Adding comments, you don't need to sign in!

One or two people have mentioned that they can't leave comments as the do not have a Google or other accrptable account. 

It is possible but not immediately obvious how. 

If you create a comment by clicking on the "No Comments" or "2 Comments" or whatever, link at the bottom of each posting you will be shown a text box to enter your comments. Below the box is a heading that says "Choose an identity" . Here, one of the options is "Anonymous". This allows any comments without requiring you to sign in to anything. If you do use this method please indicate within your comment who you are, otherwise you will remain truly "Anonymous ".

The final step is to prove that you are human, by ticking a box. That's just to stop automated junk systems dumping unwanted dross onto any comments fields they come across.

Hope that helps. 

If you prefer an even easier method just email us at 

thecarrolls @ sky.com 

just remove the spaces I've inserted either side of the " @" symbol to get our proper email address.

Tony

Day 19 - To Vila do Conde

We had a very good night's sleep, and excellent breakfast, at the Holiday Inn, but with one slight problem. Last night we had, in true Camino fashion, done some clothes washing. There weren't many items and, as the room was quite warm, we expected them to dry very quickly, certainly overnight.  That was not to be. This morning most items were still damp, very few felt dry.  We didn't need any of them to wear today, so that wasn't a problem. But nevertheless we did need to get them dried somehow. A quick shuffle around of other clothes allowed us both to put the damp clothes into string-mesh bags that we carry, usually for dirty washing, but today they were used for drying instead. Each bag, with its contents of damp laundry, was hung on the outside of our packs. Here they could catch the sun as we walked. 

And there was plenty of sun to catch today.

With the drying problem sorted out, we hoped, we set out from the hotel. The hotel is not on the Camino route, but some distance off it. To get back onto the route where we left it last night would involve a backtrack of at least 2kms. However, a quick look at the map showed that we could cut off a corner and rejoin the route about a kilometre further along than we had left it. That's what we did and very soon we were back on the Camino route.

Yesterday, as we walked out of Porto along the Camino route we didn't see any yellow arrows. These are the pilgrim's guide, but not really necessary for yesterday's route as it would be very difficult to get lost. We didn't really expect many, if any, arrows today as the guide book could easily say "Walk as near ocean as you can, always keeping it on your left". But we were surprised to find a very clear, bright yellow, arrow almost immediately, the first of this stage of our Camino.

Throughout the rest of the day we saw others as we progressed. Very rarely were they needed, but they are always useful.

Initially we were walking on the promenade, much the same as yesterday but after about 2 to 3 kms we reached the beginning of the boardwalk. The guide says that there are several long stretches of boardwalk over the sand dunes. We reached the beginning of the first boardwalk just at the same time as a party of twelve German pilgrims. They all proceeded to pose for photos, individually and in small groups. I offered to take a photo of the whole group, if they wanted me to do so. It was an offer gratefully accepted, so I took several for them.

From talking to them I discovered that they had, like us, walked out from Porto yesterday to Matosinhos, and today they where planning on walking to Vila do Conde, again like us. We chatted for a while as we walked but gradually we all separated into smaller groups.

That was the start of our day of the boardwalk. We spent the rest of the day mainly on the boardwalks along the sand dunes. The sun was shining, a gentle warm breeze was blowing and the walking was almost all level and very easy. At one point we were walking between the ocean and a large chemical plant, but amazingly it was fairly unobtrusive. It was just "there", no smells, no noise, just part of the scenery.  So just a few photos to give you a feel for the trail.

I found today to be the easiest walk I can remember. By the time we reached Vila do Conde we had walked 23kms, but it didn't really feel to have been that far.

We passed through a whole string of small villages spread out along the ocean's edge and separated by nature reserves with masses of wild flowers, birds and every changing ocean views.

At one small ocean-side village I spotted an obvious memorial to something.

Closer inspection showed it was to the crew of an RAF Lancaster bomber that had ditched there during WW2. They had flown from Lincolnshire, England on a mission to disrupt the railway link between France and Italy, had to divert due to damage and were trying to reach Gibraltar. However they ditched here, into the sea and all the crew were survived and were rescued by the local fishermen.

We eventually reached Vila and started looking for somewhere to stay. We found a place, the Bellamar Hostel, almost as soon as we entered the town and enquired about accommodation. The only thing they could offer us were two bunks in a five-bedded dormitory. We accepted that and we're soon installed, showered and changed. It's quite a big place but they were virtually fully booked. We wondered if our German group had reserved all the places, but it doesn't seem to be the case as we've not seen any of them around in the hostel.

This evening we've just wandered around this part of an interesting town.

Later, being somewhere surprised that this hostel was full, we arranged our accommodation for tomorrow night. That will be after another day on the boardwalks, as we've been promised.