It has been a while since my last posting. In the interim we have hiked through Porto and over to the coast. It was 91 degrees in Porto when we arrived. In Porto we met-up with Bill & Aster, Dave's brother and sister-in-law, who will join us for the final part of our journey to Santiago.
Bill had reserved one of the last remaining places available for the (now 6) of us overnight. It was a very, very small room with 3 bunk beds in it. Very tight, but a place to rest nonetheless. With the constant din of noise outside, the light, and the heat, we did not get much sleep. Despite all that I was happy to arrive as I had contracted a stomach virus the
night before in our Albergue at Grijo and was at the limit of what I could physically do by the time we arrived in Porto. I don't think I could have walked another kilometer.
The positive is that the heat wave broke the day we left Porto and hiked west to the coast. It was suddenly in the 70s and breezy. The whole atmosphere of the walk then changed. We were no longer constantly on cobblestones and highway. There were periods of crushed stone walkway and boardwalk! We still had quite a lot of pavement, but now it was maybe only 40% of the day.
Below are some photos of the Atlantic and the scenery we encountered. It was weird to look to the west and see the sunset over the Atlantic. It felt like it should be the Pacific!
Two days after leaving Porto, Bonnie's time on the trail was up and she departed for her journey back to the states. We continued as a group of five after that.
The food has been primarily bread-based and I have made it a personal challenge to find and eat salads and seafood (or other meat) whenever possible. Being on the Atlantic helped, but sometimes things are lost in translation.
Bill had reserved one of the last remaining places available for the (now 6) of us overnight. It was a very, very small room with 3 bunk beds in it. Very tight, but a place to rest nonetheless. With the constant din of noise outside, the light, and the heat, we did not get much sleep. Despite all that I was happy to arrive as I had contracted a stomach virus the
night before in our Albergue at Grijo and was at the limit of what I could physically do by the time we arrived in Porto. I don't think I could have walked another kilometer.
The positive is that the heat wave broke the day we left Porto and hiked west to the coast. It was suddenly in the 70s and breezy. The whole atmosphere of the walk then changed. We were no longer constantly on cobblestones and highway. There were periods of crushed stone walkway and boardwalk! We still had quite a lot of pavement, but now it was maybe only 40% of the day.
Below are some photos of the Atlantic and the scenery we encountered. It was weird to look to the west and see the sunset over the Atlantic. It felt like it should be the Pacific!
Two days after leaving Porto, Bonnie's time on the trail was up and she departed for her journey back to the states. We continued as a group of five after that.
The food has been primarily bread-based and I have made it a personal challenge to find and eat salads and seafood (or other meat) whenever possible. Being on the Atlantic helped, but sometimes things are lost in translation.
At one restaurant pior to Porto, in an attempt to order beef (veal), Jerry and I each ended-up with a calf's hoof on our plate. It was veal alright, but not in a form we expected. The gelatenous consistency of the thing was hard to stomach and we both ate only a few bites.
Sunrise color over the Atlantic
Roman era signal towers
Walking through a fishing village
Our group of six
Calf hoof is NOT what I had intended to order. Dave had a giant prawn (1) for 13 euros and Bonnie had a delicious chunk of Sea Bass for 20-something euros. Jerry and I were trying to be frugal. The 'veal' was about 11 euros I think
We learned that one can get bitoque (pronounced: B-tolk) at most cafes in Portugal... Beef or pork with a fried egg, salad, and french fries and/or rice. A safe choice when unsure about the menu!
One cafe made an arrow in my coffee to represent the yellow Camino navigation arrows
A rather wild cafe for Portugal . This one had Che Guevara memorabilia everywhere!
Che!!
Che's bike??
A sort of pilgrim shrine along the Camino
Entering a town prior to Porto
I found my place in the evolutionary chain of man!
1 comment:
You have finished! BRAVO I can't imagine doing something like you have done - It must have been quite an adventure, seeing what you saw doing what you did and being able to reach Santiago. Did you place your hand on the Cathedral wall? You are completing a dream that most people will never do.
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