Porto Day 3

by Miss Penny Black

First, a big hello to Kathy, Danny’s mother, who has been reading the blog and I’ve been shouting ‘HELLO’ to from the background most mornings while Danny is on the phone. Looking forward to meeting you again when we get to Ireland!

After staying up until 1am watching Ted Lasso (using our holiday time wisely, I know) we decided to have a lie in. Our only planned activity of the day wasn’t until 12:30.

To get across to the port house side of the river we walked down, down, down to the water level and crossed the lower level of Porto’s iconic bridge.

This was our first proper trip over to this side and it provided an excellent view of the side we were staying on. Hills might be an effort to navigate but hilly cities are much more scenic.

If we had thought the other side of the city was busy, this side was heaving – and on a Monday.

We had booked an Airbnb port and cheese experience but we were a bit early so we went for a wander. We saw a famous rabbit.

And a tower painted all around with beautiful flowers.

I had booked the port and cheese tasting experience at a port house called Quevedo, through Airbnb experiences. It was only $30 and came with a talk on port and the history of the port house.

I am 90% certain that it was one of the same port houses luke and I visited last time we were here but the cheese was a nice addition and I got to refresh my knowledge of port.

We both agreed the white port was our favourite. I don’t think it’s available to Australia but I might try bringing some home from the uk.

For the rest of the afternoon we wandered around and sat a few different places. The first did a port and chocolate pairing.

The chocolates were excellent and locally produced.

After all the chocolate and cheese what I obviously needed was a large lunch. We found an Italian restaurant in a nice laneway and I ordered carbonara and Danny had pizza. But first they brought out tiny perfect little garlic breads.

Obviously we needed a litre of sangria too.

It was an absolutely stunning carbonara, served in a bowl that was lava-hot, but I realised halfway through that I had severely overestimated my capacity. I ate it all and refused to learn any kind of lesson from my experience.

One thing Danny observed as we sat there was that not a single table in Spain or Portugal had been the slightest bit wobbly. At home about half of tables require extensive chocking with coasters or wadded-up serviettes, yet here they seem to have no problem setting up a table on a cobblestone street with a 20 degree slope.

We had a drink on the waterfront and listened to a busker for a while, then caught the cable car up to the top of the hill.

We went back to a little bar we had visited two nights previously. It was by a bus stop and looked like the kind of place frequented by locals. Six drinks and a bowl of chips were 24 euros – and the gin and tonics here are at least double the size of ones at home.

One the way home we crossed the top of the bridge and managed to be right on time for an absolutely spectacular sunset.

After an afternoon of drinking and an early morning start, I went to bed early and made the most of our last night in our lovely apartment.

8May2023

Porto Day 2

by Miss Penny Black

Thanks to Danny booking our accommodation in an epic location, we are really close to almost everything in Porto.

Our apartment is in that white building, behind it is the main cathedral and town square and it’s right beside the biggest bridge across the river.

We had an excellent sleep then I found a very Melbourne-style cafe for breakfast, but at about half the price of a Melbourne brunch.

Near us was a large table of people of various ages who were all spread out using various devices and tapping away. We thought they were all working independently. Just before we left they all stopped typing and started introducing themselves and talking about poetry. We tried to overhear when was going on but it was a bit mysterious.

Next stop: stained glass museum! As you can imagine, one of us was more excited about this that the other.

Danny wasn’t terribly keen, but it was only eight euros and literally backed onto our accommodation so if he wanted to go sit it out he could.

A nice surprise when we paid…

Art and port, a winning combination! Sure, it was 11am but it would have been rude to refuse.

The museum is very small but had some nice stained glass.

Next, a quick break at the apartment to charge devices and do some puzzles with our feet up. I hadn’t known previously that we were both fans of word puzzles and this book I bought in Australia has been great entertainment.

Then we went for a walk and had a snack break with a view.

It was kind of a brioche-pizza-calzone mashup.

We wanted to do a bit of shopping today. We walked to a mall for a look around and I bought a book. Shopping centres really are the same all over the world.

I was very grateful that the mall bookshop had a couple of shelves of books in English and even a decent selection of fantasy and sci fi.

We went on a walk around town to see street art and other lovely sights.

I found a nice middle-aged-lady fashion store and bought a dress to wear if we go out to somewhere nice for dinner. While in the shop I met a couple of Kiwis who had been living in Mount Martha for the last ten years. it’s (relatively) just down the road from where I live so it seemed like quite a coincidence.

Next we walked through some markets where I bought strawberries. the strawberries we’ve had here have been really great.

