Amy 'n Rei

(10/19/2022 – 11/3/2022)

Rei once watched a TV program about El Camino de Santiago and found it very interesting. There were several different camino routes. We’ve decided on the Portugal Coastal Camino because of the scenery and the delicious seafood.

We originally planned the trip for May. However, we had to postpone the trip to October due to a family emergency. We also had to shorten this walk by taking the Porto metro to skip the first two stages.

Day 1: Arriving in Porto, Portugal

Our flight from SFO to Lisbon was delayed. We arrived around 12 noon instead of the original 11:15am. Fortunately, the electronic passport line was very fast. We passed the passport checking in less than 15 minutes. Since there were so many missing suitcases reported this summer, we’ve decided to only have carry-on luggage. Therefore, we didn’t have to wait for the luggage.

The taxi line outside the airport was very long. However, we couldn’t find an alternative (couldn’t figure out where to catch the metro), so we had to join the line. Luckily, the line moved very fast, and we got on a taxi to the Oriente station after waiting for only about 15 minutes. Since we weren’t sure about the arrival time in Lisbon, we didn’t reserve our train tickets to Porto. The 2pm Porto train was sold out, and we had to buy the 3:45pm train tickets instead.

While we were waiting, Rei checked on the internet and found out that there was also a bus leaving for Porto at 2pm. The bus station was just outside the train station, so we went there to get the 2pm Rede Expresso bus tickets. However, we didn’t have time to refund the train tickets because the line there was very long, and our bus was leaving soon.

There weren’t a lot of passengers on the bus, and there were plenty of empty seats. It started raining when we were on the way. The bus stopped at Fatima for 5 minutes before heading to Porto. It rained harder, and then there was a strong thunderstorm! Fortunately, the sky cleared up when we arrived in Porto.

The Porto Cathedral (Se) was less than one mile away from the bus stop, so we reached there by foot around 6pm. The cathedral was closed, and only the museum was open, where we got 2 Camino Passports at the register. Since it was already late and close to the museum closing time, we didn’t enter the museum. Our hotel was only less than 500 meters away, and it was a quick downhill walk. After we checked in, we found out that our room had a balcony facing the Douro River with a great view!

There were a lot of tourists in Porto. The restaurants Rei picked were either completely full or had a long waiting line. We ended up dining in a restaurant along the Douro River. We had grilled fish, and dinner was just okay. Rei complained that we could have a better dinner if I was willing to wait in a long line!

Day 2: To Esposende (24.2km/15mi)

I woke up at 5am (jetlag!) and couldn’t get back to sleep. We were ready before 8am and had breakfast inside our hotel room with coffee and the bread we brought from home. We made a mistake by waiting in the lobby for Tuitrans to pick up our luggage, because we thought we had to meet them for the first day of the luggage transfer. When they didn’t arrive at 9am, we gave up and left the luggage with the hotel front desk and walked to the metro station.

Since we didn’t have enough time to do the entire Portugal Coastal Camino, we’ve decided to take metro to Vila do Conde to skip the first two days of walk. However, there was an ancient aqueduct near the Santa Clara metro station (one stop before Vila do Conde), so we got off there instead. We took a few photos of the aqueduct, but the nearby Santa Clara church was closed.

Later we had a coffee break at a bakery in order to use the WC. The coffee was good, but the egg custard was only so-so. We also got our first Camino stamp (besides the one from the Porto Cathedral) at Igreja Matriz de Vila do Conde.

The camino signs were mostly easy to find. When we got confused, there were always helpful locals to point the way. A gentleman from a second-floor balcony insisted that we should take the coastal byway because it’s more scenic!

A solo male pilgrim passed us on the coastal route, and we exchanged “Bom Caminho,” the standard salutation on the Portugal Camino. He had a shell hanging from his backpack. Rei was really jealous.

“Why don’t we have a shell?” He asked me.

I promised to get each of us a San James shell once we found a place selling them.

Due to the inclement weather, the coastal route was desolate. It would have been gorgeous on a bright sunny day! An old local gentleman walked towards us from the opposite direction.

“You picked the wrong week to walk to Santiago,” he joked. We were told that there wasn’t a drop of rain for several months until this week!

Even though we encountered quite some rain, there were periods without rain, and we did see many different birds along the coastal route.

We took a break at Dunas. Each of us had a cup of coffee, and we shared a croissant. Then we walked past Apulia and got a stamp from the church. It was a long walk before we finally arrived in Esposende.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were very relieved to find out that our luggage had already arrived! The hotel receptionist pointed out a couple restaurants where we could have dinner. We washed first before going out to have a seafood dinner. The prawn and squid grill dish was very delicious, but the seafood rice was only okay.

Day 3: To Viana do Castelo (25.6km/15.9mi)

We checked out before 8am because we would have a long walk today (about 16 miles). It didn’t rain, but the sky was cloudy, and it was super-windy.

