Two days and counting. Today is my last day at work and I’m finally getting distracted and thinking of our trip. It’s still hard to be really excited and believe we are finally going travelling again.

Off we go - the 2020 trip revived! \240Main aim is walking the Camino from Porto to Santiago de Compostella.

We are flying straight through with minimum transits. Here is a breif run down of how that went.

23JUL - SQ286 AKL SIN 9hrs - seats 14D/E

Movies: Charming the Hearts of Men; After Love \240- Dover/Calais; Let them all talk - \240Meryl Streep

24JUL - LH779 SIN FRA 13 hrs - seats 4D/G

Movies: Licorrize Pizza; Roger Federer; Billie Haliday

LH1176 \240FRA OPT 3 hrs seats 3A/C

We, plus our bags arrived safely at Porto, local time Friday 24 June 1100 hrs. A 20 min taxi ride to our hotel. It is a public holiday- St John’s day. There were huge celebrations last night and this morning the streets are quiet.

We are staying at a recommended hotel, Infante Sagres - it doesn’t disappoint. We have a corner room with a fabulous cityscape view.

We meet our friends, Renee & Willem, in the foyer for our tour to begin. Renee’s family are from Porto, so she knows it well and speaks Portuguese very well (love that). We can just relax and follow.

We set off on foot to explore and end up down at the river. We cross the bridge and find a spot to enjoy some local food favourites, and for those not present - a Super Bock! \240Then to Taylor’s for a tour of the Port House and the compulsory tasting. Taylor’s has a beautiful garden and surrounds including a peacock and rooster. There are soooooo many Port Houses to choose from.

Back to the river for the annual port barge race. It is slow going and the lack of wind is the reason to give up.

We had a climb to conquer. This city is steep! \240Back to the hotel for a refresh and power nap before dinner at 9pm. A seafood feast at Ostras. Amazing. Home in bed at 1am.

We are in good training for the next 2 weeks of walking. Renee had our day planned out well. \240I would have to name it the “day of food”. It started off with the most incredible hotel breakfast. Followed by lunch at Cafe Guarany, where we had a local specialty - a Francesinha sandwich. It is a meat layered sandwich, coated with cheese and a beer sauce, with a egg on top. Check out the picture to do it justice. Dinner was a seafood feast in Matosinhos a seaside area with endless restaurants, and seagulls!

In between all this food was sightseeing. A lot of churches. There are even 2 side by side, called the twin churches! \240The amazing railway station, and then onto Serralves, a large Pink villa, with an amazing history. It is now a museum of both modern and contemporary art, large, impressive gardens, on an enormous piece of land.

The weather is perfect for sightseeing, I dipped my toes in the Atlantic Ocean, but wasn’t tempted to dip more. It is a very rugged coastline.

We have been very fortunate to slip into time zone nicely and are sleeping well and at the right time.

Another great Porto day. Beautiful blue skies but a cool wind at the seaside.

We visited St Frances church - opulence plus. The catacombs - intriguing.

Took the old tram along the river to the ocean. A lovely relaxing lunch at an Oceanside bar.

Feeling a little jaded today but a pre dinner snooze prepared us for the evening. Restaurants are full so hard to just walk in anywhere. Managed a seat at a bar at Tapas & Destapas - amazing find. Sitting in front of a pigs leg / Iberian ham. The owner is amazing and talks happily to us about his restaurant. The food - incredible.

Last day in Porto and we are going solo. \240Our friends, Renee & Willen, departed this morning. We headed out to get our final bits to start our walk tomorrow. The city was so busy - lots of groups including school kids. Summer holidays!!

We visited a book store, famous for being featured in one of the Harry Potter books. (JK Rowling lived in Porto at some stage.) it now costs €5 to enter, and without a pre booked ticket- it can take a long time to get in. “Livraria Lelli - the Most Beautiful Bookshop in the World!”

Our beautiful Porto hotel. Infante Sacres.

Day 1 Porto -Vila do Conde - 22k

Weather- amazing - 23C

Stayed: Casa Sonja - NZD123

Great day. Got a taxi to Matosinhos, on the coast of Porto city, and started our walk. (we weren’t cheating - as had covered the city to Matosinhos over the weekend).

The coast was very rugged for a few hours and then turned into beautiful beaches, with golden sand. Lots of wind around. At first I thought the people flocking to the beach had a yoga mats with them but they were actually wind shelter screens. Everyone had them - it’s obviously a thing!. Not a lot of swimming going on. All and all a lovely days walking. Great coastal boardwalk.

