After a nice day off in Viana do Castelo we only have 9 more days of walking with one more day off. Bill is taking a sick day today and will be taking a taxi to our next destination.
Another predawn start.Looks like a two moon morning here but one of them is a street light.There is the moon over the sunrise.We walked on many old Roman roads.On our last blog someone made a comment about no animals yet, well here they come.Someone’s idea of art?Bread delivery, for real. Bread trucks deliver in the rural areas.We saw many feral cats, the Spaniards keep half filled glass water bottles around their door stoops which keeps dogs and cats from urinating on their doorway as the light reflection deters them.Watch where you are putting your hand Karen!!!Jim met Rolph from Munich who seemed very happy to walk with someone who could understand his Germanic English.Lovely blue dawn flowers, a species of morning glory.Within two minutes of the last two pictures we came upon this oasis. Café de Cabanas had a great menu and table service so we didn’t have to stand in line to order. This was Karen’s favorite cafe of the whole trip. Click on the link above to see more about this place and their menu.This is from their website.Rolph joined us for lunch and then stayed for a while longer when we walked on.This is the last time that we saw these boys and their mother’s.This is the Convento de Cabanas across the street from the Café which we were told will be renovated into a hotel.The arrow shows us our direction as we left the cafe.Look at those legs!We were grateful that we did not have any rain as these stones can be treacherous when wet, not to mention the stream of water flowing down that hill. Our first glimpse of the ocean after walking inland for a couple of days.Really, another rocky climb??????One of us looks quite tired.12 miles and a lot of elevation gain, too much for Jim.All inland walking.Vila Praia de Âncora, a cute little town with an awesome beach. Bill and Karen spent the afternoon at the beach while Jim rested.Sunset at the beach.Plaza in the eveningHeading out on day #7 with the whole group. Today we walk from Portugal to Spain and we enter a new time zone.Karen is so happy to be back along the coast.Can you find Ollie?Does it count if I row to Santiago?Bom Caminho in Portuguese and Buen Camino in Spanish translates to good way and is the greeting used among the pilgrims.
Happy Pilgrims are we. It is hard to explain the serenity of long walks. Must be endorphin release as why else would we be this happy in the morning knowing we have miles to go before we sleep.The Santa Trega mountain is in Spain and that is where we are heading.We have to cross the Mina river to get to Spain.That is our water taxi.
20 euros for the short boat ride.Lovely day for a brief boat ride.
This is a video of running aground in España.The Pilgrims land on the shores of España.Looking back at Portugal.The beach path led us into this magical forest.It was a a labyrinth of trees painted with Celtic designs.Parts of spirals and Triskets and Celtic Knots are painted in white on individual trees and become whole only when the parts align as we passed.It was a playful and inspiring welcome to Spain.Castro of Santa Trega is an archaeological site located on the hillside of Mount Santa Trega strategically located overlooking the mouth of the river Mono.There was a heavy fog rolling in and out as we walked.Beautiful horses graze along the ocean hillside.We arrived at our destination, the town of Guarda.A nice short day with a boat ride thrown in.Less than nine miles for the day.Sunset in GuardaHeading to Oia today 11.5 miles.Nice dirt footpath along the shore.This ancient stone construction on the beach was meant to catch fish at low tide. A brief rest stop for coffee and play time with Ollie Our first morning cafe stop had this beautiful view.Another lovely wooded pathMore farm animals. The terrain varies so much which helps to keep the long walk from being monotonous.We always keep apples in our rucksacks to feed the horses.It took a lot of pondering by this horse before accepting the apple.We came across this sweet chapel along the road. Can you spot Ollie?Cat on a hot tin roof.We arrived at our destination in Oia and first stop was to have lunch at this lovely restaurant.Very hard to beat this setting for a restaurant.Oia Monastery and Church.Another short day left us plenty of time to rest and explore.After settling into our accommodations we came back to visit the Church which was only open for an hour in the evening. Not much to see or do in this sleepy little town.Goats grazing on the hillside of the Monastery ruins.We set out early before sunrise to beat the heat.Headlamps helped us find our path out of Oia.A fiery sunrise this morning.Happy to have another beautiful path along the ocean. He gave us a blessing as he passed by.Jim trudging up another hill.Jim was not happy about this hill which was an unnecessary detour off the route and it wore him out. No more hills for Jim today.We said goodby to Bill and Karen and took a taxi into Baiona.Bill and Karen went up and over another mountain range to Baiona.Only eight miles for us but Jim was done in. Rest day tomorrow.Today is Bill and Karen’s 25th wedding anniversary, Bill picked up a silver necklace somewhere along the Camino.The Pinta arrived in Baiona after its discovery of America and there is a reproduction in the harbor which Bill and Jim visited while Karen and Sandy did some shopping.The Pinta is a very small sailing vessel and we marveled at the fact that it could have done a trans-Atlantic round trip ocean voyage.That is the Monterreal Castle which we plan to visit next. It now houses The Parador Hotel.On the occasion of the celebration of the fifth centenary of the arrival of the Pinta in Baiona from America, this statue built in stone and commemorating the discovery of the new continent was inaugurated in 1993.Those two small mountain ranges are the uphill hikes which Jim elected to skip yesterday.Karen continuing to enjoy the Coast of Spain.Yoga session.After our stroll around the fort we walked up to the Parador Hotel and had drinks and lunch on the patio. A lovely day off in the beautiful city of Baiona.
Tomorrow we start our last six walking days with no more planned rest days. One more blog to completion of this Caminho.
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