We had a gorgeous second day on the trail, which turned into the boardwalk on the coastline, stunning! We met two beautiful souls from Germany and the Netherlands that kept us company today. It was a much shorter day for us at around 19 km. We are spoiling ourselves at Aquilia with clean clothes and a nice dinner at sunset! Bom Camino everyone!
First morning and menu is all in Portuguese! I asked the sweet waiter to surprise me. We had the freshest ham/cheese &egg on fresh baked roll, a crème filled pastry, and a dark chocolate covered croissant, with fresh squeezed orange juice! Yum!!! I like these surprises!
I added a photo of the menu because I love finding familiar words. I’m good at this game!😂 I found salad, sandwiches, salads, etc. I thought you might like trying also. It’s how I get used to the language. Menus, signs, pictures sure help! It’s so much fun!figure
We made it to Porto after a brief stop in Paris. We were met at the airport by Marco, a driver our hotel sent. We felt like royalty (with backpacks only😂) as he whisked us away to the Se Cathedral to gather our Camino passports. We are staying at a beautiful little boutique hotel “casa Antigua”. We spent the first evening exploring the city center, wandering the open market, and sharing a lovely dinner with. famous port wine! Off to a great start! Our Camino begins in the morning!
We leave for the airport in a few hours. We are traveling with very light packs (12/15lbs). A little nervous and a LOT excited!
We left Oveido following a prayer at the cathedral and it was misting rain. We were all anxious about getting started.. So many uncertainties. We lady the city and within minutes found ourselves getting the hang of looking for the shells and arrows! We started to move into a fun flow of travel… Just moving forward and trusting that the next sign would be there when needed.
Here are a few of our favorite things from today..,
*the constant sound of cow bells in the distance
-calla Lillie’s the size of plates
-fields of wild flowers
-snails and slugs
– climbing!
– the bright yellows, reds, pinks, and blues of the farms and villages
-the magical forest
– the doe that came to greet us
-the rushing brooks and bridges
– and let’s not forget the ” monster pig” that Bryce named mr fluffy!
We only saw 2 pilgrims all day… It’s like we have a magical existence all to ourselves!
I apologize that we have not posted more… We are sitting in a cafe in Tineo having caffe leche about to head out… We have a long uphill hike today and short of a few blisters we are doing great! I promise to write details of each day soon. We have completed approx. 70 km or 45 miles in 3 days! It is unbelievably beautiful and we are loving sharing the adventure together!
Today was amazing… Mike got some work done again today with his project here this morning.. Has more meetings later: first phase finished! By afternoon we headed to a festival and then on for a truly unforgettable afternoon with family and friends in the mountains surrounding oviedo. The meal was traditional foods of bean soups, vegetable stew, homemade breads, goat( yes! And it was amazing!) beef, potatoes, rice pudding, various pastries, and local wines. The setting was surreal and the Spanish chatter and interpretations abundant! What an amazing send off for our journey! Thank you! We got back in the city in time to have our pilgrim credentials stamped at the cathedral so we start with a blessing in the morning and begin walking. First destination.., Grado… Approx 18 miles!
Wow! It has been an adventure all it’s own just getting to Spain. We were delayed due to weather in Dallas so held over a night, rescheduled to Madrid, and held over a second night. Good thing we are not on a tight schedule! The airline put us up in a great place so it couldn’t have worked out better. We are all settled into our apartment next to the market in the square and we have already visited a local bakery for fresh meat breads and desserts for dinner!
FINALLY!!!
Moulton Family Famalia La Famiglia Famille Ohana Pariwar 