Reached our end of day 1 destination around 1715. Casa Sonia is a purpose built BnB and is perfectly comfortable.

Drinks and dinner at Terreza - delicious pizza and salad. I have to say, the wine pourings are very generous in Portugal- none of this “to the line” stuff - just fill that baby up - thank you very much 😛

Day 2 - Vila do Conde - Esposende

Ks - too many! 28k (but 31k according to my iPhone - which I trust explicitly, also sounds better and my body definitely feels like it was 31k)

Coastal for the first half of the day. Very windy, but warm. Ended up being a longer day than planned.

A “food for the soul” moment- when we still had 4K to go and I just wanted some crisps or a cornetto. We passed a corner bar. A customer who was leaving said this place had the best local cake and we had to try it. We did and it was amazing and we heard the story from the owner, who still makes his mothers recipe etc. when paying the bill he gave me 2 more cakes. It’s called a “Clarinhas” and is delicious.

Then 10 min later a young lad had a small stall selling Camino badges - he was sweet. So just when you thought “I’ve had enough” small things can revive the soul.

Day 3 Esposende - Antas - 9k

After the biggie \240yesterday we agreed on a couple of shorter days. A lovely walk today through some villages, so slightly inland and elevated but still with a view of the ocean.

Very quiet though and no other Pilgrims to be seen or cafes for that matter. Until we came across Cafe Museu. A very quirky Pilgrim stop. Great coffee and hospitality from the owner. Couldn’t give us enough including snacks and port. I don’t think he wanted us to leave.

Our bed for the night was at Antas Guest House. Very comfy clean room. The property has a very large main house, gardens and pool.

Our fellow guests are a family from Denmark. Three generations walking together. Avid hikers.

Day 4 Antas - Viana do Castelo

A leisurely start with coffee and croissant at Kabul. Nice to be back into the village scene. The coast is lovely but villages create more curiosity. Also some lovely forest walks today.

We also came across a “Donativo” which is always a pleasant surprise in the middle of nowhere. Some very generous person has set up a small stall with drinks and snacks (unattended) and for a donation we can sample the goods. Today I had a delicious piece of watermelon and a cold bottle of water. Thank you 🙏.

It was a long time between coffees, but finally got to Vila Nova Anha. On our walk out we met Roisin from Ireland. An inspiration on her many Camino adventures. We walked the 5k to Viana do Castelo together, for our overnight stay.

Day 5 Viana Do Castelo - Ancora

A very late start and tricky finding our way out of the city, lots of turns and a lack of yellow arrows was disorienting. But we got there. Climbed quite high above city skyline and the city and ocean were blanketed in fog. We walked for a short time with a German couple - but I think we were too slow for them, and given the chance they marched on! \240

A lovely walk but again a sparseness of facilities. Finally got to Carreco for our first stop, and meet up with Rosein. Coffee and pie and we headed off with a steep ascent in front of us. We were dreading it, but it wasn’t as bad as anticipated. Once back on the flat we walked into Ancora with Rosein. We were staying at the same hotel for the 2nd night in a row. Good old Booking.com!

Nice hotel one stree back from the ocean. We showered had a quick dip in the pool and heading to the Oceanside. It was humming. The perfect evening. Found a spot for a post walk beer and wine then to dinner.

Day 6 Ancora/Portugal - Tui/Spain

On the road by 0900 and it was raining. But no excuses, off we left with raincoats on. Huge lightening & thunderstorms for our first hours walking. The positive was it wasn’t windy or cold so we survived.

We headed towards Caminha to catch a train. We decided to head inland to the central route of the Camino Portuguese. As lovely as the coastal route is, we are hoping to see a few more pilgrims and experience more village life. So a 30 min train journey took us to Valenca, which connects by a bridge across the Rio Minho to Tui in Spain.

Before crossing the bridge we walked through Fort Aleza, a pretty place with lots of shops and restaurants. We stopped for a final coffee and snack in Portugal.

Tui has a catherdral, way up high, which is where we headed, before finding our BnB which is just down from the cathedral. A lovely 1 bedroom apartment.

It is Sunday, and we are now in Spain, everything closes around 1630-2000, siesta. We are also 1 hr ahead of Portugal.

After a compulsory siesta we headed back up to the cathedral area where there were heaps of fabulous places to eat. We started off with a meat and cheese platter and some croquettes- perfecto. Then we discovered another area that was just buzzing. Sunset was at 2215hrs so it wasn’t dark until 2245hrs. So many families still out and about. Just had to have a bottle of red and soak it all up.

