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Started the day at the Market. Amazing - there was NOTHING there the night before, and then by 7am, there were hundreds of booths/tents covering a huge area. Looked like permanent structures! Good thing I couldn´t carry anything, or I would have bought out the place. Had to settle with a small rooster pin that I think will look nice on Bubba :)
Path out of Barcelos was good, and today was planned to be a shorter day... only 2 pilgrims passed me (who I met later) - it was nice and quiet.
The saying goes "not all those who wander are lost". But this wanderer sure was today. Completely lost and in the middle of nowhere.
I took a "detour" today as described in guide - a beautiful manor house that sounded like a welcome alternative to an Auberge tonight. So, I confidently walked past what looked to be a very nice Auberge to find my manor home for the night. Unfortunately, the guidebook was either poorly written, or the directions were poorly executed by me. (I'm going with the first option).
Luckily, after wandering and getting turned around for about 1.5 hours, someone appeared on the street who had previously done the Camino. I showed him where I was going, and by his reaction I was apparently way off base.
Then he gave me what I can best describe as a "timeout" signal, followed by a "steering wheel" motion (with an accompanying car engine sound), and ran back to get his car. (I know, a ride? - but I don´t consider it cheating as I was backtracking!) We found the manor - only to find it locked (should have been my first sign). The man called the owner on the phone, and they said for me to wait in the garden, and off he went. Luckily, she showed up (as he took so many turns I had absolutely no idea where I was!) Or maybe not so lucky...
The outside was breathtaking. The grounds were beautiful. Inside? I can only describe this place as a creepy (& smelly), haunted mansion. Then, I learned I was going to be the only one staying that night (and the caretakers leave). Yikes. And nowhere to get food (or, more importantly, a much needed beer!) After thinking about if for 5 minutes, I packed back up, found the caretaker, and said I was leaving. I asked if she could take me back to the Auberge (that I passed 3 miles and almost 2 hours earlier, with getting so lost). She drove me back. Yep, going to re-walk the same path tomorrow! (but completely worth it) (fyi - no pix, as it was so eerie I didn't even stop to take pictures).
This auberge is like Taj Mahal compared to the last one (which was abysmal). More importantly, I met some great people here. We enjoyed dinner, sharing stories of the camino, and laughing. We all plan to meet up in Ponte de Lima tomorrow. It´s further than I planned to walk, but can't miss hanging out with Katerina from Peru, Juan from Portugal, and Heather from San Francisco one more time. Fun group, and they all have a lot more blisters than me!! (Blister sharing - no matter how gross) is a big thing here every evening...)
Big day tomorrow!
Stats:
Start: Barcelos, Portugal
End: Tamal, Portugal
Miles: 10.5
Steps: 24764
Blister count: .5 - moleskin working!!
- comments
Kathryn Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Kathryn these are angel's trumpets and coincidentally toxic. Or? it is named for it makes you an angel :)