Just watching my beloved Argentina lose to France in the World Cup. A few pilgrims, an Englishman and some Brazilians have been sitting here watching the game, but I’m the only one that was rooting for Argentina. Watching the World Cup in Europe is incredibly fun. So many different cultures coming together in bars around the cities to take in the world’s game. What could be better?

We ended up in this croquette restaurant because we ended up in the albergue next door. How did we end up there? We were walking door to door to hotels and hostels in the city because the only albergues we knew of were far outside the city center in a very boring part of town. As we were getting frustrated in our search a local man walked up to us to ask if we were trying to find an albergue/hostel. It turns out his parents just opened a place 15 days ago and it was only a couple blocks away. Brand new albergue? Why not…especially when you’re tired of walking.

Today was another blur of a day to be honest. It’s the first day that my mind was tired. My body feels fine, but mental exhaustion from the days of walking has caught up with me. Maybe it was the gray skies, the weird night of sleep where snorers, thunderstorms and high temperatures in the albergue kept waking me up. Or maybe walking roughly 175 km in six days just messes with your brain. Either way, I was tired.

It was beautiful scenery yet again today. We had two small mountains to climb today and the humid weather didn’t make it easy.

We got rained on a couple times but not enough to warrant getting my poncho out. Mostly it was pleasant for walking and taking in the countryside and Camino decorations along the way.

Again we walked on old Roman roads. Some that even showed grooves of wagon wheels. It’s neat knowing that the path you’re walking has been traveled on for centuries.

Pontevedra is a larger city and is several steps away from the typical pilgrim feel. It’s busy with locals and tourists instead of a small town overrun by pilgrims. You still see people you recognize walking the city streets, but not in the same way as the small villages where the only two restaurant choices are filled with pilgrims you’ve been seeing on The Way.

Tomorrow is another short day I believe. I’ve honestly only been looking at the guidebook the morning of. Hoping the threat of rain tomorrow holds off.

This is pilgrim life. Right now, this feels like the best meal I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t even heat it up.

This is what you might see in an albergue after a 22 mile day. Not wanting to move but still you walk a mile more round trip for a cold thing of spaghetti that makes you so very happy.

Today we left the municipal albergue in Tui around 6:40am. Because we are now in Spain, we are an hour ahead of Portugal and that means it was nearly still dark as we left town. This meant we started bout last epically long day with a nice sunrise.

To be honest, that sunrise feels like two days ago now. I also can’t remember half of what I saw today…so I’m glad I took plenty of pictures. On the Camino, days just fuzz together sometimes. You get into a zone of get up, start walking, take breaks, complain about the pain, find an albergue, shower, find dinner and sleep. Rinse and repeat.

Today as it was starting to feel like we weren’t going to find one albergue to all stay together in, we finally found a parroquial albergue where we were greeted by a very sweet nun. She had beds, showers, laundry and WiFi for us. Everything a pilgrim could want. The only downside is our room is up two flights of stairs. Just what we needed after such a long day.

The scenery today was mostly beautiful. We opted for the longer scenic route which took us through a nice forest with streams and old Roman paths and bridges. We climbed a hill and and came down to an amazing viewpoint looking down on Redondela.

Our feet are too tired to do much exploring around Redondela this evening so cold beers and dinner will likely be it tonight. Earlier in the day we had grand ideas of going to the beach nearby and swimming. But at the end of the day Justine made the comment “Normally I love my crocs but today they feel like a feet prison.” If I had crocs, that’s how I’d feel.

Since I’m too tired to remember much of the day and I’m sitting and having a pint with John from Ireland, I’ll leave you with some photos…

My current view…

If you know your beers, you’ll recognize from the picture that I am now in Spain. I’m watching the end of the Colombia/Senegal game while rehydrating from the day. Today’s walk was only 12.6 miles but with other wandering around I’m now at 16 miles on my Fitbit. Even though the walk wasn’t strenuous, the sun made sure I did my fair share of sweating.

Justine, Maurice and I took off a bit earlier than the rest of the group today and made good time on our way to Valença, Portugal. This Roman times town has a fortress around the original city and overlooks the Minho River (the border with Spain). While exploring the fortress walls, I found a geocache that looks over the river to Tui, Spain. Our home for the evening.

Leaving the albergue this morning we were treated to the best morning view yet. It was a view that reminded me of many mornings on the Camino Frances.

