Oia to Baiona Mileage Alot

Met the Canadians from Ontario,  Gina and Bill at breakfast at the hotel.  We've been shadowing each other the last few days and didn't cross paths until now.  We decided to walk together today. Really nice walking along the beautiful, wild and crashing coast line.  The coolest thing that happened was when we decided to stop for lunch in a rest stop on the side of the highway that had a picnic table.  As we were having our sandwiches and fruit made from the earlier breakfast offerings,  a blonde kid on a small motorcycle with a pack on his back pulled up and sauntered over and asked with a big smile if he could join us for lunch.  Of course!  "My name is Bart, as in Simpson ". Huge smile,  looking around and searching our faces for some recognition.  Of course!  Nice to meet you Bart as in Simpson! Turns out this kid (had to be early mid twenties ) had bought a little 50cc motor bike in Porto and was driving it back via the Camino to his home outside of Amsterdam Holland! Noticing he didn't get anything out to eat,  we started unloading fruit on him for which he was very grateful.  He offered to share bread but we declined. We've eaten enough.  He said his bike had some trouble struggling up hills but when he turned out the headlights,  he got a power boost! He told us that after he bought it,  some mechanics checked it out for him and made sure it was road worthy for about 8€ for the service! The Camino is providing for him too. We took photos and bid each other goodbye and good luck. What a bright shining light he was for us! What an inspiring example to live a life fearlessly! I said a prayer for his safety on his way home as he puttered away and out onto the busy highway waving as he went. I'm sure he has a family that loves him.  Made me homesick for my own kids.

Got to the town of Baiona and dropped Bill and Gina off at their fully booked hotel with the promise of meeting up after showers for a look around and a drink and a bite.  We found a great little one star hotel around the corner on a quiet street.

We toured the stunning castle grounds here and walked the ramparts as the sun was setting and painting the sky absolutely brilliant hues of orange and red. So romantic.  The replica of the Pinta, the ship that Columbus sailed to the new world was docked in the picturesque marina there.  I didn't feel compelled to go see it since I had toured it extensively in Carabelle Florida with my parents!  Who would have known! Dinner of omelets  (a kind of potato fritata) and salad and vino then off to bed.

Almost Didn't Stop Oia, Spain

Sunrise! 

View from our room in Oia, Espana

                   For Kayla and Tanner , thought this was cool.

My happy hour spot. Abarino vino! 1.50€ Hard not to have more than one. So I did.

Our view of the Monastery.  Heard incredible vespers chanted by the nuns before mass here.

After some spectacular but oddly really tiring walking today,  my shoulders were killing me, we made it to Oia. Another lovely seaside town that just seemed dead. Surely there were no more pilgrims on the Camino since we seemed to be the only ones.  Until we left our hotel to get a glass of wine.  Then we met 40 something Italian Eric who was currently living in Budapest.  We let him order extra tapas.  So glad to be back in Spain where you get some kind of snack with your drink.  We had a bruchetta with Jamon (ham) Serrano style with sardines.  Yes, John ate them! Wonders are still not ceasing. Anyway we convinced Eric to stay at our hotel since his knees were hurting.  Probably won't see him after today since he is walking big kilometers....hence the knee problems I guess. Lots more pilgrims moved through later in the afternoon and we had the best seats in the house for happy hour overlooking the gorgeous bay and the ancient Monastery. Ventured into this impressive space later and heard the nuns singing vespers. So beautiful and meditative.
Dinner del Dia (of the day) with Eric at our hotel for $10 euro each. Usually 3 courses with wine. Soup, salad. Beautiful fresh cod for me which was like a whole fish chopped into three pieces with boiled potatoes and John got two huge pork chops with chips (fries). I couldn't finish all of my cod, so John did and thought it was some of the freshest and best fish he had ever tasted. Jug of wine,  ice cream and the yellow Spanish liquor that I can't remember the name of but was delicious. Slept with windows open facing the crashing ocean and black starry night.  Indescribable. 

Sleeping in a 14th Century Convento in A Guarda Spain

 Some friendlies along the way.

 Almost to the town Caminha.

 Mario's boat taxi across the River Mino into Spain 

 Mario

 Beautiful boardwalk on the Spanish side.  

Interesting statuary in our convent hotel.

Very nice walking this morning, minimal roads and wide shoulders when we ended up on them. Lots of forested path which is so nice. We ended up walking about 3 miles more than we wanted to because the ferry in Caminha doesn't run on Mondays.  We'd heard this but for some reason chose not to believe it. Okay,  we can either stay here for the night and get the ferry in the morning that may or may not leave on time due to tides or we can try to get a hold of this guy we heard of who will take you across for 5€ a person. I had his number so I called it and was given to a semi English speaker, Mario's brother.  We established a time to meet and where.  I thought he said Restaurant Isla but my GPS had no clue.  Walked to the tourist office in Caminha and the lovely lady knew exactly what we were talking about and drew directions for us on the map. I had the name of the restaurant wrong but now we knew where to go. I felt like we had just won the next clue on Amazing Race! Only problem was, it was a mile and a half back the way we came.

