Life's a Stitch

September 14:  22K including a bit of being lost 

Last night we stayed in a B&B called the Lapa Vintage, owned  since June by two exuberant women:

The downstairs portion of the house was decorated in 1950's or before. The upstairs was a traditional vintage Portugeuse house. We were reminded many times that "this is your home." Too tired to eat out, we picked up ham, cheese, bread and wine for a candlelight dinner.

After a brief period of city walking, where C seemed unscathed by the first fall of the Camino, boardwalks were our walking surface for the first third of the way:

We defied our rule of the prior Camino regarding rest stops and didn't pause for lunch until 15k's had passed. Part of the issue was no place to stop. Even with food in our packs, when the beautiful boardwalks came to an end we spent a good deal of time on cobblestones through vegetable farms and deep mud, through eucalyptus forest and barnyards, an interesting combination of scents, but no place to sit.

Three days in and physically we seem to be holding up. We're noticing aches in different spots than last year attributing them to entirely hard walking surfaces and the fact that the terrain has been flat. 

The farther we go the more pilgrims we meet. Yesterday were three women from Slovakia and Belgium and a man from Scotland and today a group from BC and another from Olympia, Bellingham and Portland. 

We have a decision to make in two days as we enter Spain. Continue up the coast or head inland and join the central route of the Camino Portugues. Stay tuned.