Our Walk Along the Camino Portuguese Central

Camino Portuguese  This morning began with piping hot croissants, quince jam, and coffee for breakfast at the hotel. There were even extra buns that we took with us as extra provisions for the trail. We again headed out into a thick fog, reminiscent of the fog banks we encountered on the other side of the Atlantic, on the East Coast Trail in Newfoundland Canada . As we climbed up out of Sao Joao we walked through some very beautiful and well cared-for neighborhoods which I suspect had a fantastic view back over the city. We also passed through some industrial areas, complete with both functional and abandoned factories. When we reached the top of the hill we passed the magnificent tiled cathedral. Like most of the churches and cathedrals we've passed so far it was closed. What followed next was a walk along a busy connector road, filled with the kind of businesses you find on the edges of many towns in North America - repair places, furniture stores, bui

Camino Portuguese Pilgrimage   We headed out around 6:20 this morning in an effort to cover some ground before the heat of the day set in. When we left the albergue we were greeted with a magical landscape where everything was shrouded in thick fog.   As we passed through town we saw the remnants of last night's celebrations, which carried on into the wee hours of the morning. A festive looking archway was particularly beautiful in the fog.   A new addition to our Camino came relatively early in the morning, when we found ourselves walking down a set of train tracks. This felt very strange, but eventually the tracks brought us to a railway cafe that was open and serving coffee. Since we hadn't had any breakfast, this was a very welcome find. After that point the Camino took us through various hillside towns that seem to lie on the outskirts of both Coimbra and Porto. One of the interesting things about Spain and Portugal for people from North America i