June 24: Padrón

Today could not have been more perfect–excellent weather, late start (11 A.M.) soft soil for the most part, short distance. To top it off, as we entered Padrón, someone had written J.B. the best on the sidewalk. Omen? We had a late afternoon lunch with Tony and Lauren, a mother-daughter team from California. Fun people…

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June 24: Caldas de Reis

Glorious walk—perfect hiking weather, wonderful vistas, good food, and a good companion. We pounded our feet for 35.4 km (almost 22 miles); at the end of the day my legs were sore, but thank goodness for ibuprofen. Dennis and I are amazed by all the rock in Spain and Portugal. They use granite for fence…

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June 22: Arcade

All the rest yesterday paid off. We walked about 25 km (15.5 mi) today, including two steep hills amounting to 388 m (1273 ft) climbs. The descents were more arduous than the rises, but provided us with beautiful vistas. Descending Monte Cornedo we could see Redondela in the distance. (left) We stopped at the central…

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June 21: Porriño, Spain

Leaving Tui we saw this stone sculpture. Most of the earlier part of the day was along dirt paths and country roads. The weather was cool and just right for walking. Since we were in the Louro valley, the air smelled clean like an early spring day. We crossed several old Roman bridges (if you…

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June 20: Tui, Spain

Yesterday when we left  Ponte de Lima, it was only 14 C (57 F), cloudy, and  with a 50% chance of rain. For this reason, I put on all my rain gear and covered the backpack. After three hours, all my clothes were wet from perspiration; the plastic rain coat and pants preventing evaporation; but…

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June 18: Ponte de Lima

Left Tamel (São Pedro Fins) and within 15 minutes we needed to put on all our rain gear. Of course, once we had it all on, it stopped raining. We had to walk 1.5 hours before coffee…you would have laughed to see me almost run down the hill to the cafe. It’s amazing how hungry…

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June 16: Tamel (São Pedro Fins)

To avoid congested inner city streets through industrial parks, we took the metro in Porto to Vilar do Pinheiro and then walked to São Pedro de Rates 19.4 km (12 mi) away. It was probably the most difficult walk to date, mostly on cobble-stoned pathways which pounded our feet like meat tenderizers. Since this is…

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June 14: Porto

We left Coimbra around 10 and arrived in Porto around 12:30. Porto is the largest city I have seen in Portugal, with large buildings and plazas that remind me of Madrid, Spain. The train station, Sao Bento is adorned with blue and white tiles. Leaving the station, I was dwarfed by tall stone buildings that…

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June 13: Coimbra

We left Rabacal at 8:09, planning to have breakfast in the next town (Zambujal) 3.2 km (2.5 mi) away. As we approached the town, I told Dennis that from now on we needed to eat before hiking; I was running out of energy. In town, we discovered that the  cafe does not open until 1…

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June 12: Rabacal

Perfect day, at last. We left Ansiao around 11 A.M., after running a few errands. The sun was shining and the temps were near 70 F. For most of the day we walked on dirt paths–so much better than yesterday’s pavement. Along the narrow cart paths were flowers, birds, butterflies with occasional sheep, goats, and…

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