The first section of the walk was pretty uneventful. We walked along the coast and took some photos along the way. There were some fort ruins along the coast. We saw many magpies in the area. Then we met a cyclist also taking the El Camino. He told us that walking along the main route was too dangerous (too many speedy cars) and pointed us to a byway.

We reached the first church, S. Miguel, in about an hour or so. After the church visit (but couldn’t find the stamp), we had a coffee break in a nearby cafe before restarting the journey. Today we took the inland route for variety and for its shorter distance.

The designated color of the El Camino Santiago was yellow. We could see many yellow arrows on the way to indicate direction. There’s another pilgrim route called the Fatima Way, which leads to Fatima, where the legend said St. Mary appeared many times in 1917 to give messages to three shepherd children. Since then, Fatima was considered a holy place, and a Shrine of Fatima was built there. Many pilgrims walked from Spain or northern Portugal to the Shrine of Fatima. The Fatima Way overlapped with El Camino Santiago but in the opposite direction. The official color of the Fatima Way was blue.

So there on the outer wall of a residence, we saw the humorous home owner setting up an interesting scene. There were a statue of Mary, a statue of Santiago, and two shoes colored blue and yellow pointing to the opposite directions!

A section of the road passed through a woody area, and we really enjoyed the walk. The second church we visited was in Belindo, and that’s where we got the first stamp of the day. There was a WC outside the church, which was very convenient. I suggested having a tea break, but Rei said we should push farther before it started to rain. We met a solo female hiker from Munich. She said she didn’t feel safe walking in the wood alone and was very glad that we were following her. We crossed Rio Nieva on a low stone bridge, which could be submerged in the high water. Fortunately, the water was low today.

It started to drizzle after we left the wood. Rei suggested that we take a lunch break at a local cafe. We had coffee and chicken and rice. My Irish coffee only had a bit of coffee and a lot of whipped cream and alcohol! So, I exchanged it with Rei’s cafe com leite (coffee with milk).

After lunch we visited Santiago de Castelo de Neiva IX church to get our second stamp. Shortly after we left the church, it started to rain very hard. We sheltered outside of somebody’s garage to put on our rain pants. After we were all dressed and ready to restart, the rain stopped. (Murphy’s Law!)

The rain continued the entire afternoon, but it was on and off. It was still a long way to walk, and the trail involved some climbing. Finally, we crossed a very long bridge to reach Viana do Costelo before 4pm. Then we got a bit lost trying to follow Google map. Our hotel was supposed to be only 30 minutes away, but it took us almost one and half hours to reach the hotel Flor de Sal along the coastline. Rei said we ended up walking close to 20 miles for the day!

We had a great hotel room with a balcony and ocean view. However, the weather wasn’t good. Rei went down to use the pool and the jacuzzi. I was too tired, so I simply took a hot shower.

The hotel was on the coast and far from the city center, so we decided to simply have dinner at the hotel. I had penne with cream and mushroom; it was very good. Rei ordered fish stew with rice. He said it’s better than yesterday’s seafood rice. We shared a cake and ice cream dessert.

Day 4: To Caminha (26.9km/16.7mi)

There were two routes to reach Caminha: coastal or inland. Since we were already at the coast, Rei decided that we should take the coastal route. Besides, the coastal route was flat and easier.

The included breakfast at the hotel was excellent. There were many selections: different kinds of pastries, fruits, and hot dishes of eggs, bacon and sausages. We both ate a lot.

We left before 8am. It was raining, so we put on our rain jackets and rain pants. But the rain stopped soon, though the sky was still very cloudy. The coastal route was beautiful, though the weather wasn’t good, and it was also super windy. It would have been gorgeous on a sunny day. There were many water birds. We walked slowly because we spent a lot of time taking photos. The weather cleared up a bit while we were walking. We could see that it was raining in the mountain area, so Rei said we made the right decision to choose the coastal route.

After several hours of walking without rain, we decided to take off the rain pants. Sure enough, we immediately encountered a large downpour and got drenched! We were outside of the Camarao restaurant (where there were outside WCs for public use), so we had a coffee break at the restaurant. We pondered whether to have lunch there. However, it wasn’t quite past noon, and we just had a very big breakfast, so we decided against it. Moreover, Rei somehow got the impression that the restaurant was very expensive. So, we went out to the WCs to put on our rain gears again and continued our walk. (It might have been a mistake not to have lunch there, because several weeks after the trip Rei was still wondering whether we missed a great meal! He kept checking the internet, trying to find out what we have missed!)

We walked past Praia de Ancora (which we found out later was a great surfing place) and bought a giant ice cream cone to share. We were still very full, so we decided to skip lunch. When we were about 2km from Caminha, we decided to take off the rain pants. Of course it started to rain again within 10 minutes! I put on my rain pants again. Rei was too stubborn to put on his rain pants, and of course he got really wet.

