27km, 6.5 hours: Padrón to Santiago de Compostella

Sometimes, the body has had enough before the mind is done. This felt like one of those times. The Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago was 280km (roughly), much shorter than our previous stretches on the Frances and the del Norte. Though we had deliberately chosen that length, it now seemed too short. We were just now getting to recognize our fellow travellers. We had yet to create a pack of our own. But each journey is a different experience, with different pains and different rewards.

On our last day, we met a gentleman who was 78 years and walking his 8th Camino. His son, who had surprised him by joining him for the last 5 days, was limping badly, while his father was steaming along. Might that be us one day?

The weather held as we rolled into Santiago. Our plans were to check into our hotel, have lunch at our favorite Italian, walk around town, go to mass, and then eat dinner on “Spanish time” at an amazing steak restaurant we knew, El Papatorio. As things turned out, I may have ordered a little aggressively at lunch. A quick “digestive rest” turned into a long nap, and the mass passed us by. An evening stroll around town in the rain and we were done.

As we settle into our trip (by rental car) to Bilbao, our feet are thanking us for their reprieve, and dismissing any musings about the shortness of thw journey as sentimental nonsense.

4.5 hours 20km: Caldas de Reis to Padron

Camino distances are best thought about in vague, general terms, and are to be taken with a grain of salt: much similar to the size of fish one has just caught, particularly if there is no (and sometimes flying in the face of) photographic evidence. Distances on the camino are measured by the number of kilometers one is away from Santiago. And given that there are many different paths to take, of varying lengths, sign posting is at best confusing and often contradictory. Regularly, we would hike for 45 minutes, only to find out that we were now further away from our destination than when we had started. Today it took us roughly 4 hours to hike from Caldas de Reis to Padron. How far did we go? We really don’t know.  But we do know that it was roughly the same amount of time it took for our server to deliver lunch.

Regardless, by our calculations, we are now only one day away from Santiago. We are hoping that this last day will be as idyllic as the one we enjoyed today.

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5.5 hours, 22km: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

When walking longer distances, sometimes deliberately, sometimes despite everything you can do to stop it, a piece of music gets stuck in your head. Rock, with its 4/4 backbeat, is a natural choice.

When walking on the flat, I have had “Go For a Soda”, by Kim Mitchell, stuck in my head. Only a psychiatrist can probably explain why. Perhaps I was thirsty at the time? Whatever you do, don’t think about this the next time you go fora walk.

When puffing up a hill, I am endlessly repeating L-O-L-A, Lola! This is more easily explained as it started when I passed a certain Cafe Lola.

How can this be expained? According to the internet, 152 BPM is the count for the Soda song and 124 BPM for Lola. The more music savvy amongst will say that I am double timing to Soda. Regardless, I measure the speed of a song by how often I tap my feet: and the hilliness of the day by what percentage of the day I am singing which song.

Today and tomorrow will be largely Kim Mitchell, “Soda,” days with a little bit of “Lola” sprinkled in early on.

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5 hours, 22km: Redondela to Pontevedra

We made full use of our amenities last night: two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the previously seen washing machine. Faced with the choice of two very long days or three shorter days, we had chosen the latter, and luxuriated in a camino lie-in:. Coffee at 7:00 a.m. and out of the house by 7:45.

A few 100’s of meters into the day, we made a game day decision. Better the restroom you know than… or was it, a toilet in the hand is better than… Anyways, we ordered two “expresso doubles” and were treated to some extra pastries and a free restroom pass.

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Off to an early dinner / late lunch at Restaurante Loraira. It was phenomenale!

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29 km (maybe?), 7 hours: Ribadelouro to Redondela

A metaphor for life. Do you take the standard route? Or one that takes a little bit longer but might prove to be just that little bit more interesting? Ultimately it came down to chance. A nice Spanish lady said, “you have to take this way!” So we did. Though it is possible that she said, “There are super cool giant spiders down this way.” We’ll never know.

Today was Sunday. And after having been fooled several times in the past, we were prepared for a day of shuttered store fronts and empty shelves.

We had about 10 km under our belts when we rolled into O Porriño. Without breakfast, and after spotting a couple with a fresh baguette, I was on high alert. (I may have thrown myself in front of a group of cyclistes as I spotted a bakery that was open.) A couple of coffees and a toast later, we were ready to  continue the day. As O Porriño straddles the 100km border to Santiago, there were many, many more pilgrims on the roads.

