Camino Day 4 - Sunflowers

June 22

This morning we checked out of our hostel in Viana do Castelo and stopped for coffee and a breakfast of pastries and sandwiches. 

We had two routes to choose from today and we chose the coastal route so we could enjoy the breeze and avoid the hills that we dealt with yesterday. I enjoyed the first part of our walk because we were back on the boardwalk for a while and each morning is very foggy which is nice and cool as well as very beautiful! My feet and legs were very sore this morning but it wasn’t so bad as we kept walking. 

Our trail separated from the coast eventually and we walked through a forest area and then along farmland. The highlight of my day was a sunflower field that we found. We stopped and walked through the field and it was massive and gorgeous. 

As we walked away we found Alastair up ahead under a bridge fishing with a stick. He caught a few small fish and Dagny and my mom stayed with him while Addie, my dad, and I walked the last mile or so to our accommodation. 

We met up with Alastair, Dagny, and my mom at a restaurant for lunch and then Dagny and I came back to our place while everyone else went to the local market. When they got back we all rested and then had frozen pizza for dinner and played Yahtzee.

Overall, today was an easy walking day compared to what we’ve done so far. We only walked 11 miles and saw such a beautiful part of the coast and the surrounding farmland. All our walking has been exhausting but it is very rewarding and I am even looking forward to doing it again tomorrow.

​“Even on the darkest days I will stand tall and find the sun” -My favorite quote about sunflowers

Magnolia

Camino Day 3

June 21

We all woke up a little creaky in Esposende this morning but were eager to walk to Viana do Castelo. The logistics of our Camino are a bit different than that of a traditional Pilgrim. We are all traveling for varying amounts of time and locations in Europe, so we have more possessions than some. Keep in mind, the McLains still pack light. Dave and I have packed for 3 weeks, the girls for at least 6 weeks, and Alastair will live out of his single bag for quite a while.

Adelaide is an amazing concierge. Every night she makes our accommodation reservations for the next night and arranges luggage transport ahead to our next stop. She is 100% tech savvy, fluent in Spanish (which all the Portugues can understand), and exceedingly capable. David and I are more than happy to allow her to oversee these details. Thank you, Adelaide!!!!

Each or our bags is air tagged and we can see them move north up the coast with us. Every night they are exactly as promised by the transport vendor for about $10/bag/day. I am sure you all can do the math on 6 bags/day over two weeks. Trust me, worth every penny. We only carry about 10 pounds on the Camino each day and we are pretty tired by the end of each day. I am so grateful not to have to carry any more and still be able to have pajamas and my toothbrush waiting each night. Our day packs are mostly water, but we also carry a few snacks, sunscreen, hats, rain ponchos (not yet used), passports, Pilgrim credentials (cute little books for stamps along the way to prove you walked the Camino), and a few other items. Today Adelaide, Dagny, and I each carried a second pair of shoes. It helps to switch up halfway through the day. Today I walked my first 8 miles in my Chocos. I will likely do the same tomorrow.

I loved today’s walk which was very different landscape than yesterday. Much more hiking in the mountains and in-land. Not much walking near the ocean. One of my favorite things today were the boxes of plums left near the Camino for Pilgrims to eat for free. They were very small, not much bigger than a large grape, but super delicious. I ate about 6 today.

The Camino is well marked. We have an app which can show us our directions along the way, but we don’t use our phones very much. The yellow arrows point the way, and I love walking without having to think very much. It is very quiet in lots of places and great for enjoying The Way.

Ten miles hiked from 8-noon and then a long lunch with kebab plates, and kebab sandwiches and lots of water and beers. By 3:30pm we finished a total of 15 miles and enjoyed a festival in Viana do Castelo (Market of Discoveries), but it felt a lot like a Renaissance Fair. Fun. Alastair wanted a wooden sword. I said no.

Buen Camino!  Jll

Camino Day 2

June 20

​We woke up this morning in a decently large beach town in Portugal (Póvoa de Varzim). We packed up and then headed out to drop off our bags at a nearby hotel. With only our day packs, we began walking. Today we all started the day walking at our own pace. 

I ended up about a mile ahead of Addie, Maggie, mom, and dad and stopped to have a cappuccino and a pastry at a cafe on the beach while I waited for them to catch up. Alastair was ahead of all of us on the trail. We stopped and took a break before we headed back out and walked together for about two more hours. We walked along the beach, on board walks through farms, and through small towns. 

Around hour four of the day we stopped to have some tapas and took a load off. At this point we only had about an hour left so we stretched, gave ourselves a good pep talk and then began again. 

We found our hostel, checked in, and dropped our bags off before going to the grocery store to buy more supplies for our ever growing number of blisters (11 and counting) and some snacks. Where we are staying is right on the beach so we changed into swimsuits and jumped in the ocean for a swim. The water was so so cold as we are on the Atlantic Ocean so we didn’t swim for too long. After our dip we headed to dinner and then finally back to the hostel where we are all about ready to crash and do it all again tomorrow!

Dagny

Ready, Set, Camino!

​June 19. 

We had a late start this morning, starting with a nice stranger in a taxi picking up our large backpacks to run them up to an albergue in Povoa de Varzim where we planned to stop for the night.  We walked by the pilgrim office near the cathedral in Porto to collect our credentials (needing one stamp per day in Portugal and two per day in Spain) and seashells.  This will allow us to get our certificate at the end. 

We took a subway to the north side of Porto to start our Camino, shaving 5 miles off our walk.  Once we hit the ocean at about 10am, we started walking north. Rule of the day: keep the ocean on your left.  We walked, talked, and sang our way for the next 17 miles. We seemed to be the only pilgrims with a Bose speaker. Though out of place, it served us well. 

By the time we strolled in to Povoa de Varzim, we were all very tired and dragging.  Adelaide found a couple of blisters on her feet, which is not a good start.  We picked up the big bags at the albergue and got lectured by the host for not calling ahead to warn him our bags were being dropped off. A donation seemed to smooth things over. Another 15 minute walk to the AirBNB with all of our bags about did me in. Lesson learned, have your bags dropped off where you will be sleeping. A quick run on the showers and we were off to dinner.  Dagny was supposed to blog tonight, but passed out, dead tired, when we got back to our apartment. 

All in all, it was a good day. Our first taste of the Camino was a long day, but we did it. Only 11 or so miles tomorrow, which we hope to feel much shorter as we get our legs. 

- Dave