When we finally reached Caminha, we went to the Igreja Matriz to get our first stamp of the day. (There were no places to get stamps along the way.) Then we checked into our hotel to get the second stamp. The hotel room was basic. Rei was very wet (of course!), and said he had to take a shower and change first.

I was lying on the bed when Rei was taking a shower. Suddenly I realized there was water dripping down from the ceiling onto my pillow on the bed. I went to report the situation to the owner/manager. He came in with a mop to wipe the ceiling and gave me a new pillow. He assured us that it had never happened in 40 years! Later, Rei went to tell the owner/manager that it didn’t work, because the water was still dripping down, and we needed a new room. So, we got another room on the same floor. The new room was smaller but with a twin bed and a full bed instead of 2 twin beds. Rei gladly took the full bed.

Caminha was a small town, and there weren’t too many dinner options, so we had pizza.

Day 5: Entering Spain; To Oia (16.7km/10.4mi)

We booked the 8:30am ferry from Xacobeo Transfer a few days ago to cross the Minho River into Spain. Since Spain was one hour ahead of Portugal, an earlier ferry would give us more time. So, we went down to have breakfast at 7:30am and then walked to the port (which was not far from the hotel) to catch the ferry.

The pier was very quiet, and we didn’t see any boats, so Rei was reasonably concerned. I told him that it should be okay because I did receive a reminder email yesterday. We scouted around and found a building with a not-so-conspicuous Xacobeo Transfer sign. The building was closed, but shortly an employee arrived and confirmed that it’s the right place. Very soon a small ferry approached. It turned out that we were the only two passengers waiting. Our “private” ferry crossed the river in only about 10 minutes!

After we arrived in Spain, we found out that everything at the harbor was closed. So, we started hiking to the top of Monte Tecla. The hike wasn’t difficult even though we had to climb about 1,000 ft, and we reached the top in about an hour, including the time to take off our rain jackets and rain pants, and to put them on again when it started raining. It was foggy and wet at the top. All places (museum, cafe, restaurant) were still closed at 11am Spain time. A couple stores were open selling lackluster souvenirs. We only saw a couple of round stone structures there, and were very disappointed.

We climbed up to the viewpoint, but it was very cold and windy there, so we decided to walk down. On our way down, we saw a causeway with many crosses. This was definitely more interesting than the mountain top. After exploring a bit, we continued our way down, then we saw a large cluster of round stone structure ruins, which turned out to be the real Castro Trega!

The place was very impressive! There were even two reconstructed huts with a thatched top. When Rei was putting on his puff jacket and the rain pants (it rained again), we saw a large tour bus approaching. We quickly left the hut to take photos before the large tour group descended the bus. However, the bus did not stop. Tourists only took photos from the bus windows. So, we had the entire ruin to ourselves. It was still raining when we departed.

The sky cleared up on our way down. When we reached A Guarda, it no longer rained. The seafood restaurant, Chupa Ovo, wouldn’t open for lunch until 1:30pm. Under the impression that to have excellent food one had to wait in a long line for at least an hour, Rei insisted that we should check out the restaurant first. After assuring himself there wasn’t any line outside of the restaurant, Rei agreed that we could do something else first. Since we could not find a nearby place to have coffee, we ended up making our own tea sitting on a bench in a plaza. It was still early, so we went to a church to get our first stamp of the day.

When we returned to Chupa Ovo again at 1:20pm, the restaurant was already open. and there were some customers inside. We didn’t have to wait for a table. We ordered shrimp and octopus with eel sauce, and grilled octopus. Then Rei decided that he also wanted a mixed salad, steamed mussels, and a beer! The food was very delicious! It pleased Rei very much, who considered that for a trip to be successful, there must be excellent food. (Beer, wine and dessert too!) A gentleman sitting at the next table (who was originally from the area but was based in New York now) told us that we made a right choice since Chupa Ovo was indeed an excellent restaurant!

We left the restaurant around 2:30pm to continue our 8+ miles walk to Oia. The gentleman next table offered to give us a ride, but we politely declined. The first section of the walk was along the coastline, and it was magnificent! We were lucky to have bright sunlight in this part of the journey. Later routes were a combination of paved roads (colored in yellow) and hiking trails. Though we could still see the ocean, we were never close again. A lady we met on the way warned us that it was going to rain soon; however, we didn’t encounter any rain for the rest of the walk.

We reached Oia a bit after 6pm. (We spent a lot of time taking photos of the amazing scenery on the way and didn’t walk too fast.) We were disappointed to find out that the famous Monastery was closed for renovation.

Our hotel was only a few hundred meters away, and it’s the only large hotel in the area. Since everything else was closed on the way, we got our second stamp of the day from the hotel. After checking into the hotel. We found out that we had an ocean view room again. Rei said he wasn’t hungry after the big lunch, so he skipped dinner to go to bed early. I had a granola bar and some dark chocolate for dinner.

