Day 20/9 Vila do Conde to Esposende

With another big walk ahead of us, we hit the road at 7:00 this morning under overcast skies and 17 degrees with a forecast of rain from 8:00 to 11:00.

The first few kilometers of the day ran through residential neighborhoods with little excitement except for a trio of ducks waddling down the sidewalk. But, before we knew it, we were strolling oceanside along the longest boardwalk I've ever seen.

We had planned to stop for coffee at A Ver-O-Mar, but found nothing open this Monday morning. We pushed on to the next town, Aguçadoura, located at the 10.9 km mark, and still had no luck until Brenda found a "top-rated" pastry shop 8 minutes off the Caminho trail. And that's where things got interesting.

Yesterday, during dinner, one of Brenda's dental crowns disintegrated. We called our travel insurance provider who confirmed this was not covered by our plan, but gave us the name of a dentist in Esposende. While at the cafe in Aguçadoura, I managed to reach the dentist and, with my one month's Duolingo Portuguese training, succeeded in communicating Brenda's need for an emergency appointment that afternoon. And then the receptionist responded and totally lost me. Brenda turned to the couple seated at the table next to us and asked if they spoke English and they kindly offered to assist us. As it turned out, the woman is from Agaçadoura, but has been living in Toronto with her husband for the last eighteen years! Unfortunately, the dental office had no appointments available, but we were once again treated to the unbelievable kindness of the Portuguese people. On top of that, the pastries were outstanding.

That little detour and chat with fellow Canadians put us far behind Anita and Ernie, but we caught up with them in Apulia at the 17.6 km mark. While we were chasing them down, the skies opened and we had our first real exposure to rain since I arrived. We walked for about ninety minutes in the rain, which was quite heavy at times. I'm pleased to report that my quick-drying clothing worked extremely well and was not even damp when we started back on the trail for the final 7 kms to Esposende.

As luck would have it, Brenda managed to book a 4:00 dentist appointment and had a temporary crown installed on her exposed tooth.

Tomorrow is another long day: 26.4 kms to Viana do Castelo as we get closer and closer to the Spanish border.

They say that The Caminho will always take care of you and, with all our good fortune today, the proof was in the pudding.Read more