Friday 6 April 2018

Barcelos to Ponte de Lima

Breakfast of muesli, fruit, croissant, yoghurt, juice and coffee means a late enough start at 8, though plenty of time for 35km ... light rain to start, wet weather gear working well as long as motion is maintained ... dampness inevitable from outside and inside ... plenty of pilgrims along the Way, most moving slowly, aiming for 20 km ... Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Danish ... Restaurant 2000 reached at 10.10 and Paulo, photographed last time, poses again ... Martin from Germany leaving and briefly mentions his Camino as stress relief ...

Rain persists and becomes heavier for a while, keeping legs moving until 12, noted from nearby church chimes ... 16km or so from a bed and ready for a long lunch, to rest, take on fuel, dry out a little ... soon a sign appears offering a short diversion to a restaurant where  €5.50 3 course menu is offered ... soup follows main course, though running order reversed on request  ... dessert a wonderful home made pudim flan, suitably acknowledged ... a chance to write a little as food settles, blood temporarily focusing on stomach and post lunch hour can be hard, especially when red wine rule is flagrantly ignored ... never mind, 3 hours steady plodge should do it ...

Woodland paths make afternoon pleasant enough as rain relents then returns ... Martin reappears for last hour into town and Pousada de Juventude, where Sara provides tumble drier for clothes ... 4 bed dorm shared with Andre from Moldova ... communication tricky since Moldovan and its close relation Romanian missing from the skill set ... he has some Portuguese as well as German and Russian ... motivation also missing ...

Organism reviewed and happy to report body in fine form, except for teeth .... mind also taking Sun and rain with equanimity ... spirit ...? Well, the ego still enjoys the attention for 50 km feats, so plenty of work to do taming the illusory self ...

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