Day 6: To Baiona (17.7km/11mi)

We started walking after breakfast around 8:30am, and it was still dark. Rei explained that’s because Spain was one hour ahead of Portugal. It was raining, so the first section of the walk was dark, wet and melancholy. Today we saw several groups of other pilgrims on the way. We were the fastest walkers, and we passed them all.

Rei wanted to have a coffee break on the way, but all the places we saw were closed. Today’s trail was also a combination of dirt road and paved road painted yellow. Originally, we followed the El Camino signs even though some sections left the yellow paved road to enter smaller dirt road around the coast. Then we decided to just follow the yellow paved road since it’s shorter and faster.

When we passed Costa Verde, it was super windy though the rain had stopped. Then we reached Casa Nena and we turned to the inland mountain route because it’s shorter even though it required some climbing. There were many granaries on the way. They were constructed to store grains high above to ground to deter rodents.

It started to rain again when we were on the mountain road. There was even thunder! We stopped outside of someone’s garage (with covering) so that Rei could put on another raincoat and his rain pants. (I was already well equipped.) There was already a young lady sheltering at the same place. She told us that she was originally from Taiwan and was currently studying in Spain. We exchanged “Buen Camino” (because we were in Spain now) and restarted walking when the rain lessened.

The rain continued until we reached Baiona around 1pm. I originally planned to stop by Rocamar (about 3km before Baiona on the coastal route) to have a nice seafood lunch, but Rei decided against that. Since it was still too early (we had a shorter walk today), we went to a coffee shop to have some coffee and cookies.

We first stopped by the Tourist Information office to get a stamp and to ask for a local map. Then we simply did some sightseeing by walking around the castle walls. The view was splendid, but it was super windy with some rain.

Finally, we decided to check into the hotel around 2pm. Tonight we were staying at the Baiona Parador, which was located inside the old Castelo de Monterreal. Our luggage was already in our room, and our room had a swimming pool view. This was our first parador stay, and it was an excellent choice!

We went out to have lunch before 3pm at a local restaurant. Rei had langoustines (prawns) and chicken, while I had BBQ chicken wings and fried calamari. The food was only okay though the prawns were big and juicy. We packed the leftovers for dinner.

On our way back to the parador, we passed a “La Pinta” replica (one of Columbus’s fleets). We decided not to enter but just took some photos from afar.

It rained on and off the entire afternoon, so we didn’t restart sightseeing until when the sun finally came out after 5pm. We first walked around on another portion of the castle wall just outside the parador. It was so windy that we gave up and went out to the front of the castle to take photos of the Pozo Aguada XV, which’s a well where La Pinta crew got the water from and the Monument. Then we returned to the parador.

Day 7: To Vigo (27km/16.8mi)

The parador offered a very large spread of breakfast selections: egg, ham, varieties of cheese, various bakeries, many kinds of fresh and dried fruit, cereal, yogurt, etc. We ate a lot and regretted that we couldn’t spend more time at the breakfast table.

There was a long line at the checkout in the morning, so we didn’t leave until around 9:15am. It started to rain again shortly after we started walking. We were so used to rain by now that we always had backpack rain covers on and wore a rain jacket every morning, but we didn’t usually put on the rain pants, so we had to stop to put on our rain pants. The sun came out from time to time, and we were able to take several great pictures with a rainbow. We walked the literal route and saw many sea birds such as the Great Garzas. It was a quiet walk, and we didn’t see a lot of pilgrims walking on this route.

We had a coffee break in Panxon and did a bit of sightseeing. A very friendly local gentleman showed us how to get to a church and the nearby Arco Visigotico XIII (which was part of an older church). He also pointed out to us a short cut.

At the Samil Beach area, there was a huge park with many public WCs. There was also a cafe, where we each got an ice cream. We didn’t stop for lunch, but we did have a tea break near an old Roman ruin. We could also see Islas Cie on the way.

We reached the Vigo Cathedral before 5pm. Church personnel stamped our camino passports. There was supposed to be a TI nearby, but for some strange reason we couldn’t locate it. So, we simply went to AC Vigo to check in, and to get another stamp for the day.

It’s the low reason now. Many restaurants we were interested in were temporarily closed before the owners went on a vacation. The restaurants that weren’t closed wouldn’t open for dinner until 8pm, so we took a shower first and then went out to have dinner at 8pm. We had scallops, Padron peppers, Galician-style octopus and pork shoulders. Dinner was delicious, but it’s still not as good as the A Guarda restaurant.

Day 8: To Redondela (14.7km/9.1mi)

Our hotel room was facing the harbor. When I opened the curtain this morning, I saw a Princess Cruise ship (Sky Princess) right in front of us! It was still dark and rainy outside. Since we didn’t pay for breakfast, we simply walked out to a nearby bakery to buy empanada, ham & cheese pastry and some croissants. Rei had last night’s leftovers, and I had a croissant and half ham & cheese pastry. We made coffee in the room.

