Hello Everybody,

Something personal has come up on my end and I have to return home in a few days. Yes, this means that I have to cut short this Camino but I hope take it up again in the near future.

I am a very lucky and grateful pilgrim for having completed 2 successful Caminos and know that my third one is only being placed on hold temporarily.

This trip has been incredible in spite of the slight setback. I have been given the opportunity to see more of Porto portugal instead of just rushing past this beautiful city, trying to get on the Camino road quickly which I had done last year. I missed out on experiencing Porto at that time.

Now Porto has stopped me in my tracks so that I may enjoy what it has to offer. I love Porto!

I shall be seeing most of you in a few days. Thank you for following my blog posts.

I leave you with the following short video showcasing one of the many reasons why I love Porto. This woman was just selling bottled water but she made her attempts at sales so much fun. This is Porto!

Thank you so much everyone!!!

Hilda 💕😍🙏

So far what do I know that Porto is famous for?

First and foremost PORT WINE. The Douro River was used to move & export this fortified wine, a few hundred years ago. They put barrels of the stuff onto boats shown below and transport the product throughout from their manufacturers. The boats shown here are no longer functioning for this purpose, merely for show and tell.

The Sandeman Don

Remember the Shadow in my earlier post. Well, he is actually “The Don” for Sandeman Port Brand.

Porto and the surrounding districts are also famous for Francesinha sandwiches.

Then comes the Tiles on Buildings. You see them everywhere in Porto and other municipalities of Portugal.

Portonians are also very proud of the Dom Luis I bridge in the Ribeira Historic District. From this bridge, you can view breathtaking vantage points of Porto and the adjacent city of Vila Nova De Gaia that is across Porto.

One bar being creative with the following invitation, encouraging the bridge climbing experience with drinking. 😉

After walking across the Bridge, you enter the city of Vila Nova De Gaia.

Then you have the incredible street performers, tourist cars and trains, historical trams still functioning carrying people around and modern Segway scooters for tourists.

Other items of interest:

A macdonalds garbage bin that opens when you move your hand in front of it. Sensor operated garbage door. So cool. I was thrilled to bits with this one.

Woman feeding the birds:

Karen attempting to Phone home:

Phoning home was not successful so snail mail is next. Lol. 😂😉

Both communication attempts above not working too well, so next up is a divine measure consideration of prayers and Karen’s looking at religious articles to help her along. Lol. Please note I am taking liberties here with this story telling with Karen’s permission. 😉

Other articles of interest:

That’s it for now. Have a great day Calgary!

Hilda 😍

This post is all about the food for all of our foodies (you know who you are).

We did some cooking on our own. Not too upscale but still deserving of a quick mention.

Here are our cooking endeavours:

Then we also had meals at restaurants and/or at accommodations that came with in house breakfasts:

Chalet D’Avila’s Breakfast

Restaurant Daterra

Pizza Restaurant by the Douro River In Porto

Italian Restaurant in Vila Nova De Gaia where Karen had the famous dish called Francesinha. It is a steak, cheese, ham sandwich slathered in heavy gravy.

I had a pasta dish and finished the meal with apple crumble and ice cream.

We even shared a big breakfast at Macdonalds. It was a very nice Mickey Dee’s as they had chandeliers in the restaurant. Very “high society” kind of atmosphere but serving fast food. LOL. 🤣😂

The rest of the photos on this post are snacks and pictures of food offered at a food market much like the Time Out Market in Lisbon.

We are indeed eating well in beautiful portugal.

Hilda 💕 portugal 🇵🇹

It is beautiful here in Porto. We walked around the city to absorb some of the lovely vibe. So many things and areas to check out.

It is also a statutory holiday here in Portugal. May 1 is their labour day. Most shops are closed. We caught sight of people in the streets with banners. Some sort of protest, I think.

Play the video:

Here’s food for thought. As we no longer have a fixed plan for this trip, we decided we can design this in whatever manner we want it to be. Perhaps we can stay a few more days in Porto to sightsee as we had in Lisbon.

We walked around the area near our hostel. The following are pictures from our ‘walk’.

We also took pictures of unusual items in the following:

Can you see the side of this building?

And for those of us who have seen the movie featuring this comic hero, The Shadow (of course, I am just simply naming this picture as such as it reminds me of that character):

Karen took the next picture which I think is pretty cool. I look like I am “shooting light” (Elaine…..if you are reading this one, please note the obvious joke here. Perhaps we can compare notes later……LOL)

We took a few more pictures:

And found a couple of Camino arrows:

Then we went back to the hostel. Their chefs Erica and Jose were inviting guests to their pizza making party.