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The highlight of our accommodation tonight is the washing machine.

Redondela had much to recommend it including an excellent late lunch at Casa Muchas. We had our landlady make us reservations, essential as we saw many others turned away at the door.

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26km 6.5 hours, Rubiaes to Ribadelouro

Last night, the forecast predicted that lightning and thunderstorms would continue through the next three days.

This morning began a day of calculations. What is the tipping point between steaming up your rain clothes from the inside, versus being drenched from the outside? At a certain volume of precipitation it makes sense to suit up. That was how we started.

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The same goes for keeping your feet dry versus pain. I tried the waterproof hiking boots again. No can do. Back to the breathable runners.

And at a certain point you say, “I’m just going to find a cafe and hunker down for a bit.”

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All in all we were lucky. We dodged most of the rain by making effective use of trees and overhangs.

Today we departed from the regular routine and ate lunch. A very tasty, garlic and polpo heavy lunch in Tui. Next up, the fort in Valenca,  and the river crossing from Spain to Portugal.

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This brings us to Ribadelouro. A town with no  restaurants. But luckily we had lunch, and the bar nuts and olives had most of the major food groups.

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27 km, 6.5 hours: Sobreiro to Rubiaes

A great day all around. A bakery open as we rolled down the hill, lots of different landscape, and a climb that wouldn’t end. And to top it off, an albergue with a swimming pool and a bar next door. From sunny and 36 degrees to thunder, lightning, and rain.

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Casa Sao Sebastiao has it all. Friendly service by Sonia, and a cafe bar next door. Great communal and kitchen area and a pool! The group downstairs has just launched into a rousing rendition of “Take me home, country roads.” That might be too much of a good thing.

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6.5 hours, 27km: Barcelos to Sobreiro

Today we were given ample opportunity to answer the age-old question, “Which cobblestone style do you prefer?”

For the modernist amongst us, the newer style of cobblestone is more regular in shape and color and more uniform in size. Pleasing to the eye, but without the pizzazz of the older styles.

For the traditionalist, only the older style of cobblestone has the irregularity of shape, size, and angle that keeps you guessing. Each step requiring a suppleness of ankle as well as lightning fast reflexes.

We were also lucky enough to walk on our first antique cobblestones. This was a real treat, but we weren’t able to see them truly shine as it was a dry day and we couldn’t experience the full “slip and slide” experience.  There is rain in the forecast tomorrow so fingers crossed!

We did get to experience some shaded paths and eucalyptus forests, though the cobblestones were definitely the star of the day.

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Because of distance and foot concerns, we stopped our walk at 27km which placed us in the very small village of Sobreiro, at the hostel O Caminheiro. We were lucky enough to have the bunk room to just the 7 of us. Robby, myself, and 5 mosquitos (This number is an approximation only.)

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My new extra-wide shoes were a life saver today. Rather than yesterday’s experience of each step feeling like a drawer repeated closing on my baby toes, I experienced moderate discomfort only. And Robby was a hero and carried my boots in his pack.

Warning: blister picture below.

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!”.

5 hours 22km, Porto to Matosinhos to Vila do Conde

We had an “easy” first day today, giving us time to shake off some of our jet lag. We took the metro out of the city to Matosinhos, thus avoiding most of the urban slog. This gave us time for a leisurely coffee and hostel breakfast. When we checked out this morning, we noticed that somehow we had been admitted despite our advanced years. Apparently we had inadvertently stayed in a youth hostel. The offer of free sangria after 9 pm now makes sense!

Much of the day was spent walking along boardwalks and what might have been boardwalks had you been in possession of a big excavator.

Temperatures were pleasant, verging on steamy later in the day. Some mist and clouds rolled in, but didn’t stay long.

We checked in to the Venceslau Wine Boutique hotel, again enjoying a private room and bath. The post walk routine is back in action. Clothes hand washed and feet up on the wall.

We had missed lunch so took a brief walk around town to see the sights.

Tomorrow we will move from the Coastal to the Central route and will trade flat sandy beaches for a more rural landscape.

The feet so far are OK. On the bad news side, the right baby toe is already showing signs of rebellion and Robby has several hotspots, but we are making up for that by joining the Farmacia frequent purchaser program.