We had started the day with a good breakfast.

Then out the door we went. We wanted to start our Camino on the Coastal way and then change the route inwards to the Central Way. Weather forecasted for rain today. No matter. We have rain jackets/ponchos. We first had to take Bus 500 from Praça da Liberdade Porto to Matosinhos.

We began our Camino at Matosinhos close to the lighthouse.

Strong wind and rain clouds looming. We walked on. All we had to do was find the yellow arrows and walk with the sea to our left.

Then the sun came out when it around lunchtime. Karen found a picnic spot for us to have lunch.

Beans and rice from yesterday’s leftover dinner. Yes we had cooked. Gonna show what we had for dinner last night and again today for lunch.

DOB time:

Right after DOB, the weather changed quickly. It was windy and rainy again. Wow, we only had a very short time good weather for lunch.

Here are the rest of pictures of our walk with slightly rough weather.

We reached La Bruge and had to call it a day. It became way too rough to go on. We got a nice hostel owner in La Bruge to call us a taxi to take us to Vila Do Conde. There we bought a couple of bunk beds at Albergue Santa Clara.

After claiming our beds, we bought groceries, cooked our meal and shared it with our ‘Perigrino Family’ for the night.

The common way to say thank you in Portuguese is Obrigado or Obrigada if you are female. I learned a special new way for saying thank you today. It is “Bem Haje” which means

thank you from the heart.

Bem Haje my family and friends. Boa Noite.

It has been two days since my last entry. A lot of things have happened. Karen arrived safely and together we stayed a night in Lisbon. One additional day for me. Here’s a picture of her with our Trekking Poles in an IKEA bag. She checked in our poles for us on her flight.

There wasn’t much time to take Karen around the city. All I could do was take her out to dinner. Where did I take her? The same restaurant where I had lunch, PSI restaurant.

Here’s what we had for Dinner: panko olives, beet falafel and Malaysian Curry Laksa.

James, the Curry Laksa is not the same as what we are used to but it still made for a satisfying meal. Just so you know that Lisbon has Laksa too.

Yes, we finished our dinner right down to the last bite.

The next morning we took an early train to Porto. Two fresh perigrinos at the start of the Camino De Santiago 2018. We may not look like this when we are done.

We reached Porto at almost 11am. The train ride was three hours. We checked into the Passenger Hostel at the Sao Bento Train Station and took the best room there. It was only €10 extra per person from the regular price of a bunk bed. A bunk bed alone costs €20. A room is €60. See what I mean. Because Karen was sharing the room, we were able to splurge for a private room just by paying a little bit more.

This is a wonderful hostel. They have everything. Full functioning kitchen and breakfast is included. I am liking the fact that I am walking with a friend who sees no reason why we cannot spend a little extra (due to pooling our funds together) just to be comfortable and enjoy the Camino.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Porto and also getting a stamp from the Porto Se Cathedral.

And now for our Harry Porto fans. Did you know that Porto is home to the Lello Livraria? This bookstore was frequented by JK Rowling and was the inspiration behind Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter films. The bookstore is beautiful but small. You pay €4 to get in and then when you buy a book from the store, you get a €4 discount. Great marketing!

Miki, I have now been to Hogwarts Library. 😊

No DOBs for this day but one pastel de nata for Karen. It was her first one but she needs to eat eleven more to catch up to me.

No I did not eat one. I am going to stop eating them for now and may leave my 13th one for the day we leave Portugal and enter Spain. This then will allow me to say that I had a bakers dozen of this additive pastry in Portugal. That’s the intention for now.

I am going to post my first day on the Camino with my next entry. Please see next post.