Day 7 Tui - Porrino / 17k / 28d

Headed out to grab breakfast from the Pelegrino’s store - just a mere 180 steps climb!

Bought supplies for the day as the guide book advised limited services.

Headed out of Tui - such a cool spot- at 0845, together with a number of other pilgrims. A lot of people start in Tui for a 5-6 day walk to Santiago.

Was a pleasant walk, a lot thru forest and shaded area. Found a cafe for coffee and snack and then carried on. A hot day, and less shade as the day progressed. Arrived in Porrino around 2pm. Small basic place, we have a apartment across from the bar. Lunch and dinner sorted ✔️

Day 8 Porrino - Redondela 17k

The temps were going to hit 32d today so we opted for a early start as we had a hill to climb. On the road at 0730 - Great to see so many pilgrims around. It was an easy road out of Porrino, but 90 min before the first coffee stop. We were prepared and had supplies in hand.

The climb really wasn’t too bad and before we knew it, we were on the downhill. Very steep in parts.

We arrived in Redondela at midday and our lovely host Rosie meet us at her apartment.

It is lovely with a small back yard. A washing machine so all clothes are clean and dry.

Redondela is the city where all the different Portuguese Camino routes meet. From here on it will be more crowded for the final days into Santiago. \240To date we have walked 190k since arriving in Portugal, just 86k to go.

Day 9 Redondela - Pontevedra 18k

Another hot day so another early start, along with many many other pilgrims. It is Europe school holidays so lots of families and school groups walking.

Straight into the climbing today with 2 large peaks to conquer. Check the video below of the guy on the bagpipes.

First coffee stop was welcome and we did our usual feet regime, which involves shoes and socks off to let the feet breath. Then reapply our Gehwol (barrier cream) before socks and shoes back on. We try and do this every time we stop to avoid the dreaded blisters appearing. It works most of the time.

We have both got a couple of blisters, fortunately Mike has their reatment down to a fine art.

Skip this bit if you don’t want to read the gorie details.

1. Take a needle and thread (finally a use for hotel sewing kits!), and thread the blister, leaving some thread at each end.

2. With a tissue, drain liquid from blister. Allow to dry completely, Do not remove thread.

3. Strap tightly with tape. This will ensure the blister continues to drain, if need, but doesn’t allow the blister to rub and get worse once shoes back on.

Honestly- it works.

To much information, I know. Promise no pictures. But the reason to mention was we did get distracted, walking and talking with Laura & Mike from Washington DC. \240When usually we would stop once a hour, to do the above, we just kept walking. The result - 2 small blisters.

We arrived in Pontevedra at 1230.

If your tracking our map you will think we are crazy, but we decided to have a day off and splash out for our anniversary tomorrow. So we hopped on a train and went to Vigo for 2 nights. Today what took us 5 hrs on foot from Redondelo to Pontevedra, took 5 min on the fast speed train going back the other way. Total train time to Vigo 15 min. (Walk time approx 7 hrs).

So this gorgeous hotel - Pazo Los Escudos in Vigo. Very posh so feel quite out of place in our pilgrim attire.

We have a lovely room with a sea view. Dinner at the Galician restaurant which was superb.

Day 10 Vigo - ks = 0

• sleep in
• massage
• lunch
• siesta
• swim
• room service
• early night

Day 11 Vigo - Pontevedra - Caldas de Reis - 21k - 33C

We got a cab at 0615 hrs to reposition back to Pontevedra to start walking for the day.

It was a fresh 18C with a very slight breeze so perfect walking weather. We had one small climb today, which we reached and it \240coincided with our first coffee stop - 9k in, and we were thinking this is going well, we could probably do more ks than we thought. But as the day progressed so did the temperature. The shade and breeze lessened and we realised our Southern Hemisphere bodies can’t handle this type of heat.

We arrived at our BnB at 1300 hrs. It is heaven. A beautiful little pension with maybe 6 small rooms with ensuite. The presentation is beautiful and the back of the house and garden a treat. A pool - I was straight in there.

We meet Karen & Ian from the UK. Walking from Tui to Santiago. And a mum and daughter from Brazil doing the same as us from Porto.

There is a lovely outdoor seating area where you can help yourself to coffee etc and beer / wine for a donation. Very civilised.

We are now under 50k from Santiago.

Most will complete this in 2 days, but we have decided because of the heat that we have to break it into 3 days. Even starting early, by 1100 hrs it is predicted to be 32C (as it was today). To tough for us fair weathered types. So we are going to average around 15k per day and arrive Monday.

