Apúlia to Vila do Castelo, a marathon!

October 9, 2023 Apúlia to vila do Castelo. 34 km. 50,000 steps!

Morning dawned at the hostel with the sound of other pilgrims up and packing. Not in an unpleasant or disrespectful way. Just the reality that we all need to get up and get on the road at first light.

There was nothing open in this sleepy town, so we decided to jump right into today’s hike. Soon we were in forest and knew there would be no bar or espresso for a while. But the sweet sound of the robin and the smell of the eucalyptus reassured me. Within an hour we were in the town of Fão. We realized we needed to get up to the main road as the tiny path we were on was dead. Sure enough, there was a pastelera open for business and other pilgrims were already there.

With coffee, a croissant sandwich and orange juice on board we were well prepared to start the day. Crossed the river into Esposende on a tiny narrow path for pedestriatns.

We headed off the bridge into the quaint town of Esposende. After passing ancient narrow streets we came upon wide pedestrian malls lined by shops and churches. People were proud and comfortable in this beautiful town with its flowers. As we moved out of the central area we passed a school with children arriving.

Heading out of Esposende we followed a broad and multi-colored and multi-textured path along the river out to the ocean. At the end, the official route would take us along a busy road, but Alice noticed the quiet and shady path lined by pine trees that would get us north and dump us into the offical route. We took a break sitting on the side of the boardwalk.

Heading across a busy road we began to ascent into the hills, and knew we would not find a second breakfast soon. But when we did it was wonderful, and it was busy with pilgrims of many origins. I sat next to an Austrian guy who was a little odd, playing pop Catholic songs in sing-songy Austrian German at high enough volume to make conversation hard. Alice told me his hearing was poor so he wasn’t so odd. A Japanese man set across from Alice as we attacked our veggie omelets, coffee and orange juice. Seiko had walked 7 Caminos and been to Taiwan 5 times. Alice was so delighted to finally meet another Asian.

We headed on , now climbing int serious rocky hills. By 1 pm we were dragging and we came to a beautiful little restaurant that was understaffed and the electricity kept going out. But we wanted time to be out of the sun as today would reach 87 F, and high noon was not to be the time to be buring to a crisp. We needed to save energy for a long day. We climbed to an ancient church, dedicate in the 800s to Santiago. The route often deviates to visit these ancient places, even if it means heavy climbing or descents. We felt lucky though to be heading into a woods with a gurgling river off to our right.

We descended out of the woodland path and crossed the river.

Alice on a stone bridge across the river.

We climbed again on the rocky path, keeping careful watch on our water, and timing ourselves between breaks.

Improvised little chapels and little shrines are frequent.

Soom we emerged from the forest and the mountain and we could see a long descent ahead.

We can see Viana do Costelo in the distance and an easy downhill approach.

Finally we arrived, dead-tired, having completed 34 km, more than I had estimated for today’s stage. We decided to treat ourselves by going out to a nice restaurant on the waterfront, our first fine dining of the trip. About half the cost of a similar meal in the US.

We will take a lighter day tomorrow for recovery, and to be able to take time to enjoy the way more.