Buen Camino
There was supposed to be a brief opening this morning before the storms moved in, so I was up at 6:30 a.m. Just prior to 7:00, the power went out. It wasn't surprising because the winds were whipping around over 40 mph overnight.
Getting up a little earlier today paid off in a few ways. Not the least of which was getting ready while I still had lights, and then being able to get a couple of full flushes on the toilet before the water stopped working. There must have been an electric pump that filled the reservoir for the guest house. It slowed to a trickle as I finished brushing my teeth and then it disappeared altogether. I decided it was about balance, because when I showered the evening before, just as I was into mid-rinse, the hot water abruptly stopped.
I checked the weather out my window and then the radar on my app. There was no point lingering at the hotel. There were almost 20 miles that I needed to cover and the sooner I started, the better.
Shortly after I left the lodging, I passed a home with its front door decorated with a bag of bread. This was not an uncommon sight. There must be a bread person, like the old milkman, who distributes products early in the morning. It set a certain tone to think about the days when somebody could just leave food outside your front door.
I had to travel about two miles on the high-risk road in order to get back to the trail. I strapped on my headlamp and had it pulsing red and green lights to make me as visible as possible. Most of the drivers were incredibly nice. They would give me as much room as they could and then, if they had to drive through a puddle, they would slow so it wouldn't splash in my direction.
The skies opened up and I had to take shelter for about 20 minutes in a covered bus stop. In all, it took me more than eight hours of travel time, of which about six was actually walking. It was a day of taking breaks, taking cover, and changing in and out of rain gear. The bands of rain would move in quickly and depart just as fast. By the time I covered up, it was time to go ahead and take off the extra layer.
When I finally got to the trail it was really a wonderful thing to see. It was green and quiet, and it reinforced why I made this trip in the first place. Unfortunately, some of the local residents did not hold the trail in such high regard and threw trash along the side.
The surface that I covered varied from the cobblestones, to flagstones, to asphalt, to mud. This trail would be a little rough on anybody using thin-soled shoes. My Altra Lone Peak 6's held up very well and I felt no discomfort. Almost 300 miles in with no blisters and no irritation. Knock wood.
The Sun peeked out a few times and it was incredibly encouraging. The original weather forecast called for thunderstorms. I never saw anything more than some heavy rain showers. Probably 30 percent of the day, in total, was spent in real rain. Several times there was a light drizzle and I didn't even bother to put on my rain gear.
I crossed a second stone bridge into the city of Arcos. At the top of the hill I wandered past a cafe and then decided to double back and take my first break. I'm glad I did. It was there I met my first two fellow travelers on this portion of the Camino.
Jihong is from San Francisco and Isabel is from Denmark. Isabel is on vacation prior to going back to work as a pharmacist and Jihong is retired recently from Wells Fargo. I discovered later in our walk that she actually put together the software for United Airlines to run their revenue generation algorithms. Very impressive.
The ladies left the cafe a few minutes before I did. I caught up with them about 30 or 40 minutes later as we came to one of the first distance markers. Then we spent the next couple of hours traveling along and learning about each other's lives. One of us did most of the talking. I'm not saying who it was, but it wasn't either of the ladies.
The three of us stopped at one more cafe. I just had a cafe con leche and a banana. They ordered the pilgrim's meal. It looked really good and was only about 8 Euro. I was keen to have a bigger dinner when I arrived in Barcelos. I left before they did, this time, and proceeded to finish up the last 90 minutes of the day.
There were a series of rolling hills and turns that opened up the valley ahead. The rain moved through another four or five times and the sun even winked at me once. My arrival into the city was over another really cool bridge. It was an obvious hardpoint of fortification to defend the city long ago.
My hotel was another 10 minutes or so further into the town. Standard routine when I got there: Laundry, shower, but no nap. I hadn't arrived until after 4:00 in the afternoon and I didn't have the time. I ran to the grocery store and stocked up for the next day, and also got a little something for a midnight meal. It seems I’ve fallen into the habit of needing a snack around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning so I can get back to sleep. I'm burning plenty of calories. According to my watch, my total for the day was over 4,500.
Before I knew it, it was after 7:00 p.m. I did a quick search for restaurants near my hotel and found one just across the park from where I was staying. Bistro Vigor was empty as I arrived and the owner walked in immediately behind me. When I asked the woman behind the counter if I could sit at a certain table, the answer came from over my shoulder. It was a little startling. I didn't know anybody was there. Vitor is the owner and his wife is the chef. I had two tapas and a glass of local red wine. The sardine bruschetta was delicious as were my cod fritters. The food was so good I made an exception and ordered dessert, homemade cheesecake.
Vitor is actually a mechanical engineer by trade. He has done work in several different countries around the world. I found it particularly interesting to hear about his time in Europe and the Mideast. He educated me on the competitive nature of Portugal league soccer, and was very excited that his Lisbon team had beaten Porto two nights earlier.
Today was a very good day. In spite of the weather, I got to see some terrific scenery, enjoy some fabulous food, and meet some great people. All the boxes were checked for the reasons I came to Portugal. I'm looking forward to more of the same tomorrow. Of course, I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the weather. It's going to be possibly the longest day of my journey, at over 22 miles. A little sunshine would be nice.