Danny has been wanting some open shoes that would be more comfortable with his blisters.

Despite my encouragement he didn’t even try on this pair of fake-diamond-encrusted trainers (rude) and went for some Birkenstocks.

We made it to 10km and decided to have an afternoon rest and watch some Rick and Morty, during which Danny feel asleep and I started my book.

I’m coming to realise that this isn’t my most riveting blog entry but I’ve written too much to stop now!

Porto is a VERY hilly city and the walk to our restaurant for the evening was quite an ordeal. Worth it though, for views towards the sunset and feeling like we’d found a place where locals hang out.

I’d been reading up on local street artists and there was some work right by our spot.

Subtle but beautiful. Hazul luzer, a local artist.

We walked back to the apartment to get our laundry at 9pm. It turned out that the nearest laundromat was halfway back to the restaurant. Up and down hills again.

In the very new and clean laundromat we got talking to a couple from Melbourne and a couple from Turkey. We all agreed that the laundromat was the place to be on Monday nights.

We’d brought drinks, everyone agreed it was the right idea.

We finished the night with wine and Ted Lasso.

Lovely!

6May2023

Pontevedra, Spain

by Miss Penny Black

We booked two nights in Pontevedra (when I say ‘we’ Danny did literally everything) and left Santiago mere minutes after signing off on the Camino. We didn’t stay because we are coming back for a few days later on so we’re seeing a bit more of Galicia before then.

After this is three nights in Porto.

The apartment Danny found is lovely, it opens right onto a laneway in the old part of the city.

The interior is mostly mint green trim and feature walls of flamingo wallpaper.

Unfortunately, because we booked a Friday and Saturday night, between 4 and 6am crowds of people streamed past my window shouting, singing and partying on their way home from nightclubs.

The lady who owns the place met us when we arrived and said the front bedroom was loud but didn’t specify that the street noise, which was minimal during the day, wasn’t the problem. I’m writing this at 5:30am because I’ve given up on going back to sleep. Every time I think there’s going to be no more noise another group comes along to stand right outside talking at top volume.

Aside from causing me to wake up angry, Pontevedra has been a lovely place to stay. What did we do here?

We saw lots of lovely impressionist work.

We walked along the river and took some photos for some tourists.

We watched a bit of the coronation on tv.

We saw pigeons causing havoc on unattended tables, inadvertently smashing wine glasses and bottles.

Mainly we sat in various squares doing what the locals do – people and dog watching.

I’ve brought a crossword book and so we did that for a while too. All very relaxing!

6May2023

Camino Ingles Day 7: Sigüeiro to Santiago de Compostela, aka the end!

by Miss Penny Black

We left Sigueiro at about 9:30 and had 15km to walk to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

Apart from a few spots of rain the worst of the weather was just a lot of cold wind, which made walking easier.

I kind of expected the path to be quite industrial as it was so close to Santiago but, either by luck or design, it was mostly forest and fields for all but the last few kilometres.

We saw many more pilgrims than previous days but only really talked to one, a lively Italian lady named Leah who told us she had left her husband at home and decided to do the walk by herself at the age of 70. She didn’t have any aches or pains and wished Danny improvement with his feet.

At about 11:30 we stopped off at a food place that was right next to the trail in a forested part.

It was a big open cement area and a huge echoing hall that looked like the world’s saddest wedding venue. It had a tiny bar and food counter set up so we had some coffee and sandwiches.

We have been told that the government is using money to promote this route but it would be nice to spend some money on making it safer as often footpath just runs out and trucks almost clip you as you walk.

The amenities and businesses along the trail (or lack thereof) have been a constant source of bemusement. The traffic along this branch of the Camino has been increasing drastically over the last two decades (from under 100 people to over 22,000 last year) but there’s quite long stretches of road with no footpath, no places to get food and not one public toilet to be seen along the whole route, which Danny says is typical of Spain. Anywhere that sells food is expected to let people use their bathroom but quite often there’s nowhere open.

Coming into Santiago from the opposite direction to the most popular trail meant that it was just right into the older part of town.

The industrial estate part of the walk wasn’t pretty but had excellent wide footpaths.

Our first sight of the cathedral??

How about now?

Then Danny said that we would hear bagpipes when we got close, an instrument that is traditionally Gaelic, so they are played here as well as in Scotland and Ireland. I completely neglected to take a photo of the piper, but eventually we heard them as we continued through the lovely ancient streets.

It was great to finish, and it felt like Danny might not have made another day with his blisters as they were getting worse.