We had time for a beer on the dock while we waited for our 2pm scheduled meeting time.  Sure enough a car with a pilgrim shell dangling from the rear view mirror told us this was the guy. He said in the best Portuguese we could understand that there were two more people expected but after waiting another 15 minutes they were a no show and we hopped on the boat.  We thought possibly his explanation of where he was taking us meant out into the Atlantic and straight into A Guarda and we'd have no more walking that day. No such luck.  A 5 minutes ride across the river and we paid Mario and jumped out onto the beach.  About an hours beautiful walking on la Costa and we found ourselves right in the shimmering seaside town of A Guarda Spain in Galicia.  Nice to be back in Spain!

We didn't make any hotel reservations but right away we came upon the 2 star Hotel Convento San Benito. A ancient convent and Monastery that had been turned into a hotel.  This place was amazing for 48€ a night. As always,  whenever we get a tub I'm in it.  After a rest, we ventured out for supplies and dinner we wandered around this old place and took advantage of the complimentary port wine offered to guests near the cloister.  Nice! We are back in Spain certainly.  Groceries are different,  the way we remember them from our last Camino.  Made our way through town and found a pizza place where we had the ensalada mixto and yes John ate the tuna! Will wonders never cease! And a pizza bolognaise to share. All very good washed down with a nice rioja.

Ancora Portugal Another Great Town on the Costa

 Racehorse 

 Found some nice walking trails 

Forts all up the coast.

It was bushwhacking right off the bat this morning as we decided to forego the yellow arrows and stick to the Atlantic.  We find we can walk parallel to the waymarked Camino and not get lost. ...or too lost.  We saw a handful of pilgrims walking north like we were on the N3. We wanted to go left to the ocean. They started yelling at us like we were lost. Everyone tries to keep us going on the arrows but it's not as scenic sometimes. We ended up on some beautiful forested walking trails with ocean right next to us. Reminded me of some places in California only wilder, less discovered and with more ancient forts.

We ended up on a really dicey part of the N3 coming into Ancora after a 12 mile day. I resorted to using GPS and thought we were the only sorry saps in that situation but we ran into our Canadian pals, Bill and Gina. They were a bloody mess.  Literally.  They had gotten caught up bushwhacking same as us but ended up on the wrong side of a nasty brier patch. They had also run out of water. They were in a bad spot. We were staying in the same town and at the grocery, we left them and wished them better luck tomorrow.

We overshot the hotel by a half mile.  Damn. That's another mile walked.  Finally figured it out.  What a great place!  Hotel Meira. 4 star luxury for 60€. Pilgrim special 4 course meal on offer for 15€. John ate pulvo. Octopus. He has been eating things I never thought I'd  see him eat, like an entire sandwich smothered in mayo. Which he hates. And the canned tuna on a salad. Strange what walking 15 miles a day will make you eat.

Anyway nice celebratory dinner for our last night in Portugal 'on the Camino '. We'll look forward to coming back.  I'm looking forward to speaking Spanish finally.   Just have not gotten the swing of Portuguese! Bom noite!

Rali Hotel Rocks It Off Day in Viana do Castelo

After the long walk yesterday,  it was nice to spend a rest day in this lovely town. The breakfast at the hotel was nice and the commercial Koerig type coffee maker was amazing.  It made my café com leite perfectly.  The receptionist and one of the restaurant guys has become like family,  always glad to see us when we come back from touring and even telling us we needed jackets before heading out to dinner.

Wandered around town before resting up for dinner which doesn't really seems to crank up until around 8:30. Before hand John thought the Jacuzzi sounded good.  That is until he forgot to get a towel,  shower cap and rinse off in the shower before he entered the pool.  All eyes were upon him. One guy even got out to turn on the shower as if to show him what he had missed!  Oh well,  time to start living our dirty pilgrim heathen heritage.

Dinner was a tomato salad,  soup and frango (chicken that I ordered this time ) with rice and mushrooms.  John got the biggest "personal pitcher" dark German beer ever that ended up costing as much as my dinner.  Interesting.

20 or so Miles to Viana do Castelo

 Towns becoming more pilgrim supportive.

                                      Portugal!!!!

