All in Portugal

Camino - Days 4 & 5

Camino - Days 4 & 5

Gerald FitzGerald
Portugal, Photography

Easter day and our first real test, a 33K hike from Barcelos to Ponte de Lima. We left at 7:30 and arrived at our hotel in Ponte de Lima at about 5:30, a very long day of walking. I had decided that I was seriously over dressing for my walks so today I wore shorts and a shirt and my hiking runners, and as we left in the morning it was very foggy and cool and the sun had not yet risen. I was really worried that I had over-compensated and would regret not wearing more warm clothing but it was too late as all the rest of my clothes were in my luggage, waiting to be picked up at our hotel. Being chilly is certainly a motivator to pick up the pace and we came up out of the town as the sun rose, stunningly beautiful and the air began to warm and all was good again....

Porto - pre-Camino

Porto - pre-Camino

Gerald FitzGerald
Photography, Portugal, Travel

Arrived in Porto yesterday, Monday, afternoon after a long overnight flight and a 2 hour delayed flight from Frankfurt to Porto. I have been here before; when Diana did her Camino a couple of years ago, I rented a car and the two of us poked our way from Santiago down to Porto, where I left her to return home and she to continue on to Lisbon.

It was August then and extremely hot and since Porto's main centre is built on opposite sides of the very steep banks of the Duoro river, hot and tiring work to climb the steep streets...

Walking the Camino - Prep.

Walking the Camino - Prep.

Gerald FitzGerald
Travel, Portugal, Spain, Camino, Photography

I'm in the final stages of preparation for walking the Portugal route of the Camino de Santiago. I leave on Sunday evening for Porto, spend a couple of days getting myself organized and start the walk from Porto in Portugal to Santiago de Compestela in Spain on my 72'nd birthday, March 24.

Daughter Diana did the walk from St Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees to Santiago a couple of years ago, about 753 kilometres. As a surprise, I met her at the end of her walk on the outskirts of Santiago and walked the last kilometre with her to the Cathedral. It was a very moving experience and we had talked about the two of us doing a portion of the walk together. Unfortunately her teaching schedule only allows her to do it in summer and I've been concerned about tramping through the heat of a Spanish summer so we have not yet found a way to make it work...