“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
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| Just follow the shells... |
We have one week to go before we arrive in Porto for our start walking the Camino Portuguese to Santiago. We are loving the weather forecast.
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| Porto, Portugal weather for start of the trip |
I was searching out some our locations using Google Maps. My background as a Forester means that I have to print paper maps. Something about a paper map leaves an imprint on my brain that is lost if I just see it on the screen. An added feature is that you can see a 3D image for some parts of the world.
In Porto we are staying on the Placo Lisboa within sight of the Clerigos Tower. This is the high point of the city and is were we will get an amazing view of the city. The "red pin" in the photo marks our room for two days. Porto is a big city and we are going to shake off jet lag at some of the 90+ port wine caves along the river before we take off on foot.
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| We are staying on the Placo de Lisboa in Porto |
On Pentecost Sunday we will start this years Camino from the Porto Cathedral. From the steps of the Cathedral we will walk downhill to the river, out to the Atlantic Ocean, and keeping the Ocean to our left -- and walk to Vila de Conde. They say this part of the trail is poorly marked, but just following the simple directions above we can't get lost. It is a first day walk of about 20 miles.
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| Porto Cathedral. Bridge was designed by Eiffel |
I found this photo of our path along the ocean. Portugal has built boardwalks along almost the entire coast. Some pilgrims will stick to the boardwalks all the way to Spain. We plan on staying along the boardwalks for one full day and then head inland about 10 miles before we turn north. We will then walk though forests and fields to enjoy the spring flowers. At several places our trail will go through towns on inlets to the sea, so we will keep close to fresh seafood even though the beach will be out of sight.
Counting the days.....
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| Boardwalks along Portuguese coast running north to Vila de Conde |