We had already decided on cooking for ourselves tonight so we could not join them.

Our dinner was pretty exciting too:

Have a great “May Day” Calgary!!!

Hilda

As our Camino starts in Porto, we have to get our first stamps at the Porto’s Se Cathedral.

We entered the church square at around 5pm and came upon some boys performing in front of a crowd. They are students from the University of Porto vocalizing beautifully. Note the uniforms they are wearing. This is where the author of Harry Porter got the idea of the school of wizardry uniforms for the movie. They introduced themselves as the University of Porto’s Big Band and they informed the crowd that their renditions are on Spotify.

Play the video;

The next pics are interesting. I took them while looking back on the square before entering the Cathedral. Lucky shots maybe? Or perhaps a good omen to mark the beginning of this year 2019 Camino Journey. I did not see the sun streaming onto the group when taking the pictures. They were not planned shots for sun angles. Just perhaps a couple of lucky pictures of the square before stepping foot into the Cathedral.

We obtained our first Camino stamps on our pilgrims passport and explored the church but this time entering some places we have never been before. We had visited this Cathedral in year 2018.

Here are the pics from our exploration:

We ended self guided exploration by both signing the Cathedral’s guest book.

Our Camino has now begun. 😊😊😊

Buen Camino!

Hilda 💕

Yesterday I did not have the time to blog. We went around the city of Lisbon on the “Hop on Hop off” bus and caught some fabulous sight seeing opportunities.

We visited the Tower of Belém and the Jeronimos Monastery but could only view it from the outside as the buildings were closed to the public on Mondays.

Jeronimos Monastery:

Tower of Belém:

Here are other pics from our sightseeing adventure:

As we toured the city of Lisbon, we saw more and more of the fabulous sidewalk mosaic tiles that this city is famous for.

Of course there are pastries along the way. We took in the Pasteis De Belém. This is not to be confused with the Pasteis De Nata. The former recipe have been around since 1837. I was informed by our waiter that there is nothing close to the Pasteis De Belém. After tasting it, I have to agree. It is the best I have tasted and remember, I have eaten many of them (taking into account last year’s Pasteis). Pasteis De Belém have spoilt my taste for this dessert. How am I going to eat any more knowing that I won’t be able to have the Belém version anymore. Well, maybe with some time and before this trip is over, I hope….LOL. 😂

On another note, we arrived safely in Porto today and will be getting our first Camino Stamp at the Se Cathedral. Our Camino begins officially with the first stamp.

Bom Caminho!!!

We came in on the “red eye” flight and landed in Lisbon at 11am. Both of us slept only a little on the plane so you can just imagine how tired we were. Having to wait another one and half hour for the required Customs entry stamp on passports added a bit of stress. Karen made a useful observation that this situation and other similar ones are some of the reasons why our elderly parents don’t desire foreign travel any longer. However, the payoff’s wonderful for those of us who are younger and can manage this unfortunate downside of travelling. Like all things in life, stressful situations passes and new experiences takes over.

We found our accommodation in Lisbon and took refreshing showers. A new found enthusiasm took over with fresh clean clothes. This enthuse plus beautiful weather above 27 Celsius made for a lovely day.

We began our exploring at the famous Time Out Market in Lisbon.

And yes, you’ve guessed it! Our first morsel of food was a pastel de nata (Portuguese custard egg tart) at the famous Manteigaria Bakery, coupled with a strong expresso coffee shot. This was our STARTER FUEL for the day.

After the Time Out Market, we walked around Cais De Sobre and then the adjacent Baixa Chiado. Busy tourist areas. Well, it is our “first day”, you know. 😂🤣

As we explored Lisbon, we did come across something very unusual. Here’s something for all you pet owners reading this blog. Have you ever considered a pet pig? Well, this owner was walking his pet pig on a leash and spoke to it lovingly like you would for those of us who have dogs as Family members. Must be a great story behind this pig but we could not ask. 😔.

We are not on the Camino yet and our first day in Portugal gave us pasteis de nata, lovely weather and great piggy pet pictures. What does this Camino have in store for us? We will keep you posted 😉.

Stay well Calgary!

So many things to consider. Trying to make sure we take all necessities while also ensuring we travel light. Do we book accommodations ahead of time or leave it to chance so that we may have the freedom to choose along the way? How to find the perfect balance?

Time for reflection. In year 2013, when I performed my first Camino, I overloaded my back pack and left accommodations to chance, only searching for a place to stay when I stopped walking for the night.

In year 2018, I did it differently. Packing lighter and pre-booking all accommodations for every night along the way.

