March 4 – We began early in the morning on this day with a rainbow in sight.

A good omen for our “way”. It meant the rain stopped and we can at least start our journey without getting soaked. On the beginning stage, the views were breathtaking as the sun rose and unveiled the lovely countryside.

Though we were dry in the morning, the offset to this was that we had to walk on muddy roads.

I tried washing the mud off my shoes on any stream of water when I could but it just gets caked again. A futile exercise. Lol. 😆

The road does get better.

Along the way, we see altars dedicated to St. James and Mother Mary. The people here take their Catholic faith seriously.

Gertrude (68 years) from Germany who is walking alone walked with us until our planned destination for today. Barcelos is our ending town on this stage.

We visited the so called famous Antonio’s Pedro Furada Restaurante for our morning coffee break. Oh, we encountered the ‘King’ today. Antonio the owner must be an Elvis fan. He wasn’t here to confirm this.

We continued on after our break. I found a project that Miki and I can work on in the summer. We can recycle plastic soda bottles and make the following. What do you think, Miki? Wanna do this?

I think it is genius. 😉

Karen found something else that has now become her thing to do on the Camino. She takes pictures of road signs marking our entry into the towns on our path.

I think that’s noteworthy to inform us how much longer we have to walk and ensures that we don’t take a wrong path. Though I have to say it is almost impossible to get lost on the Camino Portuguese as the roads are well marked for the Pilgrims.

An outdoor gym:

We reached Barcelos at around 2pm thereabouts.

The Peregrino Meal is very cheap in Portugal. Only € 5. In Spain it is € 10. Karen took a break from vegetarianism this one time so that I may see what the difference is from the Pilgrim’s Menu in Spain.

The three of us tried the said meal at the Cantinho Do Peregrino and our pictures are below. Vegetable soup first then the main course and a drink of our choice included. I have a new obsession to replace pastel de nata. Now, it is Pedras Limao which is a slightly sweetened carbonated lemon drink. I have been ordering this at least once every day since we began our Camino.

I took a picture with owners of the restaurant. Quid Pro Quo as they took one of us which will appear on their Facebook or marketing website.

DOB time. Portuguese people love their dogs.

We walked 15 kms yesterday and 15 again today. We hope to do 18 kms tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.

202 kms left to travel. Almost one fifth of the way completed. Still a long ways to go! 😂