.
O Bottom of legs sunburnt (legging end and sock start)
Little things:
O Concrete / or mud roads
O Showers not on a timerRead more
Die unruhige Nacht am Leuchtturm hatte natürlich den Vorteil, dass ich direkt am Ufer des Atlantischen Ozeans stand. Zwar kann man nicht direkt von einem Strand sprechen, da es kein richtiger Sandstrand ist, aber die ganze Nacht über war das Rauschen der brechenden Wellen zu hören, was eine besondere Geräuschkulisse schuf.
Am Montagmorgen wurden wir von herrlichem Wetter mit Sonnenschein und bereits 22 Grad um 9:00 Uhr morgens begrüßt. Die Kaimauer war besetzt von Männern, die draußen angeln oder einfach miteinander redeten. Der Strand von Esposende, wenn man ihn so nennen kann, hat ein Naturschutzgebiet, welches die Küstenlinie teilweise prägt. Mir war erzählt worden, dass dies ein Surferspot ist, aber ich kann dies an den Tagen, wo wir hier waren, nicht feststellen. Aufgemuntert durch das schöne Wetter, machen wir uns bereit, unsere Reise fortzusetzen, gespannt auf das, was die nächste Etappe bringen wird.
Français:
Bien sûr, la nuit agitée au phare avait l’avantage que je me trouvais directement au bord de l’océan Atlantique. Bien qu'on ne puisse pas vraiment appeler cela une plage car ce n'est pas une vraie plage de sable, on pouvait entendre le bruit des vagues déferlantes toute la nuit, ce qui créait un paysage sonore spécial.
Lundi matin nous avons été accueillis par un temps magnifique avec du soleil et déjà 22 degrés à 9h00. Le mur du quai était occupé par des hommes qui pêchaient dehors ou se parlaient simplement. La plage d'Esposende, si on peut l'appeler ainsi, possède une réserve naturelle qui façonne en partie le littoral. On m'avait dit que c'était un spot de surf, mais je ne pouvais pas le dire depuis notre séjour ici. Encouragés par le beau temps, nous nous préparons à poursuivre notre route, impatients de ce que nous réserve la prochaine étape.
English:
The restless night at the lighthouse obviously had the advantage of being right on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. You can't really call it a beach, as it isn't a real sandy beach, but the sound of the breaking waves could be heard all night long, which created a special background noise.
On Monday morning we were greeted by wonderful weather with sunshine and already 22 degrees at 9:00 a.m. The quay wall was occupied by men who were fishing outside or just talking to each other. Esposende beach, if you can call it that, has a nature reserve that partially shapes the coastline. I had been told that this is a surfing spot, but I couldn't tell this on the days we were here. Encouraged by the beautiful weather, we get ready to continue our journey, excited about what the next stage will bring.Read more
I’ve adopted “Narrow Road” by Josh Baldwin as my theme song for this walk. Take a listen!
Friday night- Made it to Esposende. It is a really nice resort town. The Main Street is all waterfront and park. Staying in a hotel that I at first thought was really nice. Now I think it is really nice- in an Overlook Hotel kind of way. It has lots of character as old hotels do- but there is definitely a creepy element here.
I took kind of a circuitous route to get here. There are actually 2 different coastal Caminos. The one I thought I was on was the traditional one, but sometime today I noticed that I was no longer on that one. There was a pilgrim from Norway- Vidar. He and I had been taking turns passing each other and had stopped at the same place for lunch. Anyhoo- he saw me looking confused and told me I was on the Senda Litoral, but I should just stay on that cuz it’s the better one anyhow. Turns out Vidar had already done the Portuguese Camino both there and back. Did the traditional coastal and came back the Litoral- so he knows from whence he speaks. (He has also done the French route. Kind of an over achiever if you ask me). So I stayed on the Litoral but then started to wonder if that was gonna end up being longer so decided to cut over to catch the traditional. But that looked really far so I just consulted Google maps and went where they told me. And it ended up being a really pretty walk even though I was on it all by my lonesome.
Met a couple of angels today, both named Maria. Neither spoke a word of English but we ended up being able to pantomime our way through. The first 2 pictures are of one of the Marias and Vidar.
It’s Saturday and I’m about 1/2 way through the day’s walk. I started on the coast but the boardwalk had given way to sand, (no me gusta), plus it’s a hot day and no shade on the litoral. So I switched over to the coastal. So glad I switched. It’s been a beautiful walk, through some towns, some woods…. Right now I’m sitting under a tree in the courtyard of a beautiful church. Seems to be a popular pilgrim resting place. But the route has become quite hilly.
Ya know- people are generally very kind. I stopped at a little cafe to have a cold sparkling water. The owner brought out a jar of biscuits, honey, jam and a little bowl of peanuts in the shell-(and I had just been thinking yesterday about how much I miss peanuts. It’s true what they say- the Camino does provide!). He filled up my water bottle and stamped my pilgrim passport without my even asking. I have met a couple of girls from Miami, a very nice woman (Silva) from the Czech Republic - she was traveling with a friend but the friend had gone ahead. Then another woman from the Czech Republic, Katerina, who was doing her 1st Camino and was on her own. Her son was an exchange student in Kansas last year.
I am feeling that things I have been thinking about, reading, and listening to are beginning to synchronize.
On the playlist today- Simon and Garfunkel. Best lyric- “I get all the news I need from the weather report”. (Only Livin’ Boy in New York).
The church bells just rang and there appears to be some kind of mass. Time to get movin again!
The pictures of people I meet I am including for me to remember. But there are some more scenic pictures too!
So I was gonna end this when I left the church but then a mile down the path was this little canopy area and a guy, Albero, who had a whole little supply hut with fresh fruit, chips, beer, sparkling water- even a little espresso maker. He only asks for donations. So awesome!Read more
Ajelimme eteenpäin ja löysimme paikan sattumalta. Nautimme auringosta ja saimme hyvät yöunet meren kohistessa.
You might also know this place by the following names:
Rio
Well done Tracy - wow! And yippee for Rhonda and for that private room. Love that you are able to explore the places where you stop after alllll that walking. 💕 [Dale]