Day 1 – Porto to Vila do Conde – April 12, 2024
Today’s miles – 16.5 Total Miles – 20.5
I really enjoyed the Hotel Boa Vista last night. I had a quiet room at the end of the hallway. It was room 127, so first floor, but in Europe that means the first floor above the ground floor. The breakfast this morning was outstanding. As good as any US buffet breakfast. I had my first nata – a sweet Portuguese custard tart, and fresh coconut macaroons. I also had fresh ovos mexidos (scrambled eggs) although I passed on the beans that were offered with them.
Porto is a much bigger city than I thought. The metro area is 1.7 million people. I have walked over 20 miles so far and four miles in to tomorrow’s walk, I will go by a metro stop. Half way through today’s walk we passed a stop as well. I met a few people who started their Camino there.
This morning there were tons of locals out and about – great to see. It was already mid 60s when I started at 9. Elizabeth is wait, what? You started at 9? I actually slept till almost 7:30. That’s what happens when you only sleep for 1 hour the night before. 7:30 AM here is 11:30 PM at home. I actually feel great today. Hopefully I will sleep well again tonight. Anyway, back to our scheduled program… About 6 miles into the walk you reach an industrial area, so no homes, therefore not many people. I stopped for a break, and while sitting there saw many Pilgrims passing by. So good, there are others walking. Actually, the further into the day, the more Pilgrims I saw. I think most locals walk in the morning, so afternoon was mostly Camino walkers. I had one in depth conversation today and it was with a young German woman. After her two week Camino she is headed to the US for 3 weeks to visit her boyfriend. She is very excited to see Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. I didn’t meet a single American today.
Today’s walk was extremely flat. We were on concrete for the first few miles , then on wooden walkways for most of the remainder, every now and then the path would make it’s way back to a parking lot or road. I think the two highpoints were going over the two bridges we crossed.
So – out of Porto are 3 different Caminos:
- Portuguese Central route, officially starts in Lisbon but goes through Porto and stays inland.
- Portuguese Coastal (Official) route. This starts in Porto and follows the coast, but stays inland a bit.
- Portuguese Coastal – Senda Litoral is the route I am walking. It literally follows the coastline as much as practical. Both bridges today were crossed by both coastal routes. After the bridge you need to stay on the route you want. It’s not a big deal as they are never too far apart. Once we cross into Spain I think they are the same route. The Litoral route is about 30K (20 miles) longer than the official coastal route.
I was thinking of doing a shortish day since it is my first day carrying a pack and I never train on hard flat surfaces. I walked 4 miles yesterday so the big stopping point today was only 11 miles for me, 15 miles for those that started in Porto. I knew there weren’t any good Pilgrim stops for another 6 miles, but figured I can’t stop this early. Long story short, first place was full, second place didn’t look good, third was not great, so I walked 16.5 official miles. I had a gps tracker going and it said I walked 18 miles. My feet were ready to be done. There are very few albergues on this route. This town was the second one since leaving Porto, and it is on the official route, 1 km further north than where I go. The pension I choose was closed when I got to the door. I sat down to figure out my next plan, thinking this is the fourth place that I went to today, when a gentleman started working on the door of the bistro next door. I asked him about a room hoping the businesses were connected. The bistro was closed as well, they open again at 7PM. He spoke only Portuguese but he showed me a small room and I took it. He said his wife will be back soon and I should settle things with her later. So I have done my laundry, taken a shower and am now writing this journal. It is amazing how you can communicate without speaking the same language. Fortunately Spanish and Portuguese share many words. LLave (key) is not one of them, so I don’t know what I am supposed to do with the keys in the morning. I will try and figure that out when I pay for the room.
After completing today’s journal entry, I decided to go find some dinner. I paid for my room and headed out for a walk. Being 7:30 on a Friday you would think it would be busy. Nope, too early for the Europeans. I looked at a few menus, between the prices and not really understanding what they were saying I was lets just walk around to see if I can find some pizza. My room overlooks the river, so figured I would head up away from the water to find the cheaper places. I walked by a bakery that was open and said to myself – “Perfect. I will get breakfast for tomorrow.” It was a great place. I bought two fresh rolls that had ham and cheese in one and a pizza mix in the other – sort of a calzone, and a beer for dinner and for dessert/breakfast a croissant, an éclair and a nata. Total price was 7,75 euro, about $8.00 US. I questioned him and at first he was thinking I was complaining about it being too much. I clarified that it was too little. I ended up leaving him a 10 euro bill.
Day 2 – Vila do Conde to Esposende – April 13, 2024
Today’s miles – 16.2 Total Miles – 36.7
I had trouble falling asleep last night. I think I need another day or two to fully get the 8 hour time change. I have two more nights in Portugal, then I will be in Spain. That will make it a 9 hour time difference from Home. The bigger thing is being in Spain I will understand so much more. I realize when I look at a menu here, I really struggle, but in Spain I do understand quite a bit. The Portuguese do like their hamburgers, so that makes it fairly easy. I have had a burger two of the three days. I am not a fish fan, and here they give you the whole fish. No thanks.
This morning I worked on my invoices, then headed out about 8:30. It was great overlooking the river, but unfortunately it was busy being a Friday night. Today’s walk was all on hard surfaces again. Initially it was the concrete sidewalks with the ocean on the left and businesses on the right. Six miles in I took a break and enjoyed an orange juice and a ham toast (a grilled ham and cheese). This section is the same as the official Coastal Route, which I didn’t realize. The official route is marked, I am not sure the Litoral route is. I was just walking following the arrows and realized I was going further inland so looked at my gps and figured out how to get back to the coast again. It had been another 6 miles, so time for a break. I enjoyed my burger while the surf was crashing not too far away. I didn’t take many pictures today. Honestly yesterday was prettier than today. I did walk with a woman from New Zealand for a while. Always helps to pass the time.
On the Litoral route you basically just keep the ocean to your left. We were forced inland a bit and then it dawned on my we needed to get a bridge over a river, so looked at my app and sure enough I had gone too far. Not a big deal, just walked two sides of a triangle instead of walking the diagonal. Once on the bridge I was back on the marked coastal route.
I arrived at Hostal Eleven – thanks Donna Hawkins for the recommendation, at 3:30. They have a real washing machine, so gave all my clothes a good wash. It is now past 6pm so they are almost dry. There is an outdoor dying rack which has been very busy. Also staying here are 2 people from Germany (not together) a couple from Korea and a woman from Ghana. I don’t think I have ever met someone from Ghana before.
I have been to the Supermarcado Froiz. They are in Spain as well. They are nice clean supermarkets with great produce and a nice bakery. I resupplied my cashews, got an apple and a nata for dinner and a napalatano choco for breakfast. Here at the hostel they sell beer and coke. The beer is 1 euro, the coke 1.5 euro. I asked the hostel owner how business has been. He has been busy since early March this year. Last year he didn’t get busy until mid April. This route is definitely getting more popular.
Tomorrow is another 16 mile day to Viana do Castelo. According to the Camino Ninja app, the highest point so far is about 150 feet above sea level. I would have said we haven’t been above 100 feet and that would have been the first bridge we went over. It has been very flat.
Thanks for reading along. More good weather is in the forecast. Actually, it is cooling down slightly, which is a good thing. Never thought I would say that about the coastal weather in April
What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.
Robert Brault
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 