Day 2 - Porto to Vilar do Pinheiro

We Uber’ed from our hotel in Porto to the exact point where we’d left the Camino yesterday and picked up the path once again. Still in the city, we passed through industrial areas and small neighborhoods. Flowers are blooming everywhere. The path led under a canopy of golden angel’s trumpets.

Following the yellow arrows designating the Camino isn’t rocket science though some are faint or in a place you might not expect. There are constantly Camino assurance markers along the path. Getting into a conversation with your partner or daydreaming, however, is easy to do, and before you know it, you miss a turn and you’re trying to figure out where you went wrong. David is the navigator and keeps us on the straight and narrow… for the most part. Oddly enough, I do most of the chatting.

Small shrines are built into walls and the sides of houses all along the path. Votive candles and flowers are left to honor the saints to whom the shrines are dedicated.

We walked 8.2 miles to a designated point on the Camino, marked our exact spot, then found a grocery store to buy some lunch… bread, hummus and two ‘pastéis de nata’. ‘Pastel de nata’ is the iconic national pastry of Portugal and it’s a delight. According to Wiki, it was ‘created in the 18th century by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon, these crispy egg custard tarts are an integral part of Portuguese culinary culture, typically enjoyed with coffee as a daily ritual.’ This was our first taste of a pastel de nata, but I can see how it might become a habit especially with a ‘galão’ which is like a latte, only better. Every small cafe, coffee shop, bar offers both of these. Good thing we’re walking lots of miles. We could return home lots of pounds heavier than when we left.

We returned to Porto via the Metro (train) from Vilar and headed back to our little room at the Peninsular Hotel for an afternoon siesta and some route planning. After a short rest, we headed back out for more exploration of Porto. We enjoy just wandering through squares and parks, up and down interesting streets.

After an hour or so of wandering, we came upon a cute little restaurant, Vacarrum, for dinner. Fish soup, olives, bread and a beer… a perfect light dinner. (No gizzards!)

We wandered a bit more after dinner, then made our way back to the hotel and our tiny room. Tomorrow, we’ll reclaim our place on the Camino and walk to our next stop in Arcos. Join us… it’s easy; we don’t walk fast.