Monday, June 3, 2024 – Bus from Padron to Santiago and then on to Porto

I decided that I would skip the final stage of the Portuguese Central Camino, Padron to Santiago. I just did this stage a couple of weeks ago and it is a lot of road walking through the suburbs of Santiago. I didn’t really enjoy this walk the last time I did it. I will admit that I was very hungover when I did it last time and that might have colored my opinion of this stage. But I was at a point last night where I was tired and felt like it was time to stop walking.

In addition, I have already walked into Santiago three times and that is enough. It is time to move on to the next stage in this adventure, which means I needed to reserve bus tickets from Padron to Santiago and then Santiago to Porto. Yesterday afternoon I got online and bought the bus tickets. I even walked down to the bus station in Padron so I wouldn’t be wandering around in the dark this morning trying to find the place where I was going to catch my 7:00 AM bus to Santiago.

I got up early this morning and got to the bus station by 6:30 AM. Then I looked at my ticket and realized that there are two bus stations in Padron and I was at the wrong one. The bus station where I needed to be was an hour walk from the bus station I was at. Then I noticed that a number of people were at the bus station apparently waiting for a bus. I used my Spanglish and asked them where they were going. They replied: “Santiago!” Just then a local bus, Monbus, pulled in and we all boarded and took off for Santiago.

This is the Alsa bus that I missed in Padron. I caught up to it in Santiago. Alsa is the long distance bus operator.

I dozed during most of the 4 hour bus ride from Santiago to Porto. Once we got to Porto I retrieved my backpack and trudged into the city center.

On my trudge into town I passed by this little pocket park. What a beautiful flowering tree.

Now it is time for a late lunch. Sardines and onions in a tomato sauce. Delicious!

The couple sitting next to me ordered a hot dog.

This is how they cook a hot dog table side.

This hike has been hard on my equipment. My socks are all falling apart. I sew up the holes and at the end of the day the old holes reappear along with new holes. I Googled “hiking socks nearby” and found a North Face store a couple of blocks away.

JACKPOT! I found the perfect Smartwool socks in my size.

Joana at the North Face store was so helpful.

As I was walking to my hotel I ran across this bar. Porto is known as a party town, especially for young Brits. No partying for this tired pilgrim.

After wandering around a bit I finally found my hotel, The Ribeira Douro Hotel. It is a very nice little boutique hotel. Pedro, the front desk manager, was a little surprised and skeptical to see the likes of me checking in. After I showed him my passport and he established that I had already prepaid for my three night’s stay, he apologized profusely for his initial surprise that someone dressed like me and carrying a backpack would be staying at his boutique hotel. I accepted his apology and told him that I get that reaction a lot when I check into nice hotels. He poured me a glass of white port wine and asked me if there was anything he could do for me to make my stay in Porto more enjoyable. I told him I wanted to do a vineyard tour tomorrow. He immediately picked up the phone and called a buddy of his that does small group all day vineyard tours. His buddy will pick me up at 8:30 tomorrow morning in the hotel lobby and I will spend the rest of the day sampling port wine. 🍷 I am going to leave Wednesday free as a recovery day, just in case.