I say normal, whatever that actually means. I’ve done all the laundry, I’m in the process of making my first loaf - yes, my starter survived! I’ve pretty much got the orders sorted and sent out, I’ve got less of some teas than I thought I had, so am needing to do some emergency ordering, same with the packaging, but we’re getting there, slowly but surely.
My feet are recovering, but I may still lose my toenail - more on that later, if you’re not squeamish! I’m quite impressed that I didn’t have much in the way of painful legs, or back and shoulders, considering I did like a snail and carried all my belongings on my back, in an ancient rucksack. I must admit I’d packed exceedingly light, with minimal clothes and other belongings - my heaviest thing was a power pack which ended up not being suitable for my new phone, so I ended up buying another - a godsend for the last part of the walk when I was walking longer distances.
I describe it as being ‘my’ camino, as I never intended to go all the way to Santiago de Compostela. You may know that my son Iwan lives in Portugal, and his birthday was during my stay, so we decided that I would set off walking
northwards from Porto, then get to a point where I could easily get a train south, and meet them for his birthday weekend. I would then walk from Santarem south to Lisbon. I walked over 180km in all, over 9 days, and I’m pleased with what I achieved. I am for sure regarding this as a ‘trial run’ and intend to do a more focussed walk at some point soon, and I feel that this walk has prepared me for doing it ‘properly’. If you have any questions about the walk, and any hints and tips, especially if you’re planning it, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Now I know you’re only here for the photos, so here they are.
Day 1 - Porto to Matosinhos 11.1km - I had been a bit of a wimp and booked many of my accommodations in advance, and had I been a bit more confident in my own abilities, I would have allowed myself to walk further. I set off at 7am, in time to see the sunrise over the river, and proceeded to follow the river until it reached the Atlantic. At Matosinhos I met a lovely lady from Seattle who had planned to walk the Camino, but 6 weeks ago she had a knee replacement, but came to Porto anyway, and was walking the camino vicariously through people she met!
Day 2 - Matosinhos to Labruge 13.7km - or at least it would have been 13.7km if my accommodation had been closer to the coast - I ended up having to walk close to 3km inland. The accommodation was called ‘beach studio’ and I foolishly/naively assumed it would be close to the beach - it wasn’t! It was actually right on the Camino Portugues da Costa, not the Litoral which I’d been following up to that point.
Day 3 - Labruge to Povoa de Varzim - inland route 12.9km - this made such a change from walking along the coast, which was mostly boardwalks and promenades. For this stretch, I was on calcada roads, which are pretty much cobbles. I didn’t find them a problem, but I know several walkers complained bitterly about them. This was a lovely stretch, even though it was close to the main road at the start, and Porto airport was not that far away. At this point, my feet became a bit of an issue, with blisters under my feet, and an old bunion playing up.
Day 4 - Povoa de Varzim to Esposende - because of the state of my feet, I decided to get the bus to Esposende, and walk back to Fao for my accommodation, a total walk of 2.1km. This was my first hostel stay, an experience to be sure!
To be continued …..
In August 2022 we walked the full Camino de Santiago (French route) over a 7 week period. Then we walked the Portuguese Coastal with the variant Espiritual last May and really enjoyed the experience. After reaching Santiago we continued walking on to Finisterre.
We were fortunate not to have suffered any foot issues having researched quite thoroughly on the best shoes etc. We settled on Altra trail runners with Injini toe socks. The shoes are very light, but not waterproof, though dry really quickly and allow your feet to breathe. The toe socks keep your toes apart so prevent rubbing but do take up more space in your shoes, so we went up a half - one full size bigger in shoes to help with front pressure when going down hill. We also found that walking with trekking poles helps too.
This year we are heading off to do the St Olavesden - Sweden to Norway!