Day One - Porto to Vila do Conde On the Camino de Santiago, the Portuguese Coastal Route

                                                               

    

We left Porto on May 2 a week ago, to start our walk.   Our walking days are long and so have not been able to blog. Today we are in the Parador in Baiona and resting so I am hoping to catch up with my blogging.  

Day one Porto to Vila do Conde 

What a baptism of fire.  It was a 30 km walk.  We started walking from Matinhos about 9:30 and did not get into our alburgue until 6:00 pm.  It was an amazing walk along the beach on miles and miles of boardwalks, a perfectly beautiful sunny day and a cool breeze from the ocean.  However, it was so long and exhausting.  My pack felt heavy with water, food,  my rain gear, hooded sweat shirt and all my electronics plus my three months supply of pills!  My other stuff I sent on through a carrier.

As we got into vila do Conde I asked an older lady for directions, she grabbed my arm and walked me down the street, stopped traffic to get across.  All the while I was laughing and chatting with her.  She took us directly to the alburgue.

The Aiburgue Santa Clara in Vila do Conde  is new and we were asked to pose for a group picture at the request of the town mayor because it was the first time it was full to capacity,  we were 21 pilgrims from many countries, young and older!  A great bunch of pilgrims.