A Guardia to Viladesuso 12 Miles
The Convent offered a perfect night’s sleep.
Don’t know if we were in Sister Maria’s room or Mother Superior’s, but the bed, sounds and light were perfect.
Woke up around 7:30 and set out around 8:30. The person at the Front Desk told us not to follow the official Camino route because that took you through every square in town and would add an hour. Since we had wandered the streets extensively last night, we agreed. However, we had seen an amazing panaderia (bakery) up the street the night before, we had to go. A coffee shop was connected with the bakery so we ordered our coffee from one and two large wheat rolls from the other. We still had prosciutto and cheese left from yesterday so we made a great sandwich to go with our cafe con leches. The coffee came with two sweet breads that we saved for later. Great breakfast.
We headed back downhill toward the port to find the Camino. The mural at the entrance to the port was really colorful and the town in the sunlight was so picturesque that we stopped a lot for pictures.
We followed a very beautiful rocky coastline for quite awhile.
We were thrilled to be back on the sea since we were afraid we had left it for good.
We did follow a yellow path for several miles along the highway. Luckily, the highway was not super busy.
After about five miles, in Portocelos, we found an oasis cafe where nearly all pilgrims stopped. We had an orange soda and a sparkling water. We are recognizing a lot of people now and talked to many, including Peter and Gudren (sp?) from Rockville. We shared stories from our Caminos and continued on our way.
The next section was still along the coast with spectacular ocean views and houses with magnificent landscaping and flowers. And, some more yellow painted walkway along the highway.
We reached the town of Oia where we stopped for lunch at a fancy, umbrella-tabled restaurant. We ordered an avocado/shrimp salad and a mixed salad with greens, tomatoes, cheeses, walnuts and anchovies. Both were excellent. The restaurant overlooked the rocky coast where colorful fishing boats bobbed in the water and a spectacular monastery was also in view.
The monastery was open and we met a priest who stamped our credentials. When we were leaving, we asked for a blessing. He apologized for his lack of English and blessed us in Spanish with an English ending asking that our steps be smooth.
From Oia we again saw some great beach houses with lavish gardens, a few horses and stoped at a cute little chapel dating back to 1333. A lovely Dutch couple who were riding bikes, stopped and took our picture. They were traveling all around in a camper van and were spending some time on the Camino riding bikes or walking.
We walked the last mile with a young couple. Mark is from Donegal, Ireland and Melissa from Missouri. They live in Dublin and said they were walking to Santiago to escape the heat in Dublin. Mark could tell some stories. Grew up in a bar in Donegal where fishermen would come in and throw a lobster to his Mom for a beer. First thing he was going to do when he got to the Albergue was to go for a swim in the very rocky sea.
We had a private room at the Alberque da Estrela but the cost was more than a guest house.
And, the proprietor only took cash. We were down to about 50 Euros and found out there was no ATM in town. Luckily, the snack bar and restaurants took credit.
It was time for HH so we headed over to the only snack bar in town. Such a fun place. We sat on the patio and had sangria. Thought we ordered a pitcher with 2 glasses, but got huge liter beer mugs each for only 3.50 Euro. Along came Loch and Anna from BC Canada. They had done the Camino Norte several years ago and, like us, upgraded to private rooms this time. Lots of good travel stories and then along came Daniel from Germany with his one-year old baby, Peter. Germany has a very lenient maternal/paternal leave and they were on a 3-month camper trip, Daniel was another big talker and a great father. The baby was super fun, but he was licking the chairs and biting on beer bottles, but when he dove up their dog’s behind, we all groaned! He will probably never have an allergy or need an antibiotic!
Went back to the Albergue to clean up. Now ready for dinner and had to choose between two restaurants and the fun snack bar. We chose the Lorena because it offered a dorado (mahi mahi) plate for 12 Euros. However, once we were seated, everything on the menu was much more. We were about to leave when we asked the server about the chalkboard special and he said that was real. We had a delicious whole fish, potatoes and salad for 12 Euro. So good!
Back to the room until sunset. Sunset was shortly after 10:00. We were blogging, reading,etc. and realized we were missing it. We rushed out and caught the last of it. Our plan was to watch it at the fun snack bar because other pilgrims we knew were going. We rushed over and met Mark and Melissa, but others were gone. We asked what the Spanish traditional night cap drink was and we’re told it was wine. They did offer a ruby port. In our experience, port is served in a very small cordial glass. Here, we had a large red wine glass filled to a red wine level. We objected, but the server said that is the correct amount. Oh well, it was amazing port and we had to enjoy the moment!
Today marked the first day that we began to form our Camino Family.
Bligh
2023-06-10
Love the part about forming your Camino family, and love getting to follow-along with your journey!
Gudule
2023-06-11
Although we only had a few short encounters, we carry the memories of them into our hearts from here on. I love your blog and pictures!