September 18: 15.6k plus a ferry to Spain A day of some confusion. C and I had our wires crossed and we ended up on two different paths for awhile. I knew they would join at the end so no worries. I did, however, receive this email from him: "No wife, no map, no money…two…

September 17 – the food On our last night in Portugal, as we cross into Spain tomorrow, I'm dedicating this to the delicious, but maybe not so healthy, food. This is our favourite, pastel (pronounced poshtel) nata, which translates to cream pastry. It serves as Camino survival food, second brekkie, snack or dessert.  Laden with…

September 17:  18.1k Coastal Route It was a social day on the Camino. It took awhile to find the coastal route, having ended up on the literal wrong side of the tracks with no way to cross. Once along the beach it was heavenly. We met Martin from Kraków, the birthplace of my Polish family.…

September 16: 15k Coastal Route The morning began with the discovery that we had both lost our hats. C found his in the car of last night's host. I figured mine was accidentally dropped on the trail.  After yesterday's day of stressful pilgrimage we gave ourselves a break, choosing a shorter day. This was a…

September 15: 22k+ (including a detour) C's least favourite Camino day so far, but let's back up to last night, which was amazing. We experienced dramatic foreshadowing when it came to finding our accommodation, Ofirina B&B, using Google Maps. After walking through a beautiful but maze-like neighbourhood, a local landscaper walked us to our destination. …

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…

September 13: 17k The Portuguese route of the Camino does not follow the ocean, we chose to take the alternate coastal route. In doing so we've found it lacks some of the pilgrim infrastructure as it takes you through desirable vacation spots. No 10e three course meals with all the wine you want. You're more…

Porto is a charming city of 235,000, but if you count the metro region it has a population of 1.5 million. Although it attracts throngs of tourists, it's worth a visit. Still on vacation we ate our way and drank good wine through the historic areas of town.  We stayed in the highly recommended "Trendy…