Day 2 Matosinhos to Vila do Conde-22km
Mister Gehry’s quote couldn’t have described me more perfectly today. After the decision to do a ‘practice run’ yesterday and wander around Porto with the safety of knowing I’d be back in the hotel with all of my things (namely, my MacBook and fluffy slippers!), I felt good about choosing to take the train this morning to Matosinhos and walk the coastal route to the revised hotel in Vila do Conde. I felt even more confident about it after consulting with seasoned pilgrims on the Camino De Santiago forum about how difficult it would be. Google maps said it would be super easy, just a 1km walk from the Sheraton to the Francos station on the light blue metro line towards Senhor de Matosinhos and get off at Mercado. It actually turned out to be nearly 2km, not due to Google, but because in my excitement to finally be heading north and overconfidence of how well I thought I knew the neighbourhood. Once I did finally get to the station and figured out which zone it was (Z3-2,10 Euro-Googlemaps said 1,50 Euro, but the table at the station said differently), I hopped on the train and off I went. It took about 35 minutes, and took me through some lovely neighbourhoods. Once I arrived to Mercado, the bridge across the river was right there on my left, but I became distracted by the indoor market which was right there, which had a huge ‘ecology-design-synergy’ logo painted onto the window, so I had to check that out. It was actually the fish market on the ground floor, with the first floor divided between architect offices and a live poultry market with additional deli stalls. The contrast amused me greatly, and I bought some fresh olives in oil to snack on later. They were amazing. The best part was the group of fishmonger women gossiping, one wearing a panda hoodie!
By then it was nearly 11 and time to get this show on the road. Up the spiral stairs to the pedestrian bridge to ‘officially’ be on the camino and when I looked ahead, I burst out laughing at the man in front of me.
How much more of a positive sign can you get than that? NOT MUCH!
Now, the notes I was given by the agency said that the coastal route of Porto is marked at all, but Camino vets said otherwise, and they were right. As soon as the bridge ended, was the first arrow pointing left. It’s also pretty hard not to be able to find it, the beach is right there, and as long as that’s on your left, you’re good. I didn’t see anymore arrows for awhile, but I was headed north, so I just figured to go, knowing that it’s about 22km to Vila do Conde. The first bit is a gravel walkway, but as soon as you hit the boardwalk, you’re greeted with a nice big yellow plank with a scallop shell and Bom Caminho in several languages engraved into it.
It was at that moment, that my heart just exploded and I was a little teary, realising that I’m now on My Way. The weather could not have been more perfect, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was 15C. I’d started the day with a Uniqlo heattech long sleeved shirt under my Nike Drifit Element shirt, and ended up ducking into a WC to take the undershirt off. The wind was just enough to create a pleasant breeze without blowing sand everywhere. I even veered off the boardwalk for a few minutes to go play in the sand and used my staff to write a message to be washed away. I truly felt the spirit of the Camino. A few times I stopped to look around at the change in environment and that the city had vanished behind me. I had a little bit of a ‘oh boy, this is it, no where to go but to just keep bumbling forward, because that’s where the suitcase is!’. It wasn’t really a scary feeling, just a bit strange.
I can’t really say I had any complaints. Finding a stamp was not very easy, and somewhere around the 18th kilometre, I was very aware of the aching in my feet and the straps of my backpack cutting into my pectoral muscles because I’d taken my down vest off. The map from the agency with my hotel booking had no written route, so I had to turn my data roaming on to googlemap it, and when I did arrive, it turned out that they hadn’t actually booked me into the hotel until about an hour before I arrived. My frustration with them grows and at this point, all I want is to make sure my luggage gets transferred every day and I will deal with them after my Camino is done.
But the hotel is nice (Vila C Hotel and Spa) and has a turkish bath and sauna, so I am off to soak my extremely shell-shocked feet. Tomorrow I turn to the east and head for the inland route to Arcos.
Notes about Matosinhos-Vila Do Conde
-This stage is really beautiful, marred only by a lot of rubbish on the beaches. The high tide creates lots of tide pools, and there’s lot of fun stuff swimming and growing in them.
-It is marked, but not *well* marked. Not too much of a problem though, just stay on the boardwalk. It is the longest boardwalk I have EVER seen, at least 19 of the 22km is boardwalk! As there is very little cobblestone walking, heavy hiking shoes are not really needed. I wore Nike Pegasus trainers.
-In Labruge, there is a new albergue called St James Albergue of Labruge, that was opened in July 2015. 8 beds, 2 bathrooms, kitchen and communal area. I did not go look though.
-In Vila Cha, there is a waymark to turn left, but it has been greyed out and replaced with a straight one. I suspect it’s been done by locals because there’s a cafe 50 metres after, and they ask you straight away if you want a room.
-In Mindelo is a bird sanctuary that you can detour off to the right, but I didn’t do it.
-The boardwalk ends in Azurara and it’s a little confusing because there are no waymarks. You walk on a small road parallel to the beach, then curves to the right to then walk over a small stream. Once you pass that, there will be a waymark to turn left. This takes you down a dirt road with a shipyard on your left. Turn left on R. da Junqueria and you will come to find the bridge that will take you over the river and into Vila do Conde.
camino de uchuujin 