Since we only had a short distance to cover today (about 11 miles), and it’s dark and wet outside, we didn’t check out until after 9am. We first walked toward the harbor to take photos of the Verne (the famous French author, who wrote “20,000 Leagues under the Sea“, thus the octopus) sculpture, then walked through the main street past the city center to Vigo Alto. There were many cafes, stores and banks along the way. Rei went into a bank to use ATM to withdraw more euro and got a multi-grain croissant from Sesame. I bought a light umbrella for around 12 euro and immediately put it to use. A very friendly older gentleman pointed out the camino to us. He was worried that we didn’t get it, so he repeated the direction again. Then he asked whether we understand French so that he could also give us the direction in French. Sorry, we didn’t speak French.

Then we passed the city to the suburb. There was a Senda de Agua (“Water Trail”) that was marked with waving lines. We only saw a couple of solo walkers on the way. We didn’t manage to find a cafe for coffee break, then suddenly we were already walking on trails in the wild. There was a waterfall (cascada) around halfway with several benches nearby. Since it’s already 12 noon, we had a lunch break there to have hot tea and the bakeries we bought this morning.

We met another Danish older couple on the way. That’s basically all the pilgrims we saw for the day until a team of seven Puerto Rico cyclists passed us. The hiking trail we took today offered great views of the river/bay and Ponte de Rande. We passed a church, but it was closed. There was a digital credential outside, but we didn’t have the app.

Soon we arrived in Redondela. Iglesia de Santiago was closed, and we couldn’t find any TI in town, so we decided to check into tonight’s lodge. It took us a while to figure out that we needed to get the room key from a nearby bakery store. (We got a stamp at the bakery store too.) When we checked in, our bag was already in the luggage storage area. One of the reasons we picked Alvear Suites was because the apartment room had a washing machine. (Though we found out there were a couple of laundromats in town.) We started washing our dirty clothes.

The bakery store from where we got the key had a large selection of pastries, cakes and other desserts. So, we went there to have coffee and desserts. On our way out, we found out there’s a receptionist in the lobby, so we got our second stamp of the day from her. It has become more challenging to get two stamps each day to fill the quotas.

After the coffee break, we walked to the church again. Soon after we got there, an older gentleman arrived to open the church door, so we entered to get another stamp.

There was a supermarket nearby, where we bought a large bottle of water, a bunch of grapes, two pears and some flans. They only cost less than 3 euro in total. What a bargain!

We didn’t feel like going out for dinner since the weather wasn’t good, so we went to the bakery store again to buy some empanadas for dinner. We also had fruit and flans bought from the supermarket for dessert.

Day 9: To Pontevedra (19.6km/12.2mi)

It rained very hard last night. When we woke up this morning, the sky was overcast, but it didn’t rain. We had breakfast at the same bakery store since it was very close and convenient.

We started walking before 9am. Because we were not sure when (it’s “when” not “whether”) it would rain, we put on our rain jackets and rain pants before starting. Our backpacks were now “permanently” covered with rain covers. Redondela was where the Portugal Coastal Camino route and Central Camino route meet, so we saw more pilgrims on the way: some of those we’ve already met previously, while others were new. We met a solo lady hiker from Germany (originally from Indonesia). She told us that it’s her second camino. Her first one was the English Way. At the time of that walk, the Santiago Cathedral was under renovation, and therefore she didn’t have a chance to see the Botafumeiro.

The sky was cloudy, but it didn’t rain, so we decided to take off the rain gear because we were hot. We had a WC and coffee break in Arcade, since we were not sure whether we could find any cafes before reaching Pontevedra. By now we also realized that we couldn’t rely on getting stamps from churches on the road: churches were either closed, or there was no one around to stamp our passports. So, we got today’s first stamp at the cafe to be on the safe side. The lady from Colorado whom we met a few times previously was also there. A lady from Mexico asked whether Rei was Mexican. Haha.

After Arcade, we crossed the Verdugo River on a historical stone bridge called Pontesampaio. Then we walked on some mountain and rural trails. This part of the country had many old granaries. I thought it would be cool to have an old granary in your property!

Then it started to rain around noon, and we had to put on the rain gear again. I also used my new umbrella. It turned out to be a great purchase, because it rained for several hours today. It was still raining when we reached Pontevedra.

We first visited the Virgen Peregrina, where we got our second stamp of the day. They were selling shells for 2 euro each. Rei gladly bought a big one for himself and was very pleased that the shell was “church blessed.” I asked Rei where my shell was, and he answered that he didn’t realize I also wanted one! (Duh!) So, he had to re-enter the church to buy another shell for me.

A kind lady pointed out the way to the Pontevedra Parador, where we would spend the night. This parador was an old building near the edge of the city and wasn’t so interesting compared with the previous parador inside a castle. Our room was very elegant though. The basilica was closed when we went there, so we had to check back later to get a stamp.

We were tired of Galicia food, so we simply went to Burger King to have a hamburger and chicken sandwich. The place was packed with middle school students, and many of them were dressed for Halloween.

