Watching the weather

We left Barcelos on Saturday morning after deciding that the dire weather forecast for the day would still allow us to walk. The previous night had been stormy indeed with heavy downpours and gale force winds, but come morning things seemed to have eased off a bit. The updated forecast for Saturday was for moderate weather during the day and heavy winds and rain to return mid-afternoon. We felt sure we would be safely ensconced in Casa Fernanda before the weather turned, so off we went. It was the right choice. Strong winds racked through the tree tops but we felt little impact close to the ground. We had a few rain showers but nothing our umbrellas couldn't handle. So we plunged in enjoying the day's walk until we reached the "old bridge" about 6kms from Fernanda's. Here the path, and all the surrounding fields were under water. Opting not to take our boots off we just waded in. The water came to about mid calf and then we were out of it. Surprisingly My boots didn't fill up. Not sure why but we walked another 6 kms to Fernanda's with wet feet without incident. We walked into Fernanda's yard at close to 1:30 pm. She was outside with her husband Jacinto. Before we knew it she had us in a private room and was gathering laundry together and planning for lunch. She is truly a force of nature, but a very caring force of nature. By 2:00 pm we were all in her kitchen, the laundry was in the machine (thank you Jacinto) and a pot of lentil soup was simmering away. She asked us what we would like to drink and so lunch began. The interesting thing is that lunch just sort of ran into dinner. A German lady trailed in after us just catching the change of the weather. It was now really howling. Fernanda got us all settled in with food and drink and then more food and more drink, and then great conversation, and then more food and more drink. At 10:00 pm (after 8 splendid hours of eating, drinking, and talking) we all agreed to call it a night (but not after one last shot of aguardiente) and headed off to our beds. 

Sunday morning dawned with clear skies that lifted our spirits. The previous night's sleep had been interrupted by rolling thunder and tropical downpours. But that was then and the new day was nothing but peace and tranquility. Jacinto was in the kitchen cooking up eggs and ham, ands anything else that was within reach. I never thought I would eat again after yesterday, but there we were tucking it away. Amazing. In short Fernanda and her husband, Jacinto, are simply two of the finest happiest people we have had the privilege to meet. They showered us with kindness and hospitality and made it all seem normal and natural. We felt so very much at home. What an amazing experience. As sad as we were to leave, the pilgrim road was calling so off we went for a short walk to Ponte do Lima. The path we followed was beautiful, calm, and the weather was perfect. We walked into our hotel in Ponte do Lima close to 1:30 pm. We had a quick shower and then headed across the old bridge to a nice restaurant just opposite the albergue. A bottle of wine, a nice seafood stew, a couple glasses of port and we were ready for a siesta. We are off to Rubiaes tomorrow. 

On the way to Casa Fernanda's

From the left: Carmen (Berlin), Fernanda, and Robin

Warming up some chorizo

Fernanda and Jacinto

Underway for Ponte do Lima

Entering Ponte do Lima

The way to Barcelos

We had a very fun and restful stay in Vila do Conde. Fortified with a healthy breakfast we swung out the door of our hotel and wandered down to a nearby taxi rank. A tap on the window got our driver at the ready and soon we were off to Arcos about 8 kms away. Our driver was a funny and expressive guy. He spoke almost no English but I could follow most of what he was saying in Portuguese. He brought us to the small village of Arcos where we immediately spotted Camino arrows.  We paid our bill, included a nice tip (for the entertainment value if nothing else), and bailed out in front of the church. As our driver blasted off (no one in Portugal drives slowly) we saddled up our packs and set out to follow the yellow arrows to Barcelos where we would spend the night. Weather wise we caught a break. The wind and rain in today's forecast was now expected to cross our path around 2:00 pm.  We hopefully would be in Barcelos by then. So off we went. No one else in sight. The temperature increased a bit ask we moved through Rates and Robin and I shed our rain jackets. Onward we went enjoying the early rural kilometers. Later in the day we found more road work and more crazy drivers that added a bit of anxiety to walking the shoulder of whatever road we happened to be on. The Portuguese just seem to enjoy driving fast, hugging the inside corner (where we were walking) and leaning on the horn approaching blind turns (not slowing down). But, all in all it was another fun day. Robin did very well and despite a lot of cobblestone walking our feet were none the worse for wear. That was good news. So we plunged on keeping a steady if not breathtaking pace and arrived at our hotel in Barcelos at 1:30 pm. Our habit is now, after making arrival, to go right to lunch. We skip dinner as this just seems more convenient. As it turns out there was a wonderful restaurant right next door to our hotel. In we went and continued to explore the seafood side of the menu. It was grilled sea bass for Robin and grilled salmon for me. Both were superb. But, an unexpected highlight was the grilled octopus salad. Wow, says enough. It was a fantastic meal (no menu del dia) that finished off another fun day on the Camino. Now back in our room the weather has taken a turn for the worse. Heavy rain and strong winds are now lashing our hotel. We arrived just before all this settled in. Perfect timing. We are off to Casa Fernanda tomorrow and God willing the storm will have passed by then. All is well.

