Day 2 | Perafita to Povoa de Varzim (24km)

Last night’s accommodation was spotless.  We had full use of the kettle so drank several cups of tea.  The shower was hot and fabulous… indeed it was all pretty great except the bed was sooo hard.  Neither of us slept too well and I think we’d pay for it later.  But at least this morning there was tea before we left.   No breakfast for me but Gerry had the second slice of cake that we’d been given yesterday.  He said he was quite relieved to discover it was cake because yesterday he thought it had been a really grainy piece of flan. 

We both showered and got ready for the day ahead.  Feet tape, bags packed and still on the road before 8.30am.  Of course Portugal is in a different time zone and next week we’ll need to be awake considerably earlier but for now we enjoy the extra hour.

As we walked we hummed Just The Way You Are. It had been playing last night in the restaurant. I started thinking about the lyrics and decided they could have a double meaning… Don’t Go Changing because I love you even with x y and z. Gerry said that’s right… even with your flaws I still love you… and we decided it was best not to continue down that rabbit hole and sang along to the song anyway… but listening to the lyrics again I still raised an eyebrow… I love Barry White and this song… Best to just keep singing 🙂

I’d read on the camino forum that there were a few issues with the boardwalks.  We found that today too.  Parts are being replaced and so we’ll walk so far and come to a dead end.  It wasn’t a terrible problem but we were having to go back and around all day… looking ahead to see if we could keep walking or find an alternative.  I’m sure this added to our kilometres today but it wasn’t a huge problem and it made us appreciate the work when we wandered along the new trails.  In others places we found the sand dunes encroached on to the boards… almost like the beach was reclaiming its own.  But again… we didn’t mind.  The sky was blue, the air was cool and it was a great day to be walking.

All day I took photos of the sea.  The waves were larger today, creating a haze along the coastline.  And the light… oh the glorious light shimmering on the blue blue sea.  I showed Gerry one snap and he  said my photos were annoying good.  “How Come?  Why Annoying?” I asked.  ” Because I bought all the gear and read and learned and spent ages trying and my photos are rubbish… and you just snap snap snap on your phone” Poor Gerry… “I think your photos are great” I told him… more to boost his morale than anything else… but I’m glad he likes my photos!

We climbed up some rocks and I took photos of a passing sailing ship.  Gerry told me I’d be lambasted by Tai-Shan Schierenberg on Landscape Artist for being too twee. I said I didn’t care and reminded him how much he liked my snaps. He scoffed and meandered onwards.

It was midday and we noticed the car park of a restaurant filling up. We checked out the menu and decided to follow the crowd. The advertised menu of the day for 8.50 euro. There was considerable confusion with our choices but in the end we enjoyed a very very lovely lunch with Frango no Espeto as the main course… I really want to try this chicken meal at home now! Gerry checked his emails as we waited and we decided this could be one of the best offices in the world with the most amazing view beside the sea.

As much as we’d happily have stayed we knew we still had 10km to go… so we paid and left. The wind was cool and the sea view lost to the large dunes so we put our heads down and picked up speed. We covered 6km in no time and decided it must be time for a cold drink. We checked the map and considered taking the coastal variant or the shorter main route through the residential area. Gerry was flagging so we opted for shorter… secretly I wanted to go coast but he’s the boss. We followed a few narrow streets, dodging the cars until we reached a long long straight road which lead us to our destination of Povoa de Varzim.

We’d already decided we’d stop at the first cafe. Gerry had cake in mind. He opted for a strawberry tart and I stuck to my usual diet coke. We checked Google maps and found our hotel was 900m on the other side of town. Again I asked the boss… beside the sea or through the town… the shortest was his choice.

The hotel looked a little dreary on the outside but looks can be deceiving as its actually very swish. We decided to nip next door to the supermarket and have a simple dinner with enough for a picnic lunch tomorrow… I think we both agree that we need to eat a little less and perhaps walk a little more. However we did buy a bottle of Vinho Verde and a bag of ice and a bottle opener… because its Portugal and a picnic needs wine.

We’re still loving our meandering camino!