Seeing all the groups of pilgrims getting photos and looking so excited was very nice, I imagine that if you’d come here just for this and if you’d finished one of the longer walks – quite a lot of people walk from France or further – the sensation of relief and achievement would be overwhelming.

Having just spent twice as long walking through much more dramatic countryside in England, this was fun but it didn’t particularly make me want to do other Camino routes. I’m not against the idea either, I just have other places I’d like to walk.

Danny and I did discuss what we’d learned from the experience. I’d totally agree with Deb that four days got me into my stride, so doing a longer trek would definitely be possible and if I’d put more effort into preparing I probably wouldn’t have had such sore feet in the beginning.

I felt a bit hamstrung by not speaking the local language and I think a lot of my enjoyment from travel comes from meeting people so that was a down side. We didn’t really meet many people who spoke English confidently.

I think if I’d done this years ago I would’ve been part of the ‘get up and on the road by dawn’ crowd, but going slower and making decent stops has increased my enjoyment. I don’t think I could ever walk ten hours a day so there’s no need to be up and out so quickly.

The time of year we’d chosen was really good. None of the days were too hot or too cold and we had luckily sat out the rainiest day. The time of year also meant that there were lots of flowers in bloom and the farmers were yet to spread manure on the fields. I always forget how much of country walking is accompanied by the smell of manure but it wasn’t too bad this time.

Despite being surrounded by long green grass most days my hayfever was fine. I really don’t understand why it’s so bad in England and not here where the plants are almost identical.

Collecting the stamps along the way was fun. Who doesn’t like stamps? I think the stamp system would be a great thing to institute on other long walks around the world. It’s an easy and fun reminder of all the places you stop at.

We did 122km or so, 100 is needed for the certificate at the end. We did get the certificates but I think the stamps are actually a better souvenir.

So that was our Camino! Probably the least impressive in terms of length but a very nice walk and Danny and I managed to get along very well, both being very patient when the other needed to go slowly or take a break.

To finish, here’s a series of photos of us in front of highways and derelict petrol stations. It’s not all forests and fields!

4May2023

Camino Ingles Day 6: Segueiro to…. Segueiro

by Miss Penny Black

I hope you’re all appreciating the fact that I haven’t posted any photos of Danny’s blisters but they, and the weather, are why we are taking today off.

We have sat ourselves in a cafe that is pretty much below last night’s accommodation and have been phoning people for chats (Luke’s parents are currently on a cruise in Germany) and watching the world’s slowest window cleaner.

He took over two hours to do these windows.

He did do an excellent job but the rate was glacial.

It’s been kind of interesting watching people come and go. The cafe has an extensive menu but mainly seems to sell bread from the front end of the counter and beer and coffee from the back half.

Hardly any cafes display their menus or even have them out on tables. Approximately half of this menu was translated into English, the other half is for locals only!

The vast amount of tiling and cold lighting in Spanish cafes make them all feel a bit cheap and basic but this place has stools and clearly is a regular haunt for many retired men. There’s a row of them at the bar with their newspapers and beers.

Half the houses here have benches out the front so I imagine that all their wives are sitting out neighbour-watching between housework while the men are in here.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. This is one of the less disgusting ones. Poor Danny.

We’ve spent the rest of the day with our feet up and Danny trying to get me to look at his disgusting feet. Danny has been enjoying Ted Lasso for the first time.

The highlight of my day was saying I’d race Danny the four flights downstairs, him taking the lift and me on the stairs. The stairs circle around the lift and I hit every ‘door open’ button on the way down and could hear Danny shouting at me from the lift. I nearly died laughing by the time I got to the bottom.

For dinner we went back to the same cafe and had the same arepas as last night. When we walked in the owner and bartender gave us big smiles and right at the end I talked to a girl at the bar who told me they were all from Venezuela. They were all so lovely, if you’re ever in Sigueira I highly recommend stopping at this place, just look for the little square with the fountain on the west side of the main street.

Also we’ve generally found that the cafes that line the busiest roads are nowhere near as friendly or pleasant as going a street or two back.

In the evening, between Ted Lasso episodes, Danny booked all our travel and accommodation in Pontevedra (two nights) and Porto (three nights). After that Peter and Ash arrive and we will meet up in Santiago de Compostella and properly see the city that is the official end of the camino.

Ok so this morning Danny told me how much this apartment is worth. It’s on the fourth floor, there’s a lift. Here’s some photos before I tell you how much it’s worth.

Within the apartment was a second floor, the bedrooms were upstairs.

There’s a separate lounge and dining, three bedrooms and three bathrooms plus a car space and a fee of 52 euros a year for the body corporate. the town is also pretty close to an international airport.