I loved my hotel room last night. It was absolutely the right choice and the perfect treat. I chatted (facetimed) Gerry when I woke up and had breakfast at around 9.00 with Maggie (well not with Maggie because she’s in Australia) but she messaged me and we reminisced about the Via and our pilgrim adventures. Next was the luxury of a morning shower, my laundry was all dry and I cleaned and threaded my blisters. What a good way to start the day! Continue reading
The alburgue in Viana was OK. It seemed at first very promising, walking through long convent like corridors… convents are always warm and clean. However once we arrived in the Albergue part of the building we were locked in on our side… And our side was spartan. But that’s the camino so you just roll with it. Continue reading
When is an albergue not an albergue… when it’s a hostel and travellers arrive at 11:30 and turn all the lights on and start unpacking. And then they take out their laptops and books and proceeded with what looks like homework; at which point I asked if they could perhaps work in the kitchen… and to be fair they did. Continue reading
Our albergue last night was very nice; clean comfortable and well equipped but it was a tad noisy and there was a street light right outside our bedroom that lit up the room all night… it was a bit odd as it felt like early evening all night but having said that, once asleep I slept really well until 6:50… positively luxurious for a pilgrim. Continue reading
The albergue in Labruge was very nice but freezing cold. After we showered we sat and shivered until we could stand it no more. We went in search of dinner… the Canadians and their Spanish friend had already decamped to a coffee shop but had told us to walk back towards the beach to Rubens II…apparently the place to eat. Continue reading
We slept well in our little room for three. There was a bit of noise from Porto at play but we all managed to fall asleep pretty quickly. And we all seemed to wake around 6.00am and there seemed little point trying to go back to sleep. We took out time getting ready and ambled down to breakfast at 7.15am; 15 minutes early but they were ready for us. Hot coffee, juice, fresh rolls with ham cheese or jam… and Nutella… we’ve seem a lot of Nutella in Porto so my guess is it’s popular. Continue reading
There are a few routes from Porto to Santiago. We had already decided that we would wait until the very last before choosing… the weather being the deciding factor. MSN meteo says sun and 18c for at least a week so the choice was made this morning; the Senda Litterol or seaside route would be our path… for a week anyway. Continue reading
A few weeks ago, when it was still very sunny and still very warm, my walking buddies suggested a last minute autumn camino. “Yeah” I said! “Count me in!”
Since then I attempted and failed the Rota Vicentina in southern Portugal and I’ve made a flying (singing) visit down to sunny Marbella in Spain; both of which are further south than SW France and Porto. I packed my rucksack today and I realised that I have no idea what the weather will be like or what I should take.
We didn’t sleep well last night. The bed was even harder than we first thought and the pillow even lumpier. Some of my foam lumps fell out from my broken pillow and I don’t know which was worse… more lumps or less pillow.
Then We Walked 