When I got up this morning it was raining buckets and the clouds had descended on Mount Santa Luzia diminishing visibility to almost nothing. I slept in, had breakfast and packed my backpack before heading over to the church for the 11:00 AM mass. The church was freezing and the roof was leaking and the church was almost empty, but I got down on my knees and prayed for a cessation of this constant Noah’s Ark rain.
What a beautiful altar.
After Mass was over I noticed light coming in through the church’s massive stained glass windows. I ran outside and sure enough, the rain had stopped and the clouds parted and the sun came out. Hallelujah!
I took the funicular down the mountain and decided I needed a quick bite to eat before I started walking the Way. It is Sunday so everything is closed. I was worried that I would be marching on an empty stomach. Then I walked by a shopping mall, on the Camino. I figured shopping malls everywhere have food courts so I might as well duck into the mall and check it out.
And this mall had an excellent food court. Everyone was well groomed and smartly dressed and staring at vagabond me.I found a place that sold paella and it wasn’t half bad, for mall food court food.
After I finished my food court lunch I started my afternoon march. The Way exiting Vila do Costello was well marked with yellow arrows and after about 45 minutes I was in the countryside.
I am walking the Coastal path today. I have been walking the Litoral for the last four days. The Litoral is a boardwalk right along the beach. It is very windy and the scenery is beach, after beach, after beach. I needed a break so I decided to walk the Coastal path which as you can see is a couple of kilometers east of the coast.Interesting garage.This is typical of the Coastal Path today.There has been so much rain lately that some of the foot bridges are flooded. We had to cross this foot bridge.The water was only about six inches deep but it was cold and fast moving. I took off my shoes and socks and carefully walked across this flooded foot bridge.This is a fellow pilgrim crossing the bridge.This is some sort of alburgue where you work as an agricultural laborer for your room and board. That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun.Amazing detail at the top of the gate to the agricultural alburgue.Somebody got a little carried away with this yard art.I finally arrived at my alburgue, Casa Sardeo, Lizard House. It is an oasis in the middle of nowhere.And they have cold mini beers for a buck. I might never leave. This is my lower bunk for tonight. Clean sheets and a blanket. I am in heaven.As the evening winds down I am sitting by the wood burning stove at the alburgue.Me finishing my blog.
That’s it for tonight from Casa Sardeo, outside Carreco, Portugal. I hope everyone is having a great day.
I've been retired from the Union Pacific Railroad since 2017. I've been planning to walk the Camino for about 6 months and can't wait to get started.
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AbeAndMarkontheCamino 