Day 5




I couldn’t believe it when I woke feeling somewhere near human. I got up, got ready, went to breakfast and parts of me that I thought would never move again, seemed to be moving completely normally.


We set out in the rain but it soon stopped and the walk took us through woodland, then agricultural land and vineyards.  Now that the coastal and central Portuguese Caminos have combined there are lots more pilgrims walking along the path.  All shapes, sizes, ages, abilities and nationalities.









There was one manageable hill and the only other challenge, during the rest of the 22km, was putting on wet weather gear when the sky looked threatening and removing it a few minutes later when no rain appeared.


Lunch stop was at a farmhouse cafe that was doing a brisk trade in tarts of octopus, tuna or chicken, tortilla, tomatoes, bread, cakes, fruit and chorizo (which for some reason they smothered in alcohol and set alight). All the family was involved and all the preparation was in their kitchen and living room.





The walk after lunch to Caldas de Reis was just over 5km and all was going well until one of our number said “We haven’t had to retrace our steps yet,” seconds before we realised that we were going the wrong way for our accommodation and had to go back the way we’d come.


We stayed in a many roomed apartment (with heating and a washing machine - luxury)


The walk was shorter but we all felt that we’d walked enough for one day. Energy levels fell as we neared the accommodation, but we still managed to  get thoroughly overexcited about the washing machine and making a cup of tea.


Excellent meal in local restaurant (16€ for three courses including wine) but whether the bottle of Malaga Virgin (an impulse buy on the  way home) was a mistake, remains to be seen.


Link to Just Giving page :

https://www.justgiving.com/page/jacqueline-james-1707236714053

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