Camino Portuguese Day 1

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My first day on the Camino Portuguese started well. I woke up about 6:30am and was ready to go by 7:15. Breakfast was free but I didn’t want to wait until 8am to eat, so off I went, to the cathedral to officially start. For the next hours I struggled to find the yellow arrows that marked the way! I’d decided to just take the more popular central route, but in my “wandering” around to stay on the path, I received all sorts of directions from Portuguese people, and ended up on the coastal route after all, too far from the central to be worth the distance and time. I realized I was on the coastal route when I encountered a nice Camino sign, that showed me how I could get to the central route, and in retrospect I wish I’d done it. I didn’t find an albergue (hostel) until I’d walked for over 9 hours and 40 kilometers! There were signs for 2 other hostels much earlier, but they were both about 2 kilometers off the trail. Again, in retrospect, I wish I’d gone for either one. I reached the Albergue Santa Clara in Vila do Conde at almost 5pm.



It’s a nice enough hostel, and only 7.50 euros, and I got one of the last bunks.. a bottom one. Since I hadn’t had a real meal (did I mentioned there were almost no restaurants, cafes, or even bars for the last 6 or 8 kilometers?) all day, I went across the street to a little place and ate a quick meal of coffee and two pork packets. After that I took a quick hot (ahhh) shower, then a short nap until 8pm. When I woke up I knew I’d better eat again, so I went to the bar cafeteria just down the street and ordered the Pilgrim’s dinner for 6 euros. It consisted of a drink, vegetable soup, and a large plate of tender beef, French fries, rice and salad. I ended up eating less than half of it, so I’ll need to eat a good breakfast in the morning.



Tonight I’ll figured where and how far to go tomorrow, and hopefully not have another day like today!

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Comments

[Home and Away]

That's one reason I don't want to walk the Camino Potuguese...
albergues too far apart and infrequent bars/restaurants. Hope you have shorter walks each day from now on.

[Zpet]

This Camino
Yep, I get what you're saying. It's getting better.

[richard fergsuon]

Delayed Meals
I would like to suggest you carry a daily supply of emergency powdered raw meal. A daily supply would be two small cap size which would supply you with 40 grams of protein and all the vitamins you need for the day.

[Zpet]

Energy
Thanks for the idea Richard. I'm using Emergency in every bottle of water. Not only cause it helps with energy, but hate the taste of plain water.