Last night we arrived in Caminha. Our last stop before crossing over to Spain. It’s exciting to be approaching our final destination…Santiago. But it’s also sad to be leaving Portugal behind. Portugal has been such a beautiful, kind and blessed country. We are so thankful for our time walking here.

Caminha looked so charming in the evening all lite up as we walked back to our room after our evening meal. It looked just as beautiful in the morning with all the street vendors selling flowers, vegetables and so on…

We crossed in a fishing boat from Portugal to Spain and carried on walking most of the day along the spectacular coastline to our resting spot for the night in Villadesuso.

Last night we stayed in a lovely town called Viana do Castelo. As we walked through the town on our way out in the morning we were impressed by how well the town was preserved and loved by the people who lived there. Everything was so pretty…there were flowers everywhere. It’s a place I would love to return to and spend some more time exploring! And the ceiling in the church was pink!!! ❤️

The rest of the day was spent walking primarily along the coastline. We walked along boardwalk, sand and climbed over large boulders ( which is far more difficult than you think with a heavy pack strapped on your back!!!). We also passed through some little forested areas. It was a pleasant day!

We knew the moment we stepped out of our door on this morning it was going to be ‘a day’. It was pouring rain and our shoes were pretty well soaked within the first 30 seconds of walking. Ugggh!

We had a quick breakfast at a café and then made a stop at the pharmacy for some bedbug bite relief. The itching and beginnings of infection were cause for some concern so we picked up some antihistamines and cortisone cream as recommended by the pharmacist.

A portion of our walk went along on trails through forested areas. It was very beautiful and a welcome change from the usual cobblestone path. The only problem was that with all the rain the trail was very muddy and at time rather slippery. I was especially grateful for my hiking poles this day!

We stopped into several beautiful churches to light candles and offer prayers for all the intentions back home and to admire the amazing architecture and ornamentations.

We were so tired by the time we made it to our accommodation for the night that none of us wanted to walk even far enough to find supper…we ended up order pizza to our room!

Today was Mother’s Day for North America! Happy Mother’s Day to all the dedicated and loving moms out there! Mother’s Day was actually celebrated in Portugal on the first Sunday of May.

We walked from Vila Do Conde to Esposende on this day. A full day of walking! Daisy picked a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers for me along our route and she and Kate treated me to supper that evening. A pleasant day for sure!

Our walk out of Porto today was so wonderful. I love the ocean and the wind a great deal and this day provided both.

Most of our walk consisted of boardwalk with some cobblestone streets passing through little fishing villages. I loved the salt air and smell of the sea.

It wasn’t all glorious though as we discovered that Daisy had been bit by bedbugs somewhere in the last few days. We have an idea where but it’s hard to say for sure since it can take up to 14 days for the itchy and painful bites to show up. Ugggh.

In the morning before we left our room we microwaved as much of our clothing as possible. This apparently kills bedbugs at all stages. When we arrived at our accommodations for the night we quickly went to work gathering all our clothing and blankets and headed for the laundry mat to wash and dry everything. I hope that we eradicated any possibility of carrying them with us. Please Lord! 🙏

Today we walked into Porto! Porto is the place where most people walking the Camino Portugués begin their journey. We had heard that the way to Santiago gets a great deal busier from here on in. While there is excitement and energy from crowds we were pretty well used to and in a rhythm of quiet and mostly solitude.

The closer we came to Porto the busier it got…to be expected from a large city. And yes many people walking around with large backpacks and hiking poles ready to begin their Camino.

We crossed the bridge and went straight to the cathedral to look around and each to get a second pilgrim passport since we had pretty much filled up our first one from Lisbon.

Porto looks like a very interesting city and it’s unfortunate that we only had the one night there because there seems to be a lot to see.

Thursday was another fairly uneventful day…lots of walking on cobblestone streets!

The Camino Francis in Spain is definitely more challenging with all its ups and downs everyday but I find the Camino Portugués is also quite difficult and demanding in its own way. Although the terrain is more flat the constant pounding on paved surfaces and cobblestone takes a monumental toll on your feet and ankles.

We passed several beautiful churches this day and stopped in to say our rosary in one that was open. Many of the churches here in Portugal have statues of Our Lady of Fátima, the Infant of Prague, Saint Sebastian and Saint Anthony. There seems to be great devotion to these particular Saints. So when we stepped into this church we were so surprised to see a huge statue of St. Pius X!

On a funny note…we stopped in to a Burger King here and discovered that you can order a beer with your whopper!!! And it’s cheaper than a water!!!

Our destination on this day was a place called Sao Joao de Madeira. The distance walked was approximately 22 km. It was a pleasant day with nothing particularly unusual or exciting to tell about.

We began our day with a nice breakfast consisting of café con leche, a ham and cheese sandwich and orange juice in an unassuming but cozy café. The buns are so wonderfully fresh here.

As we were walking on this day I was noticing how deeply imbedded the Catholic Faith is in the Portugués culture. There are signs of their devotions everywhere. It is so common to see statues, shrines, giant rosaries and tile images of favourite saints adorning people’s front yards.

It’s also so beautiful to be walking along through the countryside and to hear the church bells ringing the Ave Maria de Fátima at times throughout the day.

It is surprising to me how quickly we have arrived at the halfway point of our Camino Portugués. We have endured some difficulties and experienced many joys and much beauty. We are thankful for the prayers from home and God’s protection and love along the Way so far.

Today was a nice day. We walked about 22km. The landscape varied from small towns to highways to eucalyptus forests.

Eucalyptus forests grow fairly quickly and are large. They harvest the trees for paper products I believe. Today we passed through areas where the eucalyptus trees were cut down and replanted. When they are young they are particularly pretty…such a lovely colour of green.

When we arrived at our hostel we discovered that there wasn’t really anywhere to eat close by which was a little discouraging since you work up a hearty appetite by supper time when you walk so far. The hostel had some microwave dinners for sale. So that’s what we had! Yummy!!!

17 km was how far we walked today. Much more doable! It was a nice day for walking…lovely and warm with a bit of cloud cover to keep us shaded.

Nothing particularly eventful happened on this day. We saw a few other pilgrims and chatted with them. Other than that I spent the day enjoying all the beautiful spring flowers that grow so abundantly here and taking in the sweet perfume of orange blossoms and roses that filled the air. It was so beautiful!

When we arrived at our albergue (hostel). We asked if there were washing machines so we could wash our clothes. The hostess said yes and that she would do our laundry for us! It was so nice!