Life as a Pilgrim

Day 1: Porto 》 Cabo do Mundo - 17 km

Day 2: 》Vila do Conde - 17 km

Day 3: 》Aguçadoura - 11 km

Day 4: 》Esposende - 14 km

Day 5: 》Viana do Castelo - 14 km by foot, 12 km by bus

After a few days only, we already have a routine:

• sleep from 10 pm to 8 am (only possible when wearing ear plugs 😉).

• Get ready and grab a bite at a pastelaria (café abatanado is the local way to order a "regular" black coffee😀)

• buy water and snacks at a supermarket

• walk until we need to rest (have another abatanado or coke with a tostada)

• walk again till we reach the accommodation.

After having taken a shower, we find it extremely hard to get up and go out for dinner, so instead we have snacks in the room.

We spend more time taking care of our legs and feet. Despite good socks and shoes, I have blisters on the little toes and the sides of my feet 😣.

Walking on cobble stone is the worst because it feels like the tips of uneven stones poke right into the blisters.

Today, as we did not find a place to stay somewhere half way, we took the bus after 14 km and were fit enough to go out for dinner. I asked the waitress for the word "band aid" in Portuguese. The lady was a real treasure. Not only did she tell me the word but gave me box of band aids. She also recommended seamless socks and Vaseline to avoid any friction. ☝️

In general, we have met friendly and helpful people so far. People seem to be happy that I try to communicate with the little Portuguese I know.

We had a good laugh at the pharmacy today, when Google translated "Franzbranntwein" (rubbing alcohol?) with "conhaque francês" and the lady said she was not sure whether drinking cognac would help restore our legs but we could try 🤣.

Only on day 5 we met the first pilgrim to join our way for a couple of kilometers. The pleasant conversation was a nice distraction of the many perceptible steps.

So far, the Camino has led us on boardwalks along the beach, on paths besides fields and greenhouses full of vegetables, over bridges, through villages, and today: through a river:

The Ponte Sebastião over the Rio Neiva collapsed, leaving the original rocks in the river.

Here are some impressions: