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Published: November 28th 2017
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Swimming pool18 kms. We again placed our faith in the GPS trace and this time were not disappointed. Most of our way today was on the coast or near the coast except for a jaunt over to the N-13 highway for something to eat. After walking out of Viana do Castelo, past the shipyards and castle for which it’s named, we came across our 1
stboardwalk of the day. Each municipality along the coast has a sign showing the parts of the boardwalk project completed and the parts under construction. Sometimes they’re up to date; sometimes not. “Under construction” we found could mean a couple of things – already complete and open or working on it. We saw them working on a section – it looks like it will be complete any day how. We had a couple of detours away from the boardwalks, seldom more than 50 yards from the beach. Again following the GPS trace on Google Earth we walked down many farm paths, couldn’t see any road on Google Earth and thought, oh-oh, we’ll be walking across cabbage fields again. But the road got smaller and smaller
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Map showing completed boardwalks until it was just a narrow path a couple of feet across and it turned into a delightful trek through the woods with the ocean just an earshot away.We passed several ruined fortresses that once guarded the shore (they seemed to be every 4 kilometers or so) and several old windmills. We even walked across a long stretch of the beach to avoid a longer walk to the bridge at Ancora. At the end there was a pedestrian bridge that crossed the water right into the city. We’re in a guest house overlooking the ocean and can hear the waves rolling in. This is our last night in Portugal.
Friday, November 17, 2017, to A Guarda, Hotel Eli-Mar, 12.5 km. Well, we said goodbye to Portugal today. We had an easy walk to Caminha hoping to catch the 11:00 ferry across the wide Minho River, the border between Portugal and Spain at this point. But we arrived by 9:40, in time for the 10:00 ferry. At the "Bar do Ferry" we had our last "Cafe com Leite" and boarded the small ferry to take us to the other side to Spain. We were the only pilgrims on the ferry.
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Rocky coast I thought it would be cold and windy and was dressed for that, but it was quite pleasant, and we stood outside on the deck rather than sitting inside. It was a quick 15 minute trip. We then had a 4 km. walk up and over the hill (mountain?) and through a path in the woods to A Guarda. On the way, as we approached a Spanish lady, I got ready with my "Buenas Dias" only to be greeted by "Bom Dia" (Portuguese) much to my surprise. We are in Galicia, a region of northwest Spain where in addition to Spanish, Galego is the official language and is closely related to Portuguese. With many of the signs in Galego it was hard to tell we were in fact in Spain. This was an easy day.
Saturday, November 18, 2017, to Mougas, Hotel O Pednasco, 22.5 kms. It was dark when we left A Guarda at 7:30. We had lost an hour coming into Spain. Portugal uses Western European time (GMT), like the UK; Spain is on Central European time, like most of Europe. The route out of A Guarda is confusing, and we wandered around in the dark for
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Santuario de Santa Luzia at Viana do Castelo a while until we spotted the yellow arrows. Google maps was not much help in the maze of streets and alleys. And nothing seems to be open until 9, so no breakfast. There is no "Litoral" route in Spain like there is in Portugal, just the Coastal, but there are alternatives that follow the coast more closely. There are very few beaches too - just rocks, so it's nearly impossible to closely follow the coast down by the water's edge, or to build boardwalks in most places. After A Guarda we walked along a narrow rocky (
big rocks) path. After nearly 3 hours we had only covered 3 kms., had not had breakfast, and so abandoned the Camino for the highway which runs along the coast. We came upon a gas station and had breakfast there of Keurig coffee and ½ pack of cookies. We stayed on the highway, and soon the Camino joined us. On and off the highway we went – every time the Camino joined the highway there were 10 foot or so wide walkways for pilgrims and cyclists. Most of the time we were no more than 100 meters from the ocean, and so it was
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Windmill - Moinhos de Vento de Montedor (The Sailor's Windmill) a pleasant walk. We passed through burned out areas from the recent wildfires. We had lunch in Oia where we met a delightful woman, Jessica from California, who was raised there and is home visiting her mother. We’re in a nice hotel right on the Camino and had a really good meal there.
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