Currently it is 1930 hrs and it’s 35C - WOW! \240I think I need go live in the pool - prob about 25C with a fan blowing thru.

Thankfully we have aircon in our room.

Day 12 Caldas de Reis - Padron 21k

We set off at 0640 this morning and for once seemed to be ahead of the pack. A really lovely days walking. A lot of meadows full of lush plantations and woods full of oak and eucalyptus trees.

As usual the last hours walking was tough as the temperature and our feet heated up.

We have another apartment which is perfect. No pool but aircon ! \240We are 1k out of the centre of Padron and decided to make the walk in/out for lunch and supplies.

As Mike said “Mad dogs and Englishmen (and now 2 crazy Kiwis), go out in the midday sun”. Yes we did, in all 36C we walked the 2k - for a beer and lunch, then to the supermarket for dinner supplies.

Back for siesta and first tv in 3 weeks - managed to logon to Netflix!

Day 13 Padron / Raices 14k

Started walking at 0700 hrs. Quiet out. A few pilgrims but not as many as we expected. Most will go thru to Santiago today so have a 26k walk in front of them. From midday 29C and increasing to 37C.

Stopped as usual for coffee and carried on. Walked with Andrea for a while. Spanish from Madrid but lives in London with husband. 4 kids all flown the roost. Had travelled lots. Walking alone.

Pics from today’s walk, Padron markets and evening dinner.

Day 14 Raices - Santiago / 11k

Final day - only 10k to the end of this Camino. Foggy and cool - 16C to start. A very pleasant walk with very few people. We really thought there would be more, but we are closer and many will be doing the 25k ex Padron so it will take them longer.

Each time we stopped more pilgrims would catch up so heading into Santiago there was a steady steam converging into the cathedral square.

We arrived at 1215, the sun was shining and the cathedral looked fabulous (four years ago it was covered in scaffolding). So many pilgrims. (Yesterday 2,250 pilgrims arrived into Santiago - and that’s just the ones who registered).

We took photos and drank wine from our scallop shells, and then walked into the Paradore. It is the hotel in the square and last time Mike said, “if we do this again, we are staying there”. And so it shall be!

We refreshed and headed out for lunch - the streets and restaurants were soooo crowded. We found a shaded seat in a square and had a beer, actually more than one (vino for me).

We spoke with an English couple who are on a road trip around Spain, and then a group of ladies who had been in town for a few days. Trish and Marli from Cape Town.

For dinner we found a Tapas bar we went to last time - delicious. Sat next to Antonio from Poland.

Back to the Parador and bumped into Karen & Ian. Spent the next few hrs drinking Albarino with them. Lucky no alarm in the morning as bed was 0200 hrs. No more Buen Camino.

Santiago - Barcelona Flight time 1hr 40 min

Easy checkin at Santiago airport. Bumped into the Danes who were going home via London to Copenhagen - all up 15 hrs.

Arrived in Barcelona - busy airport but easy to get out and a taxi to the city (€30).

Astoria Hotel - lovely, a room with plenty of space for our weeks stay.

We did a short walk to get orientated and had our first a Gaudi sighting.

Louise arrive around 8pm so we stayed local and had tapas and wine.

The city’s got a great vibe. \240Looking forward to discovering more.

Very high temperatures this week. We set off at 0900 for breakfast and then to do the hop on/off bus. We managed a top deck covered section so just stayed on for the whole curcuit.

Hopped off at Catalonia Square and wandered down La Rambla. Found a spot for lunch then a casual wander back to hotel for siesta, swim and sangria by the pool.

Headed out to El Nacional for dinner (thanks for the recommendation Andrew). It was amazing. Love it.

Tried to get a cab home but nothing available so had to walk. Exhausted !

It was 32C at 0800, so we decided to take it slow. Breakfast and then a taxi to Sagrada Famila, the Gaudi basilica. We did a guided tour which was fantastic.

Taxi to the seaside - Sant Miquel - \240for lunch and swim. Had a delicious paella and rose.

The water was delicious to - so refreshing. As you will see from the pics the beach was chockablock!

Taxi back for siesta and out again at 7pm. Headed to the port area and ended up walking through the Historic area before hitting the glamour of the marina with lots of super yachts. We found a place to sit and had wine and tapas.

It was Friday night and the place was pumping. Great for people watching (more like staring!).

Back to our local bar - Cherri - for a couple of roadies. This area also buzzing. People still eating dinner at 1130pm.

Lots of taxis today - to hot to walk.

