A Day to Explore Before Heading Home

What? No alarm? Nowhere to walk to? Relief!! I finally parted ways with my apple after carrying it for 6 days. I hope someone takes it on another journey.

Stained glass in the hotel...

We went out to do some exploring. The Two Marias are one of city's most well-known statues.

We went back to the pilgrim's office, as Terri wasn't able to get her certificate yesterday. Her phone had chosen to die right when we arrived, and she couldn't access her QR code. Everything is so computerized!

This will always be a beautiful view...even in the rain.

The Fuente de los Caballos fountain (1825) is the centerpiece of the plaza. It has four elegant horses with a female figure holding up the guiding star that, according to legend, led the way to the discovery of Santiago's tomb.

Lots of choices for places to start the Camino...

We joined the lineup for the mass at noon. Laura had gone back to Porto to meet up with her husband, and spend some more time with Paula and Chris. We were now the Fab 4.

It is a beautiful cathedral...

We were in luck today as the botafumeiro was part of the service. It literally translates to smoke spreader. Often pilgrims might be very smelly by the time they arrived, so they would use incense to freshen the room. Jim and I were also fortunate to see it when we were Santiago 10 years ago.

It swings up the aisles of the Cathedral through a pulley system pulled by eight men named tiraboleiros. It weighs 53kg and measures five feet tall.

Lots of umbrellas out today...

It was time for a lunch break. I broke out of my mold and had a cappuccino...

Lynne normally got hot chocolate. This was the sweetest and thickest by far. I think they microwaved a couple of chocolate bars.

We decided lunch should be cake, and we pretty much demolished a piece of pistachio and a piece red velvet cake. The picture before might have been more appealing!

The Camino kills me...

Just breathtaking every time you see it...

From a painting by Rene Magritte called The Son of Man...I'm not sure what the significance was here.

The cow was staying dry...

A tiny little alley with a restaurant at the end...you would really have to know it was there.

Alameda Park with a cafe that you can just make out on the left and a beautiful tree-lined path.

We went there to use the washrooms and were prepared to buy something as is the norm, but there wasn't a problem. Loved the tree inside the cafe.

For dinner, we shared 3 veggie plates. Roasted potatoes, padron peppers, and I don't remember what the other was.

Out of focus picture of the inside of a padron pepper...

We were back to our hotel early and also up early the next day to take the bus back to Porto. It was a very nice bus station...Spaniards do love their pastries.

Our bus...very comfortable.

Our driver had a bit of road rage and wasn't scared to use his horn...a lot!

Pretty chill...

Back over the Rande Bridge, which we had walked under what seemed like weeks ago, but was only a week.

More murals and lots of apartments...

Our hotel at the airport in Porto...it looked very institutional, but was really nice.

We were really excited to have a large, modern room with a huge couch!

And a balcony, even if it didn't offer much of a view...

The woman at the hotel recommended a restaurant for lunch, so we set out to find it. After walking for 15 minutes, we arrived to find it closed as it was Sunday. After checking out a few other places (there really wasn't much around the airport), we did what anyone would do. Walked back to the airport and had lunch there. 

A heart-shaped rock and our last foot picture...

After lunch, we decided to take the metro to the city center...

Lynne spotted this guy and was in line instantly. Chestnuts!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (option to sing!)...

They were delicious...the shell was soft and peeled right off. It did leave you with black fingers, but it was worth it.

Back at City Hall...

Students at the University of Porto...the black cape and academic uniform is a tradition at the university that dates back almost 500 years. J.K. Rowling lived in Porto for 18 months and was inspired by the students' attire when writing about Hogwarts.

No idea, but I liked it...

We had heard so much about these tarts...

And this is the place to get them...imagine making these all day.

The line up for coffee and pastries was serious business...

A latte...

And the tart...they were amazing. Warm custard and flaky pastry...I could see how these would be addictive.

I had no idea what we were doing here, but Gina did!

Ginja is a Portuguese liqueur made from sour cherries. Apparently, it's okay to drink it at any time, even first thing in the morning. Who knew?!

You can drink it from a small cup or, even better, an edible chocolate cup. It was quite tasty!

Back at the airport hotel...the food wasn't memorable, but one of the servers was excellent. We said our goodbyes to Gina and Lynne, who were going on to the Algarve, while Terri and I would fly home tomorrow.

Time to go home...we were up early. Not a soul around at breakfast.

They had little custard tarts. Not nearly the same as the ones we had yesterday.

Goodbye, Portugal...it's been a blast.

Eight hour flight back to Toronto...

With a big hug for Terri, I took the shuttle to the Embassy Suites.

Yay! Coffee I could make for myself in the morning...

My flight was at 8 a.m. The sun was just starting to shine...

Goodbye, Toronto!

And Hello, Fredericton! I was so happy to be home...

Having had time to digest the whole trip, it was amazing! Lots of laughs, lots of groans, some blisters and sore feet, some tears, and 128 km walked. (My Fitbit said 167 km for the 6 days we walked; so somewhere in between.) We learned a lot. 

They say the Camino is addictive...

Here endeth this blog.