This year, I am going to combine both years’ lessons learned. Packing lighter is essential and non negotiable. However, I would like to add the one element which I think will enhance this year’s Camino experience.

I am leaving our accommodations to chance from the town of Labruge (just right after Porto) until the central town of Redondela (where both the coastal and central Camino routes converge becoming one route onward to Santiago). I have no accommodations booked between those two towns.

What this really means is that ‘this Camino’ is free to choose for us for almost half the journey along the way. We will walk until we reach a town or city to stay the night and look for our accommodations then. This will make things interesting. I hope that Karen is up for it. There is a safety caveat though: we can always change our plans at anytime if this does not work for us.

There is an old saying used frequently by many pilgrims on the Camino De Santiago, “The Camino provides”. I am trusting it will do so for us every step of the way. 😊💕

On another note: To all my family and friends, thank you for following this blog and walking this Camino with me. Your presence and prayers will make this long walk extra special. I am positive Karen feels the same way.

I leave you tonight with the following post card reflection.

Year 2019 and another Camino is unfolding again at end of April. What can I say? It is a very clear case of “Caminonitis”. Caught it last year and maybe can cure it (aka burn out the delightful fever) with another Camino adventure.

It starts again with checking all of the gear, planning the route and booking the accommodations on said chosen route. Karen’s joining me again for this one. Great friend and travelling partner. Hey, she agreed to slog it with me again, maybe she too has the case of Caminonitis. 😂🤣. So the real question here is who has it worse? No profound answer…. maybe just one word C…y. Fill in the blanks.

My colleagues at work are all also cheering me on. They bought me a Tilley hat for this Camino. I am going on this Year’s adventure in style! Or least with a cool head!

Ok, back to my gear. I don’t have to get new things. Just reusing all of my gear from last year but ditching the cold weather clothes (weather should be ok) and the Bierley Guide (waste of space) as I did not use it much last year – the German pilgrims had a better guide.

Anyways, we are off checking and rechecking our list. It is not Christmas but sure feels like it. My excitement’s growing each day as I am getting closer to leaving for the starting point of this Camino.

As per last year, this blog will inform family and friends on how the Camino journey reveals itself. Much like a Christmas present, you don’t know what you will get until you unwrap the entire gift. And yes, the Camino is like a big giant gift for me. I cannot wait to unwrap this one! 🥳.

2018 Camino Portugal has come and gone. I have had time to reflect on the trip. Further, a few of you (friends and family) have asked me for a mini list for what worked on this Camino. I also discussed this with Karen to get her insights. Together, we have the following for you:

-Make sure to book your SIM cards for your unlocked smart phones prior to your trip. Have it booked for the day you land at the airport. Pick it up and set it on your phone first thing before exiting the Airport. Affordable data and phone plan on the go while in Europe. We used https://www.vodafone.pt/en/products-services/visiting-portugal.html#phone-sim-card.

– rain ponchos are a must. Ours saved us many times. Get the light weight durable ones. Forget the “single use” poncho unless you are keeping a few to give away to fellow pilgrims who may need emergency ponchos short term

– bring an ikea blue bag that zips up. It is called the ikea FRAKTA storage bag and foldable when not in use. We learned from some Camino blogs that we may use it for our Camino trip. This bag’s great for the times you may need to transport your back pack via a back pack taxi or just the heavy things in your pack to the next destination with the same taxi service. Helps keep things in one transportable bag with no fuss and no mess.

– 2 big clear garbage bags with zip ties for the potentiality of having to check in your bag pack on airplane flights

– ear plugs (for yourself) and bring spares (to give away to fellow pilgrims). They are so light that you’re not going to notice the weight of carrying them around

– a couple of dry sacks for keeping things dry or just for dirty clothes. Marked the one you’re going to use for dirty clothing and continue to use it this way for entire trip

– a few zip lock bags to carry leftover food from cooking dinners on your own

– lightest pot that you can buy and carry with an immersion heater. Great for soups, instant noodles, tea. Well, anything you can use hot water for

– proper hiking shoes and socks. Bring non slip water resistant slippers as well for bathrooms and for walking around in evenings when your Camino walking’s done for the day

– trekking poles or walking sticks. Very helpful for balancing and fending off the occasional stray dogs

All Caminos have things in common: back pack, hiking shoes, a few sets of clothes and basic travel necessities.

The above is a just mini list for the extra things that worked well for us. Main objective with any Caminos (this dictates everything) – travel light and purposefully. This will guide your Caminos accordingly.

We may remember more things and if we do, I shall continue to share with another post. Buen Camino!