The church in Arcos

Getting ready to go

Roosters in a tree. First time for me.

These yellow blossoms smell great.

More eucalyptus. 

At lunch. We did eat.

My happy pilgrim Robin.

Artwork from our hotel. The Portuguese have a major rooster thing going on. 

Off to Vila do Conde

Despite yesterday's scary weather forecast, today turned out to be better than I expected. At first light I could see from our hotel room there was water streaming down through the cobbles of the Plaza da Liberdade No rain but plenty of wind was evident. Robin and I had an early breakfast and were ready to go shortly after 8:00 am. We grabbed a taxi to head out to Matosinhos where we would begin today's walk to Vila do Conde 22 kms up the coast. Robin was feeling strong and the rain was still hanging offshore so we were off to a good start. We found the boardwalk and lots of Camino signage and off we went. The wind was pretty much just shy of gale force for most of the day. Coming out of the wsw it sort of quartered us on our left side. By snugging our umbrellas close to our shoulders we were able to create a rather snug, calm environment as we were buffeted along by the howling wind. A wide stance was required to keep from going right over in the peak gusts. As we moved along we saw an opportunity to move from the boardwalk to the sidewalk of the coast road. We shifted over and the wind eased off a bit and our footing was much more secure on the cobbles than on the slick boardwalk. 

We carried on throughout the day with a mix of strong winds, heavy downpours and occasional sun breaks. It was a wild rollicking day that proved challenging just trying to stand upright. We took one timely coffee break as a thunderstorm passed over us. We sipped our cortados as hail hammered down on the roof of the dimly lit bar that offered us sanctuary. A kind younger man who had been hanging out at the doorway when we ducked through acted as our translator and organized our coffees. He spoke quite good English, though one never would have guessed it as the bar clientele was very much local and by the looks of it unemployed. Once he kindly sorted out our drinks he quietly resumed his post at the door an continued staring out at the rain. A few moments later I nodded and offered my thanks to him as we slipped back out into the momentarily clearing skies and pushed on towards Vila do Conde. The balance of the day was a mixed bag of cursing speeding drivers who pinned us up against the walls of narrow streets, and unfurling and furling our umbrellas as heavy, but mercifully brief downpours moved onshore as we moved along. But as always there is an arrival, and today was no exception. We crossed the bridge into Vila do Conde and swung left uphill to our hotel, the Hotel Brazao, where we passed through the door at 1:30 pm. Today's work was officially done. After checking in we took the recommendation of the desk clerk and headed back down the hill to the Restaurante Ramon, a wonderful seafood place that exceeded our expectations. Once again we are back attending to our daily Camino chores, and enjoying have some walls between us and the weather. The forecast shows more of the same for tomorrow, but now we know we are rigged correctly and the wind effect should be much less as we move inland tomorrow. Let's just leave it at that and we will see what tomorrow brings. All in all it was a great day to be out walking. 

Change of plans

We interrupted our Camino Vasco in Puebla de Arganzón to return to Vitoria where Robin had an x-ray to determine if anything was fractured after a fall (landing hard on her tailbone) when we arrived in Vitoria from Agurain. Fortunately nothing was amiss. But Robin was cautioned to rest a few days before resuming our Camino. So we headed from Vitoria to Bilbao and spent the night there, and then continued on to Porto the following day. We arrived in Porto yesterday and have been resting up before we begin our walk to Santiago tomorrow. As always life on the Camino is filled with the unexpected. Sometimes those moments fall in the plus column and sometimes they fall somewhere else, but nonetheless life goes on and the journey continues (thank God). We have had a restful time, enjoyed some great meals, discovered a taste for fine port wine and and are keeping a wary eye on some heavy weather due to descend on us as we set out in the morning. The forecast actually said "tons of rain." Yikes! Maybe the 20-30 mph winds and thunder will distract us from the rain. Should be an interesting day as we slog on to Vila do Conde. It appears this weather system will be with us through Sunday. So we shall rig for heavy weather and hope for the best. For now the streets outside our hotel are showing occasional umbrellas but typhoon conditions have not yet been set. We shall see what the morning brings. This is our first time in Porto and it has been a perfect place to recuperate. We went to the 11:00 am mass at the cathedral, walked quietly through its cloister, got our first sello, and headed down to the river for a nice seafood lunch. All very peaceful and good fun, especially our lunch at the restaurant Ora Viva, where the food was great, and the staff truly excelled. One interesting quirk was that the kitchen was one floor below the restaurant and all the meals came up from the kitchen via a hand cranked tiny dumb waiter. I kept seeing one of the waiters cranking something behind the bar and when I asked about it I was invited to look down and wave to the cook smiling up at me. Somehow this led to a port wine tasting and a bottle of 20 year old tawny port appeared, and we were hooked. As I said, a fun afternoon. But, duty calls and it will soon be time to set out once again. Praying for God's grace we will complete this Camino and arrive Santiago safe and sound. More to follow from the pilgrim road.

Down by the river in Porto

View from our hotel

Tile work at the train station

The cathedral

In the cathedral cloister

Following Camino arrows from the cathedral