Another brilliant day. We headed out at 8 AM and headed straight to the cafe the host had recommended. On the way, we passed by a breathtaking fountain that depicted, for me, what charity:water is trying to do. A woman with a book of some sort is giving water to a young man who has none. Almost cried before First Coffee.
The cafe was perfect. Nicely decorated, clean, and filled with locals. I ordered us cafe com leite (which we found out later is pronounced like ‘late’) and a couple Neapolitanas de chocolate… which were served warm. As I mentioned – perfect.
Much of the morning was spent getting out of town walking the coastline sidewalks by pristine beaches and parks. We saw a couple preschool classes heading to the beach for a field trip to get fresh air and play in the sand. One class, wearing matching tshirts and matching sun caps, were completely corralled in by wind barriers but had access to a shade hut. Sue mentioned you’d probably not see such an adventure happening in the states – but here they had it completely under control. (I didn’t photograph the preschoolers).
Sometimes the beaches are pristine sandy beaches for recreation.
Sometimes it’s unguarded and it’s posted that there’s no lifeguard. Basically ‘ya’ll be careful now, hear?’
We also came across an industrious farmer. A bystander explained that he was drying seaweed on the beach for a few days, the making it into bales, then transporting it to his farm where he would use it as silage for the animals.
The terrain then spilled out again to the beautiful boardwalks protecting the dunes. We stopped for late morning coffee. Afterwards noted an upcoming detour where perrigrinos were to follow the boardwalk until it teed into north / south options. At that point we were supposed to exit into the countryside.
Fortunately right after the tee, there was a cafe and the lady of the house sold fresh squeezed orange juice in glass mugs that she had prepping in the freezer. I had two. We sat under grape vines in the garden and enjoyed the shade for quite a while.
Then off into the countryside. We had doubts about the route – but the arrows didn’t lie. It’s not like trying to find a garage sale in the states… sometimes you follow the arrows and follow the arrow and it ends up leading to nothing. Out in the woods, sometimes the arrows are hard to detect among the other clutter on the poles.
And sometimes there’s no doubt.
We stopped into an inclusive Catholic Church for a visit along the way. Quite often they’re open and a stamp is available. It’s also interesting to see the different architecture.
But eventually we made it to the town of Fao, which was quite lovely. Vintage tiles on buildings. Beautiful churches.
And it took us to a long metal bridge over the Cavado River. I looked down and could see lots of fish in the clear waters. Fish again for dinner, please!
We finally made it to Esposende and Sue found our hostel via her phone. With the detour, we walked about 19.5 miles. Hoping tomorrow there will be no more detours.
Dinner was fabulous. We went to a place our host had recommended that wasn’t in the pilgrim’s guidebook. The place was packed but I think we might have been the only pilgrims. They also did a robust take-out business. We opted for bean soup and fresh fish, which came with ‘all the fixings’ (three carbs, a salad), and I had flan for my dessert!
Grateful to have a reserved bed tonight .. even if it’s the top bunk! I think I’ll probably sleep well.
More later…
https://www.charitywater.org/marilyn-peterson/marilyn-s-camino-for-water-2025
I bet it has been so different walking by the sea on the first part of this Camino rather than ending at the the sea as in your previous.