We wanted to see more of Pontevedra, but the weather was pretty bad. Not only was it raining, but the wind was also very strong. We did visit the Ruinas de San Domingos, a church ruin, but very little else. There was a bakery in town, but there were no available seats, so we simply bought some pastries, and then returned to the parador.

Day 10: To Caldas de Reis (22.2km/13.8mi)

It rained very hard again last night and this morning. I woke up early and got ready before waking Rei up at 7am. When Rei was using the bathroom, he first saw some water dripping from the ceiling, then a large amount of water came down like it was from a faucet! Rei was laughing like crazy and went to get his phone to take a picture. We informed the front desk; a guy came in to check and was shocked.

“It has never happened before!” He exclaimed. (We have encountered another “never happened before” leak from the ceiling.)

Fortunately, we were already packed, so we simply checked out after 8am and started the camino. It was dark and wet. We had all our rain gears out including my new umbrella. We could hear a rooster crowing while we were walking.

A friend told us a joke about pilgrims on the camino:

Apparently, the person did not walk the camino in the rainy season; otherwise he would have added: “Getting wetter than a fish!”

(It actually wasn’t so bad. We had luggage transfer, and we chose excellent restaurants, so we fared far better than mules and pigs. However, there’s no avoiding waking up early and walking long distance.)

This section of road was also an ancient Roman road called Via Romana XIX. After a couple hours of walking, we found a cafe, Don Pulpo, to have our breakfast of coffee and croissants. (A stamp too!) It was raining hard outside, so we saw more wet pilgrims coming to the cafe to rest. The place was getting very full, so we decided to leave to give our table to others.

We met many more walkers today. They were from all over the world (France, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, United States, etc.). This was indeed an international pilgrimage.

A section of the walk passed through vineyards. We could see there were still some grapes on the vine. Many places had for sale signs. It seemed that people were moving out of the area.

We arrived at our hotel Acuna before 2pm, and were able to check in. Our luggage was again already in the room. The hotel had hot spring pools (the main reason we picked it to stay for the night). Rei and I decided that we should have lunch first, so we went out to a cafe to have their menu of the day. Rei had fried fish and chicken, and I had soup and octopus. Rei also had a glass of white wine, which was quite good. The dessert was flan. After lunch, we walked to S. Tome Becket church, but it was closed. There was a bakery nearby, and we bought some cookies.

On our way back to the hotel, we saw a Canadian lady accidentally dropping one of her hiking poles down the side of the bridge to the river. The river wasn’t deep, and the pole was stuck near the bank, so it didn’t flow away. The lady got a tree branch from the riverbank, but she couldn’t manage to pull the hiking pole out. Rei went to help. He found another tree branch to help grab the hiking pole from the strap. So, they two together managed to lift the hiking pole out of the river. The lady was very grateful. This was the highlight of the day.

The weather was sunny now. After we returned to the hotel, we changed to use the hot spring pools. The hotel even provided robes for us! There were two pools: The bigger swimming pool was cooler with hot water piping out from the mouth of a stone fish. The smaller pool was shallower but hotter; it was ideal for people to simply sit there and enjoy the hot spring. When we got there, there was only one other guest in the swimming pool. He was a Canadian pilgrim also walking the Portugal Camino. He left after a while, and we became the only guests there enjoying our “private” pools until another couple arrived.

Later, we walked to the church again, but there was a mass going on. We finally got a stamp there after the service was over. There was a beautiful thermal fountain in town with a sign informing people not to put their feet in. There was also another hot spring cistern not too far away from the church for pilgrims to enjoy free hot springs. The water looked dirty, so we didn’t touch it. However, we did see many people putting their feet in the water. A few people even got into the water!

Day 11: To Padron (19.1km/11.9mi)

I woke Rei up at 7am. He checked his phone and complained that I woke him up too early — it’s only 6am! After several minutes of arguing and checking the internet, we realized that this morning was the end of daylight-saving time in Spain, and we gained one extra hour.

Breakfast started at 8am. We were among the earliest guests to have breakfast. Most of the people there were pilgrims. We saw the Canadian gentleman we met yesterday at the pools and his father-in-law. When we were having breakfast, Rei looked out the window and saw many pilgrims already on their way. So, we quickly finished our breakfast and got ready.

We started today’s walk before 9am. The sky was already bright. Amazingly we had a day without rain! Everybody was overjoyed. Today was the most crowded walk we’ve encountered since we started the camino. There were many pilgrims on the way. Because we didn’t need to put on the backpack rain cover today, we were finally able to show off our shells!

We had a WC and coffee break around 10am at Fogar do Peregrino and got our first stamp. A portion of today’s walk was in the woodland. It was not unlike our regular weekend hikes at home. It was a very pleasant walk. I saw a hawk flying to the top of a small tree and was able to take a few good photos.