                                       St. Iago

Once again,  the planning of our walk in order to cut down on some of the long stages needed to catch up with itself. We are using an outdated Brierley guide that basically leads through the interior route and is outdated even a year after it's printing since things are changing so rapidly on this pilgrimage. On one hand that's kind of exciting.  Not knowing where the hell you are or where the hell you are going in a foreign country.  We all get our thrills in different ways right? 

Actually John has downloaded a map of the coastal route but it's just a map and doesn't include any commentary. He works very hard at staging for us each night for which I am grateful.  We tried to call a Residencial accommodation in a town halfway through the long stage to Viana do Castelo but no English spoken. So, it's over 30k there since we took a light day yesterday. Just nothing between here and there!   We've done it once we can do it again.  Oftentimes it's definitely a mindset that gets us through.  If I have to,  I will.  Plus let's get a nice hotel and stay for two nights as a reward! Can you say incentive?

We packed sandwiches from breakfast and some tarts (natel) that are filled with custard. Set off down to the Atlantic and headed north.  At one point we needed to get back to the official Camino route to avoid heading smack into the river. We just didn't feel like fording anything with packs. We have crossed some interesting bridges on this trek.

Stopped at a pilgrim café called O Lampao, off the Camino a little ways.  The proprietor was so nice.  It's nice to once again feel the spirit and support of the Camino.  We ordered two large cervejas and ate our sandwiches.  Got a stamp for our pilgrim passport and a sticker.  I gave the guy a Colorado postcard that I brought along for just this purpose.

Walked our way through little villages and some pretty cool hiking paths through medieval forests with beautiful ponds and streams.  We came up out of the woods onto a street with a gorgeous old church dedicated to St. Iago. Santiago.  Right before then,  I received a text from our son who had a doctor appointment the day before to go over his year post transplant testing results. All is well. No sign of disease.  

We entered the quiet, dark empty church and I sat down in an old wooden pew. I looked at the main altar and where Christ is usually there hung on the cross,  there stood an effigy of the master pilgrim with his robes and gourd staff looking down upon us. I remembered our pilgrimage 3 years ago and when we reached the city of Santiago as tradition holds,  I put my arms around the statue of the saint for blessings and miracles and absolution to be received for the suffering I had endured.  I really couldn't think of any way I could be more blessed in that moment than to have reached this place after a month of walking,  in good health with my best friend on this life journey. 

As I sat in this church that we had come upon three years later right after receiving the good news from Jack,  I just cried. If I thought any of the legends held any credence,  I thanked St. Iago for his miracles and blessings held in wait for when we would need them these years later. What a blessing to be able to come back and make another pilgrimage in thanks for blessings received. I think I am becoming catholic! Not really but I carry thoughts of blessings of love and healing and healed vision for loved ones at home. 

Made it into town to our three star hotel, were given a certificate for free bebidas (drinks) if we ate at their restaurant AND fado!  It was a woman singing and so soulful and beautiful.  We couldn't hold out for dessert so fell back into our room exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in.

Stroll to Apulia A Great Little Beach Town

 Another beautiful cathedral along the way. It was dedicated to the way. There was a man there who we saw multiple times after that,  smiling at us and pointing out the arrows to us.

 Windmill houses.  People actually live in some of these ancient structures.

 Board walking with windmill.

 Apulia.  Such a sleepy beach town that time seems to have left behind.

Short 11.9 mile walk today.  If the place we are staying doesn't have breakfast,  we usually find a café and stop for a café com leite. Coffee with milk and whatever kind of goodies they have on offer.  We like the grilled ham and cheese panini  type toasted sandwich and some kind of amazing pastry. Breakfast here consists of bread. Oh, and butter and jelly and if you're lucky ham or some kind of lunch meat and cheese.  Possibly yogurt.  Good fruit usually.  Some canned. There is usually corn flakes and everyone has some kind of disgusting  (to me) chocolate cereal. The coffee!  Is the best!!!!!! If we have breakfast included wherever we are staying,  we try to make the day's lunch snack out of it. It feels a little covert stuffing bread in our bag when nobody is looking. I'm sure they are used to it.

After having a more expensive than usual café breakfast in a neighborhood full of high school kids heading for school, we started down the foggy ocean boardwalk in the cool morning air.  We met up with Canadians Bill and Gina from Ontario. Bill is on his 3rd Camino doing this route again with his wife for her first one.  They started in Porto. Gina had major surgery on her lower leg due to cancer 17 years ago. She is an inspiration.  We walked with them all the way to our stop. They will go on to Viana do Castelo tomorrow from a town about 3.7K on further.

It was nice getting to our hotel around lunch time.  Had the menu do Dia at the attached restaurant which was steak  (kinda chewy but good ) mushrooms and rice and salad.  Lots of rest before taking a bottle of wine out to the beach for a beautiful sunset.