Camino Portugues (Senda Litoral)

May 28, 2019 110km completed, 161km to go        Route Map We are now in Spain, Galicia to be exact. We walked some 106km through north eastern Portugal and thoroughly enjoyed it. Looking back at the harbour and beach at Vila Praia de Ancora This morning we were able to have coffee and toast at a bar next to our hostel and that  set us up nicely for the road. It was a clear, sunny morning but we still faced into a strong wind for the first 5km or so. All that time we were on some type of seaside walkway until we reached the small town of Molado. At the start of the town a yellow arrow would have taken us under a railway bridge away from the sea. Today we decided to ignore the arrow and follow our guide book. We did so again at the other end of the town, when the arrows pointed right and the book said KSO (keep straight on). Forest trail after Molado It was a good decision as we followed a most attractive forest trail  for at least two kil...

May 29, 2019 127km completed, 145km to go              Route Map We left the albergue at 7:10am but as we are now on Spanish time the sun was still very low and it was quite cool. A Guarda is built on the side of a hill and we were near the top so it was a relatively easy start walking down to the sea. We stayed close to the rocky shoreline, at times walking over rocks, before being sent up a steep hill. Just before it came to a highway we turned left on to an old farm track and walked along the side of the hill, roughly parallel to the sea, sometimes going up a little and at other times down, sometimes in trees, sometimes between little abandoned fields, bounded by dry stone walls that no longer have a farmer to repair them. A couple of times we were walking on a cycleway attached to the highway and, of course, we regularly returned to walk close to the sea. After about 5km we reached a much anticipated cafe for breakfast. The cafe turned o...

May 30, 2019 148km completed, 125km to go We left at 7:10am as we were expecting a very warm day and a longer walk than usual. The yellow arrows directed us along minor roads above and below the main road, making the walk longer but much more pleasant. The wind, which had eased considerably yesterday, had died down completely today and the sea was noticeably calmer. Early on we noticed about four men jump from a small boat onto a rock, a short distance from the shore. The boat then moored nearby while the men moved about the rock. We came across similar operations along this stretch of coast. Our guess is that the men were collecting some type of shellfish while the rocks were exposed at low tide. (Research since returning to Ireland indicates they were collecting Gooseneck Barnacles, a very expensive delicacy to be found in upmarket restaurants). Collecting Gooseneck Barnacles We planned to breakfast in a restaurant at a campsite after 4.5km and were not disappointed....

May 31, 2019  173 km completed, 100km to go      Route map Early morning - looking back across the bay to Baiona We are becoming good at planning to leave at 7:00am and getting on the road at 7:10. That was the way today and, with Liz to accompany us, we set off to walk miles of promenade and boardwalk, convinced that finding a bar or cafe in which to have breakfast would not be a problem. Twice we left the seafront to avoid going round headlands. The hoped for breakfast was a long time in coming. We passed many bars and restaurants scheduled to open at times between 11:00am and 1:30pm and had completed the major climb of day, away from the sea, before we finally found a bar serving coffee. By that stage we had walked 9km. Shortly afterwards we had to make a steep descent and my feet didn't like it one bit. When we returned to the sea I just had to put my feet into the water. That provided great relief and set me up for the long walk into Vigo. For th...

June 1, 2019 1193 km completed, 84km to go            Route Map Orange tree on street in Vigo With breakfast starting at 7:00 we didn't leave the hotel until 7:40. The day started  well with a walk down to sea level and then we had a long trek close to the sea. On three occasions we were unsure of the route and were advised by locals. Rightly or wrongly we are blaming this advice on getting totally lost. We knew we had to climb steeply to join the Camino Coastal but none of the streets in our viicinity matched the stree t names in our guide book. Google Maps offered a route to one of the named streets so we followed that, but three times locals tried to redirect us. We persisted with Google and another local came along. He agreed with Google and soon afterwards we saw a yellow arrow. It was most reassuring. By then we had climbed a number of steep hills, added up to 2km to our walk, lost more than an hour and were wrecked. Ann wasn't qui...

June 2, 2019 211km completed - 64km to go We had been staying in a private albergue which offered a €2 breakfast of coffee and toast, starting at 6:00am. There were more than a dozen people in the dining room at 6:00 but no sign of anyone to make the coffee and toast. He did turn up and we were on the road by 6:50. We walked through the town, past the municipal albergue that we had stayed in eight years earlier. It was full then and it was full again last night. Out of town we were on paths and minor roads for some 3km until we came onto a main road which looked very familiar. It came back to me that eight years ago the route was very unclear at this point and we spent some time discussing options with a group of peregrinos from east Asia. We got it right then and there was no confusion with the arrows on this occasion. We eventually came to the small town of Arcade. Eight years ago we hoped to get breakfast here but were out of luck. With the increase in peregrinos we ...

June 3, 2019 235km completed – 41km to go          Route Map At Pontevedra Bridge just before the rain Pauline and I were ready first, and we set off knowing that the other two would soon catch us. After a little more than a kilometre we found a café at which other peregrinos were seated. We ordered our usual breakfast of Americano, zumo naranja and tostados. Ann and Liz had joined us before we had finished. We headed on through the old town and stopped at the bridge for photographs. Just as we were about to set off again the first drops of rain fell and we had to don our rain jackets and put waterproof covers on our back packs for the first time. Peregrinos on horseback The rain turned out to be more persistent than forecast and our full length trekking raincoats would have been a better option. Liz and Ann caught up with us and eventually went on ahead. It was still raining when we caught up with them at a bar some eight kilometres further on...