It was only about 12 miles from Caldas de Reis to Padron, so we arrived shortly after 1pm. Today was Sunday, and we saw many people and cars in Padron. Then we found out there’s an open market with a big crowd, and we walked right into it! We had to pass large crowd to get through. The TI office was closed on Sunday. We were fortunate enough to reach Iglesia de Santiago to get a stamp right before the church was closed for the day. We were also able to take a few photos of the interior, but we didn’t manage to find the famous original O Padron stone inside.

Then we had lunch at a nearby cafe. It was also very crowded, and we took an inside dining table very close to the WC. Rei and I shared a grilled chicken sandwich and a squid sandwich on baguette. They were delicious.

Since our hotel, Scala Hotel, was outside of Padron, we decided to do sightseeing first before checking into the hotel. We visited Fonte Carmen, Convento do Carme XVIII and climbed up a small hill to visit Mount Santiaguino.

On our way to the hotel, we also stopped by Santa Marla de Adina. Even though the church was closed, the outside was still very interesting. Nearby cemetery was where the famous poet Rosalia de Castro was originally buried. Rei wasn’t interested in the cemetery, so we continued walking. The road was a bit tricky here. We walked for a while without seeing any camino signs. Rei wanted to walk an obscure road he found on the Google map, but I refused. So, we retraced back to the church and found a camino sign pointing to an underpass. From there, we continued to walk to the hotel.

Since our hotel was a couple kilometers outside of Padron, and there were no restaurants nearby opening for dinner on Sundays, we decided to have dinner at the hotel. We had the pilgrim menu, which was not a smart decision. The food was pretty bad; only dessert was good. I had milhojas and Rei had tarta de Santiago (almond tart). He found out that he really enjoyed tarta de Santiago.

I felt a sense of relief that we would arrive in Santiago de Compostela tomorrow.

Day 12: Arriving in Santiago de Compostela (25.6km/15.9mi)

Hotel Scala’s breakfast started at 7am. We went down when they were open. The gentleman from Canada and his father-in-law were already there. Very soon, four other guests joined. We all had the same idea to start early to “beat the crowd.”

We started the walk around 7:40am. It was still dark, but at least it wasn’t raining. Because we started early, and Scala was about 2km north of Padron, we were the lone walkers, and it felt very peaceful.

We saw a vending machine on the way selling snacks and even El Camino shells! We passed two churches, but both were closed — no stamps for us. On the way, we also passed a laundry place that villagers could wash their clothes. Two solo hikers and two bikes passed us on the way, and that was about it. The trail went through woodlands and was very similar to our usual hiking trails. It started to rain in the mid-morning.

We had a WC and coffee break at Milagrosa and got our first stamp there. We started to see more pilgrims after resuming walking. However, it was still not as crowded as yesterday. The sun came out shortly before noon.

We stopped at O Camino outside of Santiago de Compostela to have coffee and some food. Here we saw many people we met in the previous days. This was evidently a very popular stop. Here we got the second stamp. Now we had all the stamps required for a certificate! O Camino had various camino routes depicted on the walls. Many people took photos of the routes.

We arrived at the Santiago Cathedral on a glorious sunny afternoon. We made good progress, and it was not yet 2pm. There were many people (tourists and pilgrims) gathered at the plaza in front of the cathedral. We took a few pictures there to celebrate the completion of the camino.

Rei was very eager to get our compostelas (the certificates), so we went to the Pilgrim Office near the cathedral. It was modernized. People were required to scan a QR code and enter information before getting a number. We got 253 and 254. Each of us also paid 3 euro to get a distance certificate. We weren’t sure what to do with the certificates, a business savvy saleslady across the street sold us a certificate container for 1.5 euro.

Our hotel PR 25 Julio wasn’t too far, so we went to check in. On our way there, we met the Canadian son- and father-in-law pair. They just arrived, so we pointed out the Pilgrim Office to them. When we reached the hotel, our luggage had already arrived. Rei took a quick shower before we ventured out again to do more sightseeing.

We went inside a few stores to check their merchandise and then went into the cathedral. There was a mixture of prayers and tourists taking photos inside. I asked a security personnel the time of Botafumeiro (another priority for Rei). He said 11:30am but came a bit earlier.

Then it was shopping time! I got a shell necklace for 32.50 euro. Rei bought a box of chocolate and a Tarta de Santiago (almond cake) for ourselves. He also bought a mug.

We had coffee and a melting cheesecake in a nearby cafe. Both coffee and cake were very delicious. Rei wanted to make a reservation at a very good restaurant, but they only had 10:30 slots left, which was way too late for us. So, we ended up making 7:30 dinner reservation at another restaurant. We had the famous Padron peppers, grilled octopus and grilled langoustine for dinner. The food was good, but not as delicious as the lunch we had in A Guarda.

