Day 2 was from Matosinhos to Vila Cha, a distance of approximately 11 miles. The first 3 or 4 were on paved sidewalks or bike paths along a busy oceanfront boulevard between the beach and a continuous row of hotels. As we reached a large refinery, we transitioned onto a boardwalk along the the top of the dune line. We stayed on the boardwalk all the way into Vila Cha, which, for me, turned out to be a pretty boring walk.
Our stop for the night was new, 10-bed municipal albergue, which was very clean. We had dinner a nearby cafe with a couple of Danish ladies from the Albergue.
Today, as we left Vila Cha, the yellow arrows led us along a series of narrow, but heavily-trafficked roads through a eucalyptus forest to the town of Vilo do Conde, then through rolling farmland and a few small villages to Arcos, where the Coastal Route joined the Portugues Central Route for the final three miles into Sao Pedro de Rates, our destination for the day. We checked into the 50-bed municipal albergue and went through the typical shower/laundry/nap/cerveza routine before dinner. We shared a meal of pasta, salad, and bread with a group of three lovely Turkish ladies who may be the beginning of our camino family for this trip.
Today' total was a bit less than 14 miles, and a case of sore shoulders from the backpack. The forecast for tomorrow is 90-100% rain-ugh!
Any early comparisons with the Camino Frances you could make?
ReplyDeleteIt's a little too early to make a definitive comparison, but it does have a different feel about it. Hard to say whether or not that's a Portugal vs Spain thing or if there's more to it than that.
DeleteGreat to read about your start. I just read on the APOC FB page that the numbers on the Portuguese route are up 40% from last year. It doesn't sound like you've encountered on crowdedness. Hoping for only a little rain! The pictures are wonderful. Buen Camino. Mike.
ReplyDeleteThere weren't very many people walking up the coast the first couple of days, but there seems to be enough now that we're on the central route--enough that there seems to be a bit of a bed race.
Delete