The walk had some steep downhills through beautiful countryside early on and flattened out for the rest of the day. A few times we walked over old Roman bridges or roads. It’s impressive to see how they have lasted over time but definitely don’t make for the easiest walking on the Camino.

I was sad to leave Portugal today as it’s one of my favorite countries. I love the people, the scenery and the food so much. But at the same time I was looking forward to the familiarity of Spain. I get to say “Buen Camino” again!

So far Tui is an adorable city to explore. With a long day tomorrow I am afraid to walk around too much as I’d like to spare my feet a bit. But the area around our albergue is a busy and fun spot with lots of restaurants, hidden walkways and churches to explore. I’m also enjoying seeing all the familiar faces of pilgrims we’ve been meeting or passing on The Way.

Five more days to Santiago. I definitely don’t want it to be over that quickly. I’m just starting to feel comfortable in the pilgrim routine again.

Can I just say yay for short days?! After three long days, having a 12+ mile day was so delightful. The scenery only made it better. Sure, there was a mountain to climb, but being in nature in the mountains was worth the work of the climb.

We started off later this morning because we knew we had a shorter walk. Unfortunately due to Laurel’s broken toe, we had to say our goodbyes to Laurel and Craig. Though it was a tough decision for her, it was the right one. Her toe wasn’t able to heal and so she wasn’t able to enjoy the walk. So the two of them opted to make the most of their vacation time doing something somewhere in Europe that doesn’t require use of ten working toes. We will miss them but I want them to enjoy their vacation time.

It was a beautiful day to walk the Camino. Warm and sunny but not uncomfortable. That doesn’t mean I didn’t sweat…cause I sweat a lot today while climbing the 405 meters. The climb was steep in parts, but I felt good. The view was definitely worth it.

Tonight we are staying in a small village. I’m not sure what the restaurant situation is in the area. But for now we are all enjoying beers, snacks and watching Germany and Korea play in the World Cup. With three Germans in our crowd, I’ll opt to root for Germany. 🙂

Knowing that a new geocaching promotion is starting today I was keeping an eye on geocaches to find along the way. There aren’t many in the area but I found one along the route and it looks like there’s another one in the village that I’ll try to look for after the game.

Tomorrow we will reach the border of Spain. Likely we will stay one more night in Portugal as we’ve heard the Portuguese side of the border is more interesting but then that sets us up for a long walk the next day.

I have three blisters. Two years ago I walked for five weeks and only got one blister at the end. But today alone, I was gifted with three blisters. Also my legs and feet are dead tired. Fitbit currently has me at 24 miles for the day. And I may still walk to get dinner.

The savior after walking until my feet felt like they could fall off was that Laurel, Justine and Maurice had tracked down a great place for us to stay. The albergues in town were all full but they found a place that even though it feels plain, it’s like living in luxury. This is the view from the room Justine and I are staying in…

Today I woke up early after a surprisingly good night’s sleep on a bed that some rocks feel softer than. I felt motivated to get going. So I took off ahead of the group. I walked fast and took few breaks as I wanted to get to our destination as early as I could. The countryside was endless fields of corn and grape vines set alongside mountains full of eucalyptus trees.

I saw very few pilgrims throughout the day and even less cafes or bars along the way. Of the 21 mile walk, I only stopped twice for short breaks.

It was worth it to get to Ponte de Lima early as the town is the oldest villa in Portugal, has an amazing Roman bridge and is just a great place to explore.

Now I debate between going to dinner…more walking….or just going to bed.

My body feels like it could have kept walking after the 18 miles we walked today. My mind was done though. The midnight fireworks show with festival music and a hot hostel room last night didn’t provide a good night’s sleep. Between the one hour of sleep I got the night before we left Porto and the maybe 5 hours I got last night, my brain and my body are tired.

We left Vila do Conde around 7am in the mist, which was the perfect weather to walk in. The first third of today was pretty lackluster scenery wise. John asked me if we would ever get to some “Camino trails.” I knew what he meant by that. Yesterday we walked the coastal route which doesn’t have the Camino infrastructure or amount of pilgrims that you’re used to on the French Way. It’s a beautiful route but it doesn’t feel like you’re walking the Camino. The first third of today wasn’t that pretty and also didn’t have the feel of the Camino. It was just walking with the purpose to meet up with the central route. The moment we got to the central route it was the Camino that John and I are used to. This made me happy inside knowing that I’ve finally reached that familiar Way.

