Life is a Beach

Saturday, May 27, 2023
Vila Chã, Porto, Portugal
Porto to Vila Cha 11.45 Miles
We both tossed and turned through the night, probably a little anxious about what our first day on the Camino would bring. The alarm was set for 7:30, wasn’t needed. 
Dressed, packed and ready to go in less than an hour. The sky was blue, low 60’s and our street was pretty much deserted compared to yesterday. We walked a quarter mile to the Sao Bento metro station.
We had no trouble adding fare to our tickets and waited less than 10 minutes for our Yellow Line train. It was only two stops to Trinidad where we transferred to the Blue Line. This was a dozen or more  stops to Mercado, where we would start the Camino.  We were really surprised at how full the trains were at this hour on a Saturday.  
Right off the train was the Cafe International which was calling us for a coffee and something to eat.  We got two coffees with steamed milk and two different pastry type sandwiches.   They stamped our credentials and we were off. 
We crossed a long bridge over a water way where they were loading and unloading large cargo ships. We followed the “Yellow Arrows” for about a mile and then hit the boardwalk/trail  that would follow the coastline the entire day. Right at the start of the beach walk was the official Camino Welcome/Information Center. The woman was very friendly, gave us a good map of the route to Santiago, stamped our credentials and gave us a couple of pins to attach to our packs.
Beautiful coastline, waves crashing on jagged rocks sandwiched between sandy beaches.   Several areas had dozens of surfers.  We passed impressive lighthouses, historical markers, churches that dated back to the 1600’s and sand dunes covered with flowering ice plant and towering beach grass.  Walking 10+ miles of pristine coastline sure beat all our training walks in Baltimore!
At about four miles, we stopped at the Mambu Restaurante Beach Club for our second coffee. The strongest we have had but very good. So strong that Dave even had to add a little sugar.  
We were really unsure how far Vila Cha, our overnight town was going to be, but our plan was to take a break and have lunch at about eight miles. We were surprised when we hit the south end of Vila Cha at about nine miles. We had to get directions three times from the locals to locate Casa do Pinhal Guest House. It was at the north end of Vila Cha, well over a mile from our first request for directions.
We finally arrived about 2:45, the place was locked up tighter than a drum!  The only sign of life was a fellow pilgrim from the Netherlands, with his bandaged feet soaking in the pool.   He informed us that they didn’t open until 3:00. At 3:30 he called and was told a text would be sent on how to open the lockbox to gain access to the guesthouse. About the same time, an American couple arrived and they had just gotten their text. 
Unfortunately, we don’t have internet service so we never got our text. The Americans gave us the password and we were in. Our respective texts assigned our room numbers and the keys were in the lock box.  Never did see any sign of staff.
We got out of our boots and set out for something to eat. We were starved, not having eaten since the sandwiches, seven hours and ten miles ago!  The only place we saw coming into Vila Cha was Ruben Dunes Restaurante. A beautiful place right on the beach. They were open but we were told the kitchen closed at 3:00 and wouldn’t open until 7:00. Our server told us we could have “snacks”.  We ordered a beer and a wine. She also brought a snack (tapas) menu.
We lucked out again. We ordered an octopus salad that was to die for, a traditional Portuguese sausage and bread that rivals New Orleans! We may be gaining weight on this Camino!
We asked our server if there was a Super Mercado close by. She sent us on “the woods” (boardwalk) and we found it, but even in Costa Rica standards was only a very mini Mercado!
After showering and working on the blog, we ventured out to a lesser expensive seafood restaurant, San Pedro’s. Dave had fried sardines (huge) and Sue had the house specialty, shrimp in some sort of breaded sauce. Shrimp were numerous and so fresh, but could have gotten along without the sauce. Dave’s sardines were huge and tasted nothing like any sardines we had ever had. Along the Camino, we saw grilled sardines but were somewhat worried about our distance and passed them by, never again!
Came back to our very comfortable guest house (never had accommodations like this on our previous Camino), finished today’s blog and watched our Grandson’s baseball game on GameChanger (they won 14-0)!
Great first day on the Portuguese Coastal Camino. One down, 13 to go!
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