ShakeyJay

 

Late start today. Left at 7am. Late start you would say? Well, we left our quarters and headed out. It was very cool and the sun was trying to break over the eastern ridge. Because it was so hot yesterday we decided to take the coast route. So we walked about 2 km to the west where we picked up the coastal littoral route. It was beautiful. High surf crashing on the rocks and a nice steady breeze.

So what happened? We got about 5 km in when I realized that my upper partial denture was not where it was supposed to be. How on earth I thought to myself. Was it still in the sink at the hostel? Shyte. Dot will not be amused when she shows up and I am just gumming around. Damn. Gerry was not pissed off. What do we do? Go back. I have to.

So we walked back up to the main road. There was a Petro station near to us. We called for a taxi but this stranger heard us. We said that I left my passport back at the hotel. The stranger offered to take me back and return me while Gerry waited at the station. Got to the hostel,ran up to my room but the partial was nowhere to be found. I told my lift that I found my passport and returned to the petro station. WTF over. I checked my Dobie bag and there it was. Stuck between the soap and the toothpaste. Whew. Saved. We headed back to the coast and carried on. Over all we lost about 30 minutes in time but added about 3 km to our hike.

The rest of the hike was great. Sea breezes all day. It took the edge off. We stopped for lunch at noon then got to the Mino River which is the natural border with Spain. We took the local ferry across the river and entered Spain at Garda.  In time we found the municipal Albergue which operates on a first come first served basis. Everything else is booked – full – complet.  Code for you’re screwed. Just finishing up the blog as we arrived at 5pm. Going out for a Spaghetti Bolognese.

No song as you tube is down.

Read ya tomorrow.

 

All is well.Day 3 is in the bag. We covered 29 kilometers today but we had to accept a ride for the last 6 as it was 34 C at 1pm and that temp became too dangerous for me to continue. After all,at 75 I shouldn’t even be here doing this walk. Be careful what you wish for. Come to Porto they said. Do the Camino they said. Temperatures are moderate here they said. There are no hills on this walk they said. They said, they said. Well they lied. It has been in the low 30s since I got here. That is in the low 90s for the metric challenged. And today we had some serious hills. But it has been great. Meeting people from all over the world. This afternoon after our swim I met an elderly Aussie lady about the same age as me. Good for her. I thought. Whatever she said I could relate to.

There is Albergue etiquette for those who are not aware. If some of your 50 Albergue colleagues decide that they want to start the day at oh dark 30 that is fine but you do not wake up those of us who want to start at a normal daylight time. This morning a whole lot of pilgrims left very early waking the rest of us up. YOU EFFIN LEAVE IN SILENCE AND IN THE DARK you Albergue ass……

Life is tough. Right? But good too.

The walk was great. Some serious hills but we handled them. Our routine is simple: up and at em at 7am. Do 2 hours or 10 km then find a place to have a coffee. Then another 2 hours or 10 km and stop for lunch. Then another 2 hours or 10 km and begin looking for an Albergue. Gerry is very particular when it comes to that. But I,m not cheap he continues to remind me. Yes but you are Gerry. No I am not. Frugal yes but never cheap. Ok I said. It is yours round he says to me yet again.

Me and my Pilgrims buddies.

I am not a fan of Celine Dion but there is no denying her talent. When she first started out she said she would never sing for an English audience. Being French Canadian that statement had consequences. Then reality struck and she became an English superstar. Funny that. Here is her biggest hit:

 

Got off at about 7am. Sun just came out. Long night but many of the Pilgrims left at 530am. Too early and very dark. You can’t see anything. We waited until it got light out. Gerry and I are definitely the oldest here. By a longshot. Most of the Pilgrims we have met are Germans and are women. Very few men on this Camino. And it is very busy.

One women was from Siberia. Wow. I have never met anyone from Siberia. She was very nice but her walking partner never said a word. His name was Nicholas. Russian roulette. She had a very heavy accent and reminded me of Natasha from the Mad Magazine. I asked her her name and she said: my name is Natasha. Niet I said and ja she said. Seriously. Then there was Jacob, a young software engineer from Munchen and Lia from Dusseldorf.

I wonder why so many women are doing the Camino. Is there a reason? What are they thinking when they walk? Should I quit my job?. Should I drop my boyfriend? Should I get a divorce? Can I get my hair done in the next town? What about my nails? What or why am I doing this? And suffering so much? Meanwhile the men are thinking: will the bar be open at the next Albergue? Will the beer be cold? Any sports on? What? Why?  Only a sexist would say or think stuff like that.

By the way bai, the shadow is with us.

Gerry went in for a swim. Not me. Too many rocks and very 🥶.

It,ll warm yer cockles he said. Only if you can find them I said.

All for now. Read ya tomorrow.

Another great Canadian band that doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

Late today but spotty internet.

They call this Trajt. It is something akin to University hazing or frosh week they are all university students. They go out across Porto in their Harry Potter like costumes and sing and dance and act to raise money for many causes. They do not get pissed like they do at University in Canada.

Indeed, there is a famous library or book store here in Porto. Legend has it that the Harry Potter author wrote here. I don’t believe it. Don’t know about you but I avoided libraries like the plague when I was a child. I sure as hell am not going to line up for hours to get into one here.

This is another Porto tradition.

Street entertainment. And of course there is:

The nectar of the Camino God. Why do you do the Camino bai?

It’s the 🍻 bai. And the food. And the people and it’s a great way to lose weight bai.

Just to prove I am really here.

1. 

Why is my mouth open? Getting ready for another draught of beer. Doh!

A wise Portuguese pilgrim once told me, do not order the largest beer glass you can find bai – like those Canadians do. No, no, no. Order the smallest glass. The beer stays cold that way. So true. I can attest to that.

Cheers

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Another Canadian icon. Shania Twain. Haven’t heard from her lately. Mutt Lang dropped her?????WTF over.