Pego na Chuva - Day 15

Caught in the Rain

Porto - Vila Chã (16.7 miles)

I still felt tired starting this morning after having a rest day. I also had a slight headache, however I ended up feeling so happy today. I had a smile on my face and was singing in Portuguese along the way, despite the many challenges of the day. I am thrilled to be here having these wonderful experiences. There were several route options from Porto. My original plan was to do the Senda Littoral part of the coastal route, which follows the Douro River out to the sea and then up the coast to Vila do Conde. The alternatives were to take the central route north and avoid the sea entirely on the way to Santiago or leave the city and cross overland to Vila do Conde and rejoin the coastal route there. Yeji started a few minutes before me and I knew she wanted to take the metro down to the river and walk from there. It would have taken 30 minutes to walk down to the bridge I initially crossed the Douro River on. Therefore, I decided that I would walk more diagonally through the city and join the river downstream near the sea. This was a good compromise because I hadn't been through that part of the city and I had already been down by the river where Yeji was starting.

I was thrilled to start seeing new birds at the mouth of the river and was busy looking around with my binoculars when Yeji arrived. I had made it down there before her. My headache was also gone by this point and I was ready for the Atlantic Ocean!

The first sight along the coast was the Felgueiras Lighthouse, one of the oldest lighthouses (16th Century) in Europe. Walking with the sea on my left, I headed north along nice beachfront parks and restaurants. I passed a couple of forts along the way. One was at the mouth of the Douro River, called O Forte de João de Foz, and the other was O Forte de São Francisco de Xavier.

Then there were the fishing markets and shipping yards on the other side of Matosinhos. Eventually the boardwalk sections started and I walked above the sand dunes and looked out at the crashing waves on the rocky beaches. I met two women doing the Caminho who claimed to be sisters, even though one is from Scotland and the other is from Ireland. I caught back up with Yeji for a little while and we had lunch at a café on the beach.

During this time, there was a downpour and we were glad to be inside. Once we got back on the boardwalks, I found some more birds and Yeji went on ahead. Then came the thunderstorm! I heard thunder about 6 seconds after the flash of lightning. I had been caught in the rain. The combination of wind and rain was exhausting, so I sought refuge on the backside of the nearest restaurant. Yeji was already there and we waited out the storm for maybe 15 more minutes. My pancho had helped me stay mostly dry, other than my pants and feet. Her backpack and clothes were soaked. She does not have a good rain jacket or poncho.

The sun then came out and shone down on us. It warmed me up and helped dry my pants and feet. Xenia caught up to us at the Roman salt tank ruins. This is where they would dry out their fishes and water to extract salt. We walked together until Vila Chã.

Xenia already had a reservation at the albergue there and I decided to stay as well. It was getting later in the day and if I was going to wash my clothes, I needed as much time in the sun for them to dry. Yeji continued walking another 4 miles to Vila do Conde. The albergue seemed newer and there were only 7 of us staying there. It can hold 20 people. Ilaria joined us along with 4 strangers. They all wanted to cook pasta in the albergue kitchen, so I found a restaurant and ate alone. Pasta didn't sound very appetizing. I ordered Rojões with sides of rice and salad. This is another traditional Portuguese meal and was potatoes with pork shoulder. They cooked the meat in fat but it was still dry, so I added piri-piri sauce. Additionally, there were deep fried pig intestines stuffed with something brown and unknown to me with this meal. I didn't even want to taste it. Walking back to the albergue, I saw other restaurants that were more busy. Turns out FC Porto and Benfica were playing tonight (These are soccer teams from Porto and Lisbon). This is a big rivalry game and most of the people were going to stay up late and watch it. I was tempted to join, but it was almost 9 pm and I needed to get some sleep. Maybe for another day!

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