It’s the path that leads you past churches, through the cute villages, cafes that don’t seem like they charge you enough for your beer, soda, coffee or food, endless yellow arrows or shell symbols to signify the way. It was so great to be back in a place that fills my heart – between walking in beautiful countryside and saying Bom Caminho to other pilgrims.

Justine got to learn the reality of “the Camino provides” today. Her blisters from yesterday were killing her and her shoes weren’t helping them. She looked like she could barely go on. Our new friend Nina asked if she wanted to borrow her Crocs. This kind gesture was a life saver for her. Even though she was tired, the Crocs helped ease the pain of the blisters so she could go on. Since we’ve arrived in Barcelinhos, Laurel helped her acquire her own pair of Crocs. The Camino will provide what you need. You may not always know when or how, but it will.

57,000 steps and 24.3 miles after leaving Porto I’m finding myself sitting at a cafe with Laurel and Craig drinking a refreshing Super Bock and waiting for the rest of our Camino family to head to dinner. Today was a the longest day of walking I’ve ever done. I’ve run a marathon before but never walked that many miles. My longest training day before this was 14 miles. Honestly even though I’m tired and my feet are sore, I feel good for putting in a 24 mile day.

It was foggy as we left Porto this morning, so much so that we couldn’t see the other side of the river as we left town. It was foggy through half the walk today so the views were limited. In the afternoon the fog lifted and we had some great views of the ocean. We passed beach after beach and several beach villages.

During our walk we met three other pilgrims all from Germany, but each walking alone. By lunch they had all joined us. Two of them were headed to our same village today and ended up booking our same hostel.

As we arrived in Vila do Conde the locals had arranged a parade for us. Well, I guess they may have had their parade with or without us, but it was nice to arrive into town with a marching band playing for us.

Tomorrow is another long day so we will be headed to bed early. First up is looking for dinner.

Normally I’d want to explore a town more but I think after today’s distance I’ll stick close to our hostel.

It’s late and I have to get up early tomorrow to walk day one of the Camino. I have fallen in love with Porto over the past two days. Fitbit tells me I’ve put in two full Camino days of steps while exploring this beautiful city. It’s rich with so much culture, amazing sites and sounds, great food and wine and filled with some of the nicest people you’ll meet.

I’ll keep this short for now but check back as I hopefully add more later. Tomorrow we get up at 6am and start walking our 21 miles to Vila do Conde. We get one last chance to see this beautiful city as we walk to the cathedral to start our pilgrimage.

Today has been a long day. And it’s still going. Our plane was a bit late leaving Seattle and finally took off at 8:30pm. We arrived at Heathrow where we met Justine and Maurice. I can imagine it’s not the easiest for a 16 year old to walk up to someone who is nearly a random stranger in an airport and hang out with them for 5 hours before her cousin shows up. But Justine rolls with the punches and it seemed like her and Maurice were already getting along.

The moms as I’m referring to them (mine and Justine’s) insisted on photo proof that we all successfully met up. So there it is.

We knew our flight on TAP airlines from London to Lisbon has a reputation of being late so we knew there was a possibility that we wouldn’t make our train connection. Well that happened. So we are now sitting on one of the last trains to Porto tonight that feels like it’s moving at a glacial pace.

The silver lining of us missing our intended train was that we got to spend more time chatting with my friend Bruno. He’s been so incredibly helpful in the planning of our journey and was kind enough to give us a ride to the train station today and help us get our new train tickets sorted out. We do wish he was joining us on our walk. Another time.

We’ll be getting into Porto around 1am and meeting up with Laurel and Craig at our apartment. After catching up on sleep some of us plan to head to the cathedral in Porto to get our credentials stamped and meet up with our friend John. Tomorrow is a day to explore Porto and late in the afternoon I’ll be hosting a geocaching event. I’m hoping to see some friends from the geocaching world that I haven’t seen in a while. Really looking forward to seeing what Porto has in store for us!

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often though, they hurt.” – Anthony Bourdain

Today is the day. Today I will go to work, probably be stressing all day about my flight later this evening but will do so with a big smile on the inside knowing that I am headed back to the Camino. Months of preparation, saving money, travel planning and training have brought me to this point. I am ready to start walking. As with my last Camino, I’m a bit nervous but even more I’m excited about the adventure that awaits me and my fellow pilgrims.