Day 13: Time in Santiago de Compostela, then back to Porto

Rei really liked the cafe where we had coffee and cheesecake yesterday, so he suggested that we go there for breakfast. Since the cafe wouldn’t open until 9am, we walked to the cathedral to take more photos. There were about 5 horses and riders in the plaza in front of the cathedral. I remembered that in yesterday’s pilgrim information form, there were three modes of transportation to choose from: by foot, by bike, or by horse. We were not sure whether they were pilgrims by horse or not.

We had a delicious coffee and croissant breakfast that included small bottles of juice and cookies. On our way back to the hotel, we bumped into the lady hiker from Colorado. She has just arrived. She told us that she’s going to store her luggage first and then go to the cathedral to wait for the Botafumeiro too.

We checked out before 10am but left our luggage there. When we arrived at the cathedral, there was already a line waiting to enter, so we joined the queue. Then we realized that the line was for the museum. If we wanted to see the Botafumeiro, we needed to enter from another entrance into the cathedral. There were two separate doors to enter, both with a line. We joined the shorter line, and it didn’t take us too long to pass the security check to enter.

There were already people waiting inside the cathedral, but we were still able to get very good seats facing the main altar. People kept streaming in, and all the seats were taken around 10:30am! Latecomers would have to stand on the sides. There was nothing else to do besides looking at the main altar and waiting. Rei used the time to google about the cathedral. The nearest WC was outside the cathedral near the main plaza, and a trip to the WC would involve another security check to enter the cathedral.

Around 11:30am, we heard chanting and singing. Then the ceremony started. An array of church officials entered carrying a small shrine. Many priests went into the main altar area. Several priests wearing deep red rope pulling the strings to fly the giant incense burner. Everybody was taking photos using a phone or a camera. Botafumeiro only lasted a few minutes. It was followed by Pilgrim Mass given by the archbishop. Originally Rei didn’t think we should stay, because the mass was conducted in Spanish. However, since only a handful of people left the cathedral after Botafumeiro, we decided to stay. We left only when they announced the part of ceremony was for Catholics only, which we were not.

The seafood restaurant Rei wanted to go was closed for the day (11/1 was a holiday), so we went to another one with high ratings. We had Padron peppers, shrimps and steamed clams.

Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping. Rei bought two baseball caps costing 7 to 8 euro each, which was about half the price of similar caps in the US. We had another coffee break. Since there was nothing else to do, we simply got our luggage and walked to the bus station, which wasn’t too far away.

The bus ride was uneventful. It only took about 3.5 hours of bus ride to cover the camino walk of the past 11 days! We arrived at a different bus station in Porto, which was about 2km away from the hotel, so we took a taxi.

The Moov Hotel Porto Centro was right by the Saint Ildefonso Church. We went out for a walk to take pictures of the church, riverside and Sao Bento train station. It was dark and we didn’t feel safe (though Porto was a pretty safe city), so we returned to the hotel.

Day 14: From Porto to Lisbon

We had breakfast at the hotel, then took a taxi to the Porto train station. We already booked tickets for the 9:32am Alfa Pendular train to Lisbon this morning. The train ride was more comfortable than the bus ride, because the seats were bigger, and we had power and internet connections. Rei entertained himself by tracking where we were on his phone, while I enjoyed the great view outside the train.

We arrived at the Lisbon Oriente train station around 1pm, and took metro to our hotel, Sherton Lisboa.

When we were in Lisbon many years ago, we had a wonderful seafood dinner at Cervejaria Ramiro, so we’ve planned to go there again. Previously Ramiro didn’t take reservations, and diners all had to wait in line to get a table. Things have changed a lot since then. Now they took reservations, and had another entrance for those who were without an reservation. We arrived there around 3pm, so even though we didn’t have a reservation, we didn’t need to wait long. We ordered a plate of steamed shrimps, and a plate of grilled tiger prawns. Rei wanted to order steamed clam, but the funny waiter frowned. Rei got the message and changed to order garlic clam, which the waiter approved. Rei first ordered a beer, but later he decided that he also wanted a bottle of white wine, which proved to be too much for the two of us, so we shared the white wine with other diners next table. This was again a very delicious meal — one of the best of this trip. It’s very important for Rei to have delicious meals.

The next important task was to have nata, the Portugal custard. We took the metro then bus to Pasteis de Belem right by Jeronimos Monastery. Rei said we have been to Lisbon before, and there’s no need to do more sightseeing. So, we simply went to buy 10 boxes of Nata de Belem to bring home. The saleslady was very surprised that we wanted to buy 10 boxes, not just 10 custards!

It was already dark when we left Pasteis de Belem. So, we simply took a bus and metro back to the hotel. Thus, it ended the Portugal Coastal Camino trip. We were going home tomorrow.

Afterthoughts

It was a very wet camino, in which we had 10 days of rain out of our total 11 days of walking. Even though we were drenched, we both enjoyed watching the sublime coastal scenery, eating delicious and inexpensive seafood, interacting with the very friendly local people, and collecting Camino stamps. Castles, ruins and hot springs added additional bonuses to the walk. We’re already planning for our next camino though it wouldn’t be in October.