17.5 miles, 41,457 steps, 5 cats

Did not sleep great last night — the hotel was next to a tennis center and people played tennis, complete with bright lights and the sounds of racquets hitting balls, past midnight! Also I had so many heat patches on my body that I crinkled every time I moved. 

But started the day feeling pretty good. Mostly walked through quiet neighborhoods—in this area, the Camino trail is sort of like an ongoing cobblestone alley behind and between people’s homes and farms. 

Halfway through today’s mileage I came to Convento de Cabanas, which is an active convent plus a cafe that was like an oasis, with coffee and brunch and amazing pastries in a pretty garden. Had a quick espresso (that’s my go-to in order to use the restroom, which I’m sure I could use without buying something but I don’t think that’s polite). 

More hills and forests today. Really pretty and not a lot of other pilgrims. Well, that’s not true. There are plenty, and I see the same folks at the various cafes along the way, but while walking we seem to be pretty well spaced. 

Got in to the village of Acora at about 3pm and realized I was starving because I hadn’t had any lunch. Yikes. Sat for an hour and had a sausage sandwich and a fino which is a small draft beer. Portuguese bread is amazing. 

Ran into my Camino friends Shelly and forgot-his-name (Phil?) from Nova Scotia. They are staying in Acora tonight so they were already showered and strolling around town. 

I, on the other hand, had 2 more hours to walk to Caminha. I did get to enjoy my 2nd pastel de nata of the day while walking along the rocky shore, so that was nice, but then the last mile was on the side of a busy 2-lane road. A little nerve wracking but I let 2 girls go in front of me and we stayed on the side facing traffic. And there was a wide shoulder!! 

Beautiful hotel, too bad I didn’t get here early enough to enjoy the pool (it gets chilly as soon as the sun is behind the trees) but just realized I only have 7 or so miles to walk tomorrow so I can leave late—maybe a morning swim! (There’s also a spa with a special pilgrim massage — feet and legs. Ooh la la.)

The hotel restaurant was excellent, even if the waitress laughed at my beverage order of water AND rose AND Coke Zero. But the tagliatelle was homemade and even though I’ll be in Italy in 2 weeks and will undoubtedly have better pasta, for today, it tasted like heaven. 

Today was my longest day of the entire trip. Yay! (FYI my strava map doesn’t match the distance and steps above because I kept forgetting to restart my workout after every pause 😦 ) The next 2 days combined are still shorter than today. Note for future — distribute miles better (although in fairness, they’re aren’t a lot of hotels or hostels along some stretches, and I only wanted hotels for this trip).