Moving Towards Spain - Rio Caldo to Braga to Valenca

02.02.2012 - 02.03.2012 44 °F

Errands are not something you need to do on vacation but when your away for three months then they become a necessity. After returning from the countryside on Thursday, I was quickly reintroduced to reality through cleaning clothes, responding to emails, writing four days worth of blog posts, and resupplying on food at the market. The online portion alone took me over three hours, but it was nice to reconnect. The next time I glanced over at the clock it was 8:30 p.m., so I ate another great meal at the vegetarian restaurant in Braga and got into bed before the freezing temperatures set in; getting down to 0 C tonight, or 32 F for you staters.

Friday was a long day of travel, moving me closer to the Spanish border. Although it took the better part of my day, the train ride did get me glimpses of the ocean for the first time. Will be seeing more of that in the coming weeks. I did not make it to Valenca do Minho - the Portuguese city that straddles the border - until 3:00 and after stops at the tourism office and searching and then finding a place to stay it was near night fall. As I will begin a long pilgrim walk the following day, decided to treat myself to a hotel room that looks out onto an 18th century fortress in which the city centre still resides in. I will begin the pilgrim trail inside those stone walls.

For the next 10, possibly 12 , days I will traverse western Spain on the Camino Portuguese, one of several pilgrim trails that wind through the Spanish countryside and end at the city of Santiago de Compostella. Pilgrims have been walking these trials, collectively called the Way of St. James, for near millenia. At the end of their efforts is the great cathederal in Santiago where legend has it St. James, yes that St. James, is layed to rest. I will take part in this tradition by walking most of the Camino Portuguese from Valenca to Santiago and then completing the full Camino Ingles from Santiago to Ferrol. Posts may become intermittent over the coming weeks depending on how often I can get to a computer during the walk or if I get so wrapped up in the aura of the trail that I forget that computers even exist. Stay tuned.

(No pictures on these days as they were mostly transition days, except for the one below. I´m adding cities I visit to the map at the top, so if you zoom in on that you can see all the place I have visited so far and likely expect to visit in the coming weeks.)

_{After 10 days the beard is growing in thick and itchy. I´m coming for you Paul}