July 5th, Off to Oporto

The SAGE Institute finished on time, so Julia, Tina and I had time to kill in Washington, DC.  We ended up, by pure chance, at Jose Andres:' Mexican concept restaurant. Lets cut through it all. The restaurant was fantastic.  Every plate was special. The staff was engaged.  We ate lots.

Tina drove us to the airport, and everything seemed to go like clockwork. Until our gluten free meals didn't show up.  Thank you for your food, Jose Andres....

The adventure begins

To save money, I booked stupid flights: Washington to Dublin to London to Porto.  I've sweated the connections since the day I bought the tickets. Well, all the connections worked out just fine and we met up with Michelle at the airport in Porto exactly as planned.

I need to stop sweating the stuff I can't control.

Julia figured out the mass transit system and got us to the Cathedral, where we got our first stamps.

OK, next time I'll rotate the picture...

When the lady at the Cathedral said "Bom caminho", I got goose bumps. It was really happening, just like in the movie "The Way".

So, we go to the hotel, my last piece of pre planning. It's gorgeous, right on the river. We take shower and buy provisions: sun screen, bug repellent, bottled water, and chocolate covered almonds... Friends, when three Celiacs travel together, eating is a challenge. We all like chocolate covered almonds...

We went out to a great restaurant and got a nice bottle of Portuguese wine.  I joked that it was going to be like this every day of the Camino.  My daughters corrected me. Apparently, in the small towns we're going to traverse, nobody know what gluten is and everything is fried...

The plan is for Michelle and me to subsist on chorizo and cheese while Julia eats peanut butter and imaginary gluten free bread.

The walk down to the hotel in Porto

We got back from dinner, and I passed out before writing two sentences of this. I'm writing this at four in the morning. The plan is to gorge ourselves at the hotel buffet in a few hours and start the trek immediately thereafter. (I hope my laundry dries!)

I'll keep you posted- WiFi permitting!