Yes, it is a Camino! Days 1-3 Summary in Pictures

After three days of walking the Camino de Santiago Portuguese Coastal Route (32, 28 and 28K) I must default to letting pictures be worth more words than I have the energy to write. (Donna’s FitBit records flights of stairs and today we climbed 92 flights.)

It. Is. Hard.

It. Is. Demanding.

It. Is. Beautiful.

Our walking notes for today used the word “steep” way too many times. I thought  I had mentally prepared, and, in fact, Donna and I both enjoyed the trek over two mountains, through villages, in forests, along a gorge and roaring river.

Today we saw other Camino people (pilgrims) through out the day and agreed that it truly felt like a Camino. We chatted a bit with several, exchanged “will you take a picture of us?”

The last mountain tested every bone, joint, muscle and mental control we had. Did I mention that it was 91 degrees? And cobblestones? Every where. Oy vey. There are muscles in my calves I’ve never used and they must have been put there for cobblestones.

We made it. We are sore and exhausted. Advil and Tylenol are my other best friends. I’ve been trying to make this post since Day 1 and keep changing the headline as time passes.

Tonight at dinner, I told Donna, “I may just make a post that says, ‘Sorry, folks, I’ll get to my blog when I can. I’m alive and doing OK. Film at 11. That may be July 11.”

So, here a few photos I managed to get from my phone to iCloud which I couldn’t access from my blog until I put them on Dropbox, waaa, waaa, waaa. My hope is to provide more insights, observations and quips to come when our days’ treks are shorter. Or when I get home.

Best amigas on the Camino are Camigas. (L to R Donna Halker and me, Terri Langhans)
Our first steps on the official Way.
Some directions and arrows are fancier than others.

Hamming it up at the viewpoint.
The view from the viewpoint.
I wonder if these will be knee-high by the Fourth of July?
And then we go inland.
Crossing the iron bridge to our Day 1 destination.
We were lost for too long in a neighborhood and eventually found a Camino angel (in a post office) who could read the name of the street we were hunting and point us in the right direction. When we found the arrow, it was answered prayer.

OK. I am having trouble uploading pictures from the last two days, so I am going to hit “publish” and hope to find time to figure it out. In the meantime, please wish us Buen Camino.

 

 

 

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