Vila Praia Ancoura to A Guardia 10.2 Miles
For us, it was an early start, packed and out around 8:00. Blue skies and temperatures hovering around 60, perfect for 10 miles of Camino.
First stop was a mercado where we got a package of prosciutto, cheese and an apple. Before breaking free of the town limits of Vila Praia Ancora, we stopped at a little cafe/bar with sidewalk tables and ordered two coffees. From the leftover rolls from dinner, we made prosciutto and cheese sandwiches. Our server didn’t blink an eye.
Ancora has a wide sandy beach, but just north of town it turned rocky, staying this way all the way to Moledo, a couple of miles. Then in Moledo, back to sand. The yellow Camino arrows took us away from the beach.
It was a long, probably 4 miles, boring walk from Moledo to Caminha, where we needed to catch a boat across to Spain. The route was on a flat paved walk. To our far right, the hillside probably rose 1,000 feet, to our immediate right a paved road, and to our left a train track. It got old after a mile, but four was too much.
We had read a lot of FB posts that people from Caminha were purposely painting arrows directing pilgrims away from the Camino so they could water taxi you on their small boats,did fall for it, until we realized the arrows were going the wrong way AND toward motorboats. We turned around and found a beautiful town square
with a pretty flowered fountain in the center surrounded by side walk cafes, a church and the remnants of an old fortress. One of the prettiest squares we had seen. Glad we didn’t miss it. (We found out later that many people took the rogue boats, missed Caminha, and had a flat route up to A Guardia!)
We had prepaid for the boat ride across the mouth of a river that took us from Portugal to Spain. We had the hardest time finding our boat company, Xacobeo. We knew they were legit, but their boat dock was no where to be found. There was a little cafe selling tickets for another boat taxi company. The clerk there pointed us back along the shoreline. We walked a half mile and saw nothing with the Xacobeo name. We returned to the cafe and a young man gave us detailed directions. It was only 50 yards from the cafe, but how you would ever know it was there is baffling.
We waited about 10 minutes and saw a power boat speeding toward us from the opposite shore. The captain ran the boat up on the sandy beach, a cross country biker unloaded and we piled on (with no ramp you literally had to climb onto the bough and throw your packs in) with one other pilgrim.
The crossing was at least a mile wide and the water looked really rough. We had no choice if we wanted to get to Spain. Within minutes we were in Spain. With the speed of that boat, there was no doubt we could have towed a couple of water skiers!
The climb up from the river bank was steep! First following the narrow cobblestone streets of a small village, then onto a trail through a dense eucalyptus forest. After cresting the ascent, there was a short descent before we broke out of the forest onto the edge of A Guarda - our overnight town.
In less than a mile, we spotted Restaurante Pizzicata; we were tired, hungry and thirsty, this looked like the perfect remedy for all the above. We ordered a salad with tuna, bib lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and olives. As an appetizer, we got grilled Padrón peppers. Our server pointed out they were unique to Padron, a town we would be going through later on our Camino. The salad was excellent but the pepper poppers in oil and course salt were to die for!
We had no problem finding Hotel Convento San Beneto which was only a 1/3 of a mile from Pizzicata - how did we ever survive without GPS?!?!
The Convento is an amazing place, a converted and restored 17th century convent.
We were greeted by a very nice receptionist who, after recording our passport info, took us to our room while giving us a brief history of the place. Very cool hallways with religious artifacts, an open courtyard and a sitting room with a huge fireplace, overstuffed furniture and period artwork. The place feels like a museum! To top it off, we had a totally modern room with a balcony overlooking the street.
Dave showered and did a sink full of laundry while Sue had a little siesta. She was rudely awakened by a group of yappy Spanish women on the street below our window.
We wandered the port area with some great views. Then back up into the city center for happy hour. The busiest place on the square was Tres Sentidos. It was a little cool so we opted for an inside table and had a glass of white wine after we were told they didn’t make Caípirinhas. Our wines were served with chips and two small breads with cured jamón, all for 4.8 euro!
Heading back down to the Port area, the only non-Restaurante place was a Celtic tapas bar.
It had a neat Irish atmosphere, with literally, a 100 bottles of beer on the wall. Ordered two gin & tonics that were served in huge goblets. We have found that if in a bar, you are always served modest food with your drinks. Here we had chips and something that very much resembled French toast?!
Eating dinner at the Celtic cafe were Peter & G (never quite understood her name), the Dutch couple from Rockville, MD. This was our 3rd encounter with them over the past couple of days.
Our dinner would be at Puerto Guardés, located down at the Port and highly recommended on Trip Advisor - modestly priced and a local favorite. TA was right on, the place was packed and a great mix of locals and tourists. We had a bottle of Albariño(half back to the room), a perfect calamari appetizer, Sue had grilled sole and Dave a skewed shrimp & monkfish. All was delicious and the 37 euro tab made it even better!
Back at the “convent”, down in the sitting room, we finished the left over Albariño wine. We shared stories with a couple from Stuttgart. Wishing each other a Guten Nacht, we called it the end to another good day!
2025-02-07