Monat: August 2022

We left Redondela with many other pilgrims today. We saw a building site for a road. At a little church we got our stamps for the pilgrim pass and met Diana (Romania) and Jimmy(Italy) again and later Nicola(Italy) , who took a different route after Caminha. We want to eat together in the evening.

We saw also a policeman and a policewoman on horses. Today we wnt only about 20km.

Sometimes the normal people on the street or in the shops say ‚Buen Camino!‘ or ask where we come from…. There is a lot of enthusiasm for the Camino in Spain.

Today we walked almost 30 km.  We started in the dark and in the forest we lost our way.  As we only saw trees with our pocket lamp and no way anymore,  we had to go back a little bit. We were a little tired and wanted a motivation.  So we decided,   the next stop should be the Froiz supermarket to buy a sweet little piece…  and the next pause to eat it.

We reached the first less-than 100 km marker.
At Redondela it seemed like we didn’t  find an Albergue at first. But after one hour of searching a very nice hospitalera found an Albergue for us. So we have two beds in Redondela now.
This evening we ate very well. Gazpacho, Paella with seafood and a cordonbleu with rice. In a few minutes  a chocolate cake will arrive and we will close our day by eating it.

Today we hit the middle of our way to Santiago. We started early and walked one and a half hours without sunlight, because we were still used to the Portuguese timezone that is one hour earlier.
The scenery and the houses in Galicia looked fine, e. g. the house with the shells on the wall and the whale on the beach as well. At the port we saw many fishes and some crabs.
We were excited if we get beds in the albergue because we have no reservation….
Luckily we got our beds… And then the procedure as every day…. Shower, washing… And later eating.

Today we crossed the border river to Spain with a fisher boat in the fog.  It was fast and a small adventure –  even if the sea was almost flat.
Then we went cross a hill to A Guarda and then we went along the coast to the North. The markers for finding the way are huge in Galicia…
Johanna lighted a candle for the family and the ill people.
In O Porto there is no bed for us in the albergue…  But a double room costs only 19 Euro per person compared to 14 in the dormitory…  So we have to choose the double room.
Today we ate calamari and pork with French fries and a tarte de Santiago. Our end of the day was the sunset at the beach.

Dad and I started walking around 6 am today. We left the albergue and first we went mostly up hill. Then we were in a beautiful park and our breakfast was bread with peach and shared a dough bag with a sweet orange filling. The next kilometers we walked alone and I found a lemon on the street.
We went through an older quarter with an old roman road. After that we took the way to the sea and saw sunflowers and ate a lot of blackberries from the roadside.
Just before Vila Praia de Âncora the fog covered a lot of our view and it looked a little bit like we were in a different world.
Now in Caminha Dad and I realised that probably today is our last evening in Portugal. That seems a little bit crazy.

There is a Coastal variant for our Camino on this stage. We took this variant. It was lovely with the sea, the sun, surfers, the wind and bathing. I (Johanna) was swimming… But the temperature felt like a Bavarian lake in April. My father Martin only put his legs into the water.

We went barefoot in the sand at the beach for a long time. This was very nice but also exhausting. Under the bridge of the river Lima we saw many fish. Luckily our feet and legs felt good… Only my dad Martin felt sometimes his right hip.
Tomorrow the stage is a little bit longer, so we have a power nap now.

We slept in the albergue and stood up at 6.00. Today we walk about 22 km next to the coast. Johanna walked some time on her own and saw a case of exhibitionism in the village Agucadora. Johanna called me at the phone, but only she was there as I arrived a few minutes later.

Afterwards everything was wonderful. We walked through fields and next to a golf course. In Fão we crossed the Rio Cávado and then we met the other German pilgrims at the albergue again. There was a lovely cat as well. Then we took a shower, washed the clothes, took a power nap, walked to the sea. Here we write this blog post. Then we buy some things and cook our dinner together.

Today we stood up at 5 am and began to walk in the dark of the night. It was very funny to hear the sea, but actually we didn’t see the water or the big waves in the first hour.
Dad and I walked often around small fitness equipment, but when I tried it out it squeaked very loud. At 7 am we eat our breakfast with a very nice view on the sea and we have to put our windjackets on. But as we walked we didn’t need them because the fresh wind on our skin was pleasantly really refreshing.
We walked trough many villages where fishers live and saw a lot of cancer traps standing everywhere around.
After that we came to a high point and continued walking all across the Atlantic Coastline. At Póvoa de Varzim we saw a big boat that looked like from pirates. ⛵
Now we are at the albergue and for me it’s the first time here to be at something like that. But we met three other Germans, they seem very cool and in a few hours we want too eat pizza together.

Today Johanna and I stood up early to get the plane from Munich to Porto at 8.25. For Johanna it was the first flight in her life… She had a window seat and a wonderful view.

We took the metro to the center, I bought my forgotten sunglasses at Decathlon and we got our first stamps at the cathedral in Porto.

We had 2 sweet ‚Pasteis de Nata‘ and went next to the river Douro to the sea. There the coastal Camino goes on to Matosinhos, where we sleep tonight.

The man at the reception was friendly and spoke English… I asked if ‚gracias‘ was right to say thank you… But the way he said ‚this is Spanish‘ told us, that he likes English more than Spanish… Obrigado / a is Portuguese for thank you.

Then we had a shower, washed the shirts and the socks and wrote this blog post.

The flight is booked for my daughter Johanna and me from Munich to Porto(Camino Portugues) for August , the 23rd and back for September, the 9th. The room for the first night in Matosinhos is also booked.

I can test my wordpress blog from my smartphone again with this post while being on holiday in Tuscany.

This posting is similar to the posting about one year ago before the Camino Primitivo.😀