Camino de Santiago (2022)
Inhalt/Content
Stage 1: Porto – Joudina (Gião)
We packed our things, buckled our backpacks, and set off. From now on this should become our daily routine: start early in the morning, hike, and arrive. In a small restaurant, which was also recommended by our AirBnB hosts, we stopped briefly to have breakfast. We encountered a certain language barrier. While I speak Spanish and was able to read and understand many of the Portuguese signs, the Portuguese pronunciation is a thing for itself. To me, nothing even remotely sounded like it was written and vice versa, if I tried to read something off the menu, for example, I would pronounce it so “Spanish” that no one could understand me. Unfortunately, no one spoke English in the restaurant, so Google Translate was the savior in the end. Well strengthened, we could really start now. For many, the Camino is a spiritual experience or an opportunity for self-discovery. On the first section of the route out of Porto, none of this even remotely applies. You walk more than half the day along the main road through an industrial area. There is a detour, but it follows the coast, which is not recommended at this time of year (it was February, after all). So we passed factory buildings and petrol stations in a less picturesque way while trucks overtook us on the street. The traffic lightened up slowly and it became quieter.
At noon we stopped at a bakery. It was Valentine’s Day so everything was full of heart-shaped cakes and cupcakes. However, we were looking for something hearty and so we, sadly, had to disappoint the friendly saleswoman by ordering a schnitzel roll instead, which was not very romantic. Slowly we also needed our first stamp for the day. Since I read that you can also get the stamps at churches, we stopped at the next church we passed only to see that it was closed. Next to the church was a graveyard and an old man who apparently worked there as a graveyard keeper and unfortunately didn’t speak a word of English. He came to us to help us. With hands, feet, and the waving of our pilgrim passports, we made it clear that we were looking for stamps. He, in turn, showed us with hands and feet that although there were no stamps for us here, there would still be an opportunity along the way. And in fact, he was right, because shortly afterward we passed a pilgrim café which was already advertised with stamps. Shortly thereafter there was even another small station to stamp yourself.
Shortly before the end, there was a stretch that was signposted as dangerous (“degerous” (sic!)). This was because the route was along the main road, but there were no sidewalks. In general, there were fewer and fewer sidewalks the further we got from Porto, but that didn’t mean that people were in any way careful with their cars. Nevertheless, we decided to take the allegedly dangerous route, since our accommodation was only 300 meters along this route.
This was not a public hostel, but a private guest house. It was a lovely converted farm with two cats one of which was quite plump which made us wonder if she was pregnant. The owner gave us a warm welcome and yes, she even spoke English! She explained to us that we were the only guests that day and only the second ones this year. The first guests were there last weekend in the form of a group of 7 from Spain. Since we were alone except for the staff, all heating and hot water were off, which is why the accommodation was quite cold at first. But that changed very quickly after the owner turned everything on. Actually, only breakfast was offered in the accommodation, but since part of the farm was being renovated, the owner had ordered something to eat for the construction workers and offered to order something for us, too, which we gratefully accepted. For €12 per person, we got soup, fish, potatoes, salad, and pastries in the form of rolls and ice cream for Kevin. That was a fair price for such a large quantity and it was also very tasty. The rest of the time we took it easy by relaxing a bit and briefly playing with an old foosball table in the courtyard while one of the cats watched us with high curiosity.
