After 10 long days recovering from the nasty blister wounds Mandy and Karma went extra miles to get here. I was so excited to see them again and catch up in person. I had extended the Airbnb by 2 days from my original booking so they would have an easy place to land in this crazy, big city. Having the extra bedroom, a washer and a bathroom and kitchen all the better.

We settled in for the evening with Mandy checking out the status of my feet. So much better than the last chance she had to view them. Not pretty but healed! Then she suggested a plan for today, to test out how well my feet were going to hold up. Since we have the apartment until tomorrow she suggested we slack pack the first part of the next section. That means we would take most of our things out of our packs, leaving them here to walk with a much lighter load. That sounded good to me, especially since it was actually forecast to rain! So that’s exactly what we did.

We took our time this morning, emptying our packs and getting set to head out in a moderate shower. Being from the Northwest this was nothing new. And we have pack umbrellas and pack covers. So on went the pack covers and out came the umbrellas, which we can cleverly attach to our packs so we have our hands free! This is important if, like me, I’m more at ease if I’m using my poles. Only have so many hands!

Off we went down the skinny lane from my Porto abode with what I would say was happy feet! It felt delightful to have feet in shoes, a light pack on my back and heading out once again to walk. Worth the rest and wait to feel so good.

We are going to hike what is known as the Coastal Route, which will take us along the ocean side for quite a while. And hopefully through smaller towns and more picturesque places. After what we’ve seen and done thus far we can now understand why most people only hike from Porto and skip the miles from Lisbon.

The road led us along the Rio Douro out to the ocean past the castle, which is as far as I had ventured. We continued on along the water, with beautiful stretches of beaches, all empty in the rain except for hundreds and hundreds of seagulls.

We passed through some beautiful tree lined areas and up to a castle-like fortification, complete with a drawbridge and canons! The Forte de São Francisco Xavier Do Queijo.

We stopped along the way as a small cafe was opening to have coffee and toast and jam. A nice break from the rain. Several other pilgrims came in, among the many we have seen today, hoofing it along in all sorts of rain gear. We were the only ones with umbrellas.

It continued to rain for a bit more. Eventually we found a tourist office to get a stamp for our Camino passports, and then found the rain abating. We walked on across the bridge over the Rio Leça heading to the lighthouse in Lavra. That was the spot we were aiming for. Just prior to that we found a great grocery store, the Continente Bom Dia, where we purchased supplies for lunch and breakfast.

At that point we called for an Uber to return us to the apartment. What a ride! Highway at the beginning and then narrowing down to where his car was showing red on all sides! He was a good sport and just said “ 5 stars, right?!” Right!

And now after chowing down our lunch, doing laundry and booking hostels for the next few nights, we’ll settle in for my last night here before I return to the Camino. My feet passed the test!

5.75 miles with 15,108 steps