I had a slightly later flight (10:00) from Gatwick than my usual ‘crack of dawn’ that I have tended to go for in my recent trips abroad. I left packing to the last minute as is my style, but still had a chance before leaving my flat to do a fairly thorough check to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. Packing light has been one of my key principles for a while, and this is even more relevant for this trip. There was the last minute decision that I needed to make between either my lighter weight ‘trail shoes’ and my proper walking boots. I went for the boots, based on the rationale that I might be glad of the extra ankle support, and they are more waterproof.
It was a pretty uneventful flight over to Porto, then a man easy enough metro ride from the airport to my hotel. I opted to get off the tram just inside the central area of Porto and then walked across the iconic wrought iron double layer bridge that spans the Douro river valley between the two sides of the city. Porto was teaming with tourists and shoppers, which was unsurprising given it was a sunny Saturday afternoon.
My hotel for the first two nights of my trip is up on the side of the hill on the opposite side of the river from the historic centre of Porto. Once I had checked in and had a bit of a sit down, the thought dawned on me that it would be entirely possible to start my walk straight away. My original plan was to start the Camino proper on Monday, but with the weather looking good (a contrast to the forecast for next week) there seemed to be an opportunity to follow the first 12km or so of the Coastal route of the Camino Portugues round to a town call Matosinhos. Ticking off this first stage today (Saturday) would have the advantage of having a day in hand that might come in very useful further down the road. My only requirement is to be in Santiago by 27th October at the latest, which would mean 14 days from when I am due to leave Porto on Monday. The Camino Portugues between Porto to Santiago itself is generally covered in 10 days of actual walking, so I had already built in a couple of ‘rest days’ into my itinerary. By starting the route today, I was giving myself the possibility of arriving into Santiago on the 23rd October, which then would mean I could have 3 days to walk to Finisterre (literally ‘The End Of The World’) which tradition states is the original end point of the pre-Christian pilgrimages. Starting the walking today also meant I could see how my feet and body as a whole reacts. Having not done that many long walks recently, I’m going a bit into the unknown doing 15km or more for days in a row.
I headed first to the Cathedral, then navigated through the narrow streets down from there to the dockside. Gradually, the buildings became more modern and the path changed from city pavement to something a bit more like a seaside promenade.
There was a sea haze covering the coastal suburbs I was walking through that gave an ‘oneiric’, pensive quality to the early evening. It felt familiar to be walking, but it didn’t quite feel like I had actually started a ‘Camino’. The route was very busy with locals out enjoying the balmy later afternoon/early evening, and fair play to them!
By the time I got to Matosinhos I wasn’t completely knackered, but my feet were telling me that they weren’t used to this kind of thing yet. I got the tram back into Porto, then picked up some food from a supermarket. At some point, I’ll be in a different rhythm, starting out early in the morning, walking 20km or more, arriving at a new pilgrim’s hostel in a different town or village, doing my laundry, having a siesta, then stocking up on provisions in the evening before hoping to get a decent nights sleep in a shared dorm. For now, I am still mostly just a guy doing some walking and staying at a nice hotel. My experience today was still very positive, and I am glad to have gotten some miles in the legs and feet already.
One Step Bey0nd 