7 hours, 27+km, Vila do Conde to Barcelos

We decided to leave the Coastal route and make our way overland to the more rural Central route today. The formidable aqueducts of the Santa Clara monastery seemed to follow us out of town.

I am guessing that the cobblestones along the Portuguese camino are of a more recent vintage, but I am going to blame the Romans for their invention.

Other architectural peculiarities of the region include the use of tile on exteriors, sometimes with two or three patterns and colors on just one house.

Today we left at 7 a.m., but didn’t get our first coffee until past 10 (after turning up our noses at the first place we saw). It doesn’t pay to be picky on the Camino!

A lot of scenic variety along the way: eucalyptus forests, grape vines, and the odd giant chicken.

I finally got my hands on a Portuguese egg tart at about 1pm. Fantastic! I will stock up for tomorrow. In Canada I’ve been largely gluten free for over a year. It turns out that the claims that European flour is much easier on the gut are true! I plan on maxxing out on baked goods. The extra air might relieve some of the pressure on my feet. 😉

Our room at Casa da Ana is lovely and just above a bar!

We managed to log a few more km in the evening by careening around town in search of egg tarts and various blister potions. Ultimately, I decided to try out a pair of extra wide “recovery” shoes that I will put to the test tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they are cobblestone ready.

We ended the night with a lovely meal at the hotel-recommended restaurant, Bavette. Robby has voted his meal “best polvo of the Camino!”.