Day 4: Viana do Castelo to Caminha 

After almost getting locked in to the room (it was pilot error – the hostess came to our rescue), Sue called a Bolt to take us back to town center. We needed an address to give them so I looked on the map and selected the Viana do Castelo Aldi. Aldi is one of Sue’s happy places. She was able to get fresh pastries and breads from a wall of options.

I also noticed the store carried a few British options (Branston pickle; HobNobs; Cadbury…) so I looked around for some Lemsip for Sue but they didn’t carry it. 

We went up the road a bit and found a place for coffee. This little guy (JiJu) was helping behind (and on) the counter.

He was obsessively on guard against the four feral cats playing in the field across the street. Since they probably could have easily killed him and had him for breakfast – he wasn’t wrong to be concerned. 

Off down the road. We’d compared maps and the guide book took a path to the east of the towns – and had the pilgrims climbing a 139 meter mountain with a steep drop down the back. This was not the day for it. We hugged the coast most of the way. It was still a long way, even though mostly flat terrain.  This is the hill we didn’t want to climb;

The natural conservation areas prevailed the whole way. Stunning. Dismantled lighthouses and forts peppered the coast. I highly recommend everyone come to Portugal – from Porto to Spain – to see how a country should ‘do’ a coast. But, not all at once, please. Hotel space is limited.

It was slow going. We stopped for lunch about noon. I got what I thought was going to be a salad with pesto, feta, greens, and pinenuts – but apparently I ordered the wrong one. A Rita Morela salad is gorgeous –

But not what I thought I’d ordered. And it came with my arch nemesis – cilantro… which tastes like soap.  So I had to pick that out. Everything that was left was nutritious and delicious. 

Sue’s health is still a concern. She had soup and juice for lunch and kept plugging along on the walk – but in addition to her initial ailment she’s exhausted and perhaps a bit dehydrated. She put music in her headphones and walked at her own pace. 

I went ahead without navigation – guesstimating my location and relying on random strangers for help. The path narrowed through the woods. At one point a less travel path veered off and my inner Robert Frost took that one. Jerk. The path narrowed further and I was following the sound of what was clearly road traffic not far off. But it was blocked at the end by years of felled trees – I had to double back through the path again to get back to the fork, but not before I’d shredded my legs walking through bramble and blackberry vines. Thanks Robert…jerk.  I popped out on the trail in front of the two pilgrims from Italy that we’d met yesterday. I was so tempted to ask him for some of his home-harvested honey for my shredded, bleeding legs. Honey is a natural antibiotic. But I thought that would be a waste of his private stash. So when we got to the clearing we exchanged photo courtesies. I got their photo on the cliff and they returned the favor. You might notice the legs look a bit like I got flailed with barbed wire. 

I walked in to the next cafe / WiFi option and enacted my set Plan B – where I log in to WiFi and send Susie a WhatsApp with my location. But I noticed she had called me on WhatsApp – so I called her back. I asked her where she was – she wasn’t sure. I checked Google maps for her pin drop and realised she was out near the front stoop of the cafe!  So we reunited, shared our coffee break, emptied the sand out of our shoes, and continued on together. At one point the dunes had crossed the boardwalk to the point the rope guards were no longer visible. 

I was glad to exit the boardwalk. However, it was right into the path of incoming Metal fans arriving for the weekend Sonic Blast Festival.  They walked toward us looking a bit like the walking dead. A thought flashed into my head that my kids are prepared for me to go someday – but probably not by being eaten by zombies. 

A bit later we passed an idilc sheep and goat field. I noticed a gentleman sitting on the wall nearby, just watching them.  I chatted with him a bit. His name is Jose and those were his sheep.  I told him he should be very proud of them – they’re lovely. He was a bit surprised that I wanted to get his photo. 

We walked on.   Our projected arrival time, given our late morning departure, was about 7 PM.  That’s late. Very grateful we’d called to confirm our room. And I wasn’t half looking over my shoulder for a cab to carry us the last hour – but none came by. 

We finally arrived at the Design and Wine Hotel in the town center. It had been one of the few with space available – and the least expensive of those. Didn’t realize when we booked it that there would be a festival in the plaza out front. We had no plan on attending – laundry, dinner, showers are the priority when we get to town. But, since it’s so close, I can hear gentle folk music through the open window as Susie sleeps in the next bed.

We’re working on our Plan B for tomorrow, with Susie being under the weather. Health first. It’s a pilgrimage – nobody has to do it. And I want it to be fun and not to feel like a death march. 

Hoping for some good, restorative rest. 

More later…

https://www.charitywater.org/marilyn-peterson/marilyn-s-camino-for-water-2025