An enjoyable walk today from a scenery perspective although it rained for a good part of the day...heavily for about an hour from 8 to 12 kms.
Feet are complaining a bit and will need some attention tonight...no new blisters though...well maybe one:(. We walked 19.5 kms over close to 4.5 hours or 4.5 kms an hour. Doing everything Dr. Olga ordered including a change of socks in a cafe at 10 km...sat in a corner and made the change... I am allowed as a pilgrim!
Tomorrow I must must make a concerted effort to slow down even more! We are staying at the Quinta Sao Miguel de Arcos ...very nice room and we can have supper here which is a real bonus! Laundry service is free and Paulo and I will take full advantage!
With the rain I had the iPhone in a rain case for a most of the day however still managed some photos.
Last night we had a great Portuguese style meal although a cab ride was required to get to the restaurant as Metro Vilar Suites was too far away...and feet needed to rest!
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| Beef, incredible potatoes and kale I believe...shared by two of us which is common way to order food in Portugal |
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| Vinho Verde (thanks for the suggestion Claudio) which was smooth tasting! |
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| Dessert custard with similar filling to Nada's...excellent! |
This morning at breakfast we met two pilgrims who also started from Porto...Allan and Steffan from Denmark. They have some previous Camino experience and are walking at the same 20 km a day pace as us. Pleasant to talk to and hope to meet them again on the road to Santiago.
Now for a Camino miracle! In a previous post I mentioned that my only long sleeve shirt had been lost in the wash...well as I was looking for my rain pants in a side pocket voila!!! I may have a bit of a track record of misplacing keys, my wallet and finding them on my person😊
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| My long sleeve shirt appears...a miracle! |
Two observations on the Camino Portuguese centered around drivers and dogs. Portuguese drivers seem to believe they are all Formula One racing drivers as they whiz around small cobblestone lanes at breakneck speeds. A cab ride is an exhilarating experience! Careful vigilance is required at all times while road walking for sure.
It seems like every home has a fierce dog behind a supposed fence who takes great delight in surprising pilgrims with crazy barking at the exact instant a poor pilgrim is passing by! Twice today we had dogs run out of their yards...this is where the walking poles come in handy as they (so far) back off reasonably quickly!
One funny instance today... there was a really nice display of Camino spirit at a house with oranges set out for pilgrims. No sooner had we approached the oranges 3 dogs came charging out...classic case of “look but don’t touch”
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| Note dog behind the fence...somehow he/she became 3 dogs! |
We also met a pilgrim couple from Australia Vicki and Greg in the middle of steady down pouring rain. They walked the Camino Frances route last October and were also walking from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Seemed like a nice couple however we could barely see them through the rain...perhaps we will cross paths again on the road. A few pictures from the day...
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| Great lunch break with fabulous Portuguese cookie |
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