For Good Measure

Wednesday, 14 May We were intending this to be our final day of walking but we decided this morning that we couldn't face the thought of wading through another 20 or so large cold muddy puddles. Although the day was fine we know those puddles take a long time to dry out. So we caught the bus to Chaves, a lovely city. It is a shame we did not complete our planned walk as we were feeling fit and well and Vidago to Chaves is not a difficult section. However, we have done our best and are very pleased to have achieved as much as we have. After our experience with the cold days and puddly paths we would recommend September as a better time for the Portuguese Interior Camino. Today's photos are of Chaves. Discovered after I took the photo that these are all fake 🤥. It's obvious now I know. Tomorrow we leave Portugal and bus to Ourense in Spain, then train to Zamora and bus to Salamanca where we will have two nights. Back to Santiago de Compostela on Saturday for our flight to Lo...

Tuesday, 13 May A beautiful friendly cow early in the days walk. Best laid plans .... What we hadn't factored into our walk today was, with the heavy rain all day on Monday, the Camino path would once again be flooded.  After struggling on for a good part of the day, at 2.45 pm we decided to catch a bus as we were in an area where the Camino trail intercepted the bus route. So we bussed the last 7.5 kms into Vidago with several pairs of wet, muddy socks and with walking shoes soaked through from slipping and sliding in the huge muddy puddles. Unfortunately the one lavanderia in town is closed until the morning. However we have nice accommodation and can do our washing and drying tomorrow. The walking shoes are more problematic as, apart from a pair of jandals each, they are the only footwear we have. Steve overcoming a minor puddle problem by laying broken roof tiles to act as stepping stones. We have seen this quite a lot on the minor roads, the potholes filled with broken tiles. ...

Monday, 12 May Heavy rain was forecast for the whole day today and it has turned out to be so. After breakfast we caught a bus from outside our hotel all the way to Vila Pouca de Aguiar. The Gronze App suggests walking the 17.8 kms to Vila Real (mostly road walking on dangerous roads) and then the next day from Vila Real, 29.9 kms, to Vila Pouca de Aguiar but even on a good day it would be too far for us. When we got on the bus we had planned to get off 10 kms from Vila Pouca de Aguiar and walk from there. (The first two words of this town mean Little Village and I can only suppose the Aguiar word has something to do with the wet rainy weather). The rain had not eased, in fact it was heavier, so we stayed on the bus for the whole journey. We have a nice hotel for tonight, Hotel Europa, and they let us have our room early so a lazy day catching up on our reading. Fine weather next few days.🌞 As a result of bussing so far today we now only have two days walking left, Vidago tomorrow 18....

 Sunday, 11 May Left Peso da Régua at 9.30 am for a 9 km mostly uphill walk to Santa Marta de Penaguião. Again incredible scenery, such extensive vineyards with some olive trees and a kiwi fruit vine or two, as we climbed out of the Douro Valley. The photos don't do justice to the scenery. Arrived in Santa Marta at 12.30. We had a packed lunch with us but, when we tried to book for dinner at the only restaurant we could see we were told they were closing for the day at 2 pm, so we changed our minds and ate lunch at the restaurant and saved our packed lunch for dinner. We supplemented this with the leftover roast veal from lunch. Finally some vegetables with the meal instead of just rice and fries, and the veal was tender. Leaving Peso da Régua  The lunch time meal, Sunday roast, shared between two. Roast veal, roast potatoes, grated raw carrot and beans. The beans looked overcooked but were delicious. Portuguese cooking does not seem to go in for herbs and spices and no sauces...