A Tranquil Stay by the Sea

Thank you to all of you who are following our progress here on the Camino Portugueses! We have been heartened by the huge number of page views, and that you are following us from all over the world. Hopefully, your "virtual Camino" will be fulfilling, and maybe it will guide you into making a pilgrimage of your own some day. Please do feel free to share the link with others, as we want to encourage as many people as possible to think about making a pilgrimage of their own.

We started our journey yesterday at the Hotel Azul in O Porrino, where the staff made us very welcome. To our amazement, we were provided with plastic bags for our lunch! We have been constructing lunch from the rolls, cheese and ham, that are usually laid out for breakfast. On some parts of the route, there are no shops or cafes, so this is really important. We usually have to sneak the rolls out in serviettes, and then wrap them in shower caps, so it was a wonderful surprise to have a hotel that recognised the needs of pilgrims!

We traveled in quite thick fog for some hours, which obscured the views of the mountains, but at least it was lovely and cool. When the fog started to clear, temperatures started to rise, but I think that we only reached the lower 20's C. For some miles we followed Roman Road XIX, and even spotted an original Roman milestone.

Roman milestone. If you look closely, just above the centre and to the left, you can see the
blue arrow pointing towards Fatima

As I said before, we are walking reasonably slowly, as my left foot quickly tires if I go too fast. I am grateful for a rest day, as it not in peak condition today after the 11 miles to O Porrino, followed by maybe 12 miles yesterday.

Going slowly does have advantages though. Yesterday, we were intrigued when a lady stopped her car beside a wayside shrine dedicated to St. Anne, and made the sign of the cross before proceeding. The shelf in front of the shrine held many pebbles with names and dates upon them, many of the dates very recent. There were flowers, lit candles, and prayer requests too. Some miracle had occurred there maybe?

Shrine dedicated to St. Anne. You can see the thick fog behind too!

Following a reasonably steep climb, and then through extensive forest trails, we descended to the coast at Redondela.

It was a steep descent down to Redondela. You can just about make out the inlet where we are staying in this photograph.

The last part of our walk was along the beach to our accommodation here at the Antolin. The beach was covered in shells, and it was such a shame to walk upon them.

 

The last stage of our walk yesterday, along a beach covered in shells. The Antolin is between the
 two hills at the end of the beach

The view in the opposite direction.

I intend to rest my foot today, but it is so beautiful next to the water, that there really is no need to go anywhere else. The kite surfers are keeping us well entertained, and the fishermen are out and about too. I'll be in touch again soon!

Love

Rina