Very slow start. I think the heat is taking its toll. Or it could be the few extra “roadies” that meant bed was at 2am!

Breakfast and then a bit of retail therapy- which wasn’t successful for me.

Todays activity was Park Guell another of Gaudi’s masterpieces. A very interesting place. A massive amount of mosaic work called Trencadis. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Basically the park was a failed project by one of the richest men in Barcelona - Eusebi Guell. In 1900 he employed Gaudi to design the park that was going to have 61 plots to allow houses to be built on. But no one wanted to invest. Long story but now the park belongs to the city.

We then scouted out a Vermouth bar. Vermouth is the latest craze in Europe. La Vermu in Gracia was a fab little place. They make their own Vermouth. We tried both the white and red. I preferred the white.

We had a reservation at 10pm at Cherie, our local restaurant. Another delicious meal and our last one with Louise.

Up early to farewell Louise. Our activity today was the Picasso Museum.

Amazing - even though we have seen Picasso artwork before, this was all about the man. It was fascinating. He started so young, and went through so many different phases. And also, he only died in the 1973.

We walk back through the Arc de Triomf and then took the Metro back to the hotel.

That was an experience in itself. We had to change lines and it was quite a long walk between the different lines and of course it was hot down there. Would’ve be much more comfortable in a cab for a couple of euro more.

Went down to the local for dinner. Sunday’s seem much quieter than the other evenings. But there were still people sitting down to eat when we were leaving at 11pm.

And for today’s activity - Montserrat - meaning serrated mountain.

We did another “Julia” guided tour. It really is the best way to learn the most.

An hours drive from Barcelona, and then a cog-wheel train up the mountain to about 700m (total 1236m).

The monestery is the home for about 60 monks living and working there. It is also home of the Black Madonna.

The surroundings are beautiful and again so much history. Napoleon invaded Montserrat, in 1811, destroying part of the Basilica, and more importantly the whole library and collection dating back to 11th century.

Dinner tonight at a seafood restaurant- Mariscco.

Our last full day in Barcelona, and we have no plans. So nice. Seems crazy, that in the 27 days we have been in Portugal/Spain, we have had only 3 days of doing nothing. Vigo, Santiago and today. It feels strange but we fill it well enough with some shopping and lunch.

The temps are still high and there are fires throughout Spain.

A final dinner at Cheri. Just as we were about to leave, after 2 bottles of wine, they fill our glasses one more time - (probably as a thanks for spending so many euros with them 🥘 🍷).

Barcelona - Madrid

I headed to the airport to visit the Execujet FBO at Barcelona Airport. This is the company that now owns Air Center One, so we are part of the same family. Pere organised a cab to pick me up from the hotel, showed me around the facility, before dropping me to the main terminal to meet Mike.

We had allowed a lot of extra time as Louise had encountered major delays on Sunday. But thankfully we didn’t, and within an hour of arriving at the airport we were sitting comfortably in a VIP lounge (thank you MasterCard World card). Really nice lounge and not crazy busy.

(Note to self - really great shops at Barcelona airport!)

An hours flight to Madrid for an overnight stay at an airport hotel, for a very early start tomorrow morning for our journey home.

Madrid - Frankfurt - Singapore

At 0130 this morning my phone pinged- I wasn’t asleep so checked the message. It was from Lufthansa advising our flight at 0830 to Frankfurt was CANCELLED.

I felt sick. We have heard so much about flights being cancelled, and here it was happening to us.

Our thru connections to NZ were so tight that a later flight, if available, would not work. I started to feel sick. So many cancelled flights daily, and other flights full.

I called \240our agent, Martin and he said he would look into it

Mike and I both searched the internet for other possibilities, but we’re coming up blank. It needs to be thru the LH network otherwise we’d loose our airfare.

At 0219 Martin messaged saying there was a 0610am flight that he booked us on. We couldn’t believe it. Nowhere did that flight show. \240We were so relieved, but of course that was in 4 hrs, so we gave up on the sleep thing, showered and ordered a cab for 0345.

The advantages of travelling business class. Straight to the counter and the lovely lady sorted us. It took a while as we hadn’t been reticketed, but we were definitely booked and confirmed for the earlier flight.

Thank you to whatever “powers that be” for looking after us.

Frankfurt- Singapore- Auckland

WE MADE IT 👏👏👏

Thank you for following our blog.

It’s been an amazing journey.

TRIP COMPLETED ✔️✔️✔️

Movies watched on the return leg;

Falling for Figaro

American Traitor - the trial of Axis Sally

Operation Mincemeat

Shane

After Yang