July 6th: we hit the road

The day started off inauspiciously. The girls wanted to start early, but I'd paid for breakfast at the nice hotel. I wanted my coffee, good strong Brazilian coffee plus lots of gluten free calories. Breakfast started at 7:30. We were all up before six.

Everyone ate seconds, but they were still pissed at me.

We checked out and walked up the steep hill back to the Cathedral, our official starting point.  Michelle had the map and had the route marked off. The signs were painted clearly on the wall. But, when she started walking back down that hill, we mutinied. There was no way we were walking back down when we knew the route went the other day.

So we did something incredibly stupid. We split up.  Two minutes into our adventure, and Michelle was following the right route while Julia and I were out to prove how much smarter we were.  30 minutes later, we texted her contritely, and she waited for us to catch up to her.  Lesson learned.

This is what a Camino marker looks like.  When you haven't seen one in a while, you get pretty nervous.

The first ten miles of the day were not a lot of fun. We walked through the city and then through the suburbs. Sidewalks could be narrow and traffic hectic.

On top of that, there was no sign of other pilgrims.  Then, as if by some cosmic twist of humor, we ran into two Mormon missionaries...

It got better when we got into the small towns and towards the end of our 27 kilometers, it got downright fabulous.

Plenty of places will stamp your passport--your pilgrim credential, including bars. It was hot and after noon when we stopped in a bar to get some soft drinks and passport stamps when Julia couldn't locate hers.  She was frantic, crestfallen, furious all at once.  No luck.

We trudged on and ate lunch in a forest off the side of the two lane road we were on.

Portuguese linguica sausage, local cheese for Michelle and me.  Peanut butter on gluten free bread for Julia.  Still no sign of the missing passport.

This was a long day.  The packs were heavy, but the weather was cool and breezy.  Just the same, after six or seven hours, it shows.

About a mile from where we took this picture, we stopped in a monastery and bought Julia a new passport.  Hallelujah!  Things were looking up and the road got even nicer.

After this, picture, we turned off into some woods on the right. The path was some ancient, untravelled road.  Very cool.

I think the name of the town we're staying is Vilarinho.  It doesn't matter much though.  We're in an albergue, a pilgrim's hostel, which is costing us ten euros a night.  There are four other pilgrims: two Dutch girls and two middle aged men from Spain.  Everybody is very nice and of course, we all get along.

I have no blisters!  Julia does though, as do some of the other pilgrims.  We did laundry, and our stuff is hanging outside in the breeze and late evening sun.  Everyone else is already inside in the bunk room, but I'm outside tending the laundry and writing this.  Heck, it's only 8:30 pm.

Tonight's dinner was a salad of tuna, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, green and red peppers.  Healthy, and accompanied by bottled water. No wine.  What's wrong with this picture?

Tomorrow, all three groups plan on starting out early for the same destination, so we'll probably be hostel mates again.

I'll let you know it turns out.