Thursday, June 6, 2024 – Laundry Day

Travel Blog 3 Minutes

Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The courage of those young men, many only in their late teens, astonishes me. I have been told that the D-Day sites in Normandy should be on my bucket list. Today I am putting them on my bucket list. A heartfelt salute to all the men and women who are serving and have served in the Armed Forces, and a special salute to all those who were part of the D-Day invasion. God bless you all.

One of the breakfast items at the breakfast buffet today. A group from Great Britain must have checked into the hotel.
The Camino is tough on socks. A lot of my equipment is either showing significant wear or is falling apart. Good thing I packed a sewing kit. I was able to keep my clothes together by sewing holes as they appeared and I was able to repair the holes in my shoes with a needle and thread and super glue.
Once I get home these shoes go straight into the trash.
It is time for comando laundry. Everything goes into the washing machine except for my rain pants and my fleece jacket. The young man who took this picture thought I was crazy. But for the first time in a month I have really clean clothes.

Now it is time for lunch. While I was walking a group of us started to talk about our favorite restaurants in Porto. One of the women in the group said that her favorite was a restaurant called Novo Mundo. As I was walking out of the laundromat with my clean clothes I noticed that Novo Mundo was right across the street, so I decided to have lunch there.

First course was vegetable soup.
Second course was a big hunk of cod with chips and a half carafe of green wine.
For dessert I had chocolate mousse.

After lunch I checked into the alburgue that I stayed at in the beginning of my trip, the Best Guest Hostel. They have been storing my big suitcase for me while I was on the Camino. I spent the afternoon sorting through my stuff and packing a small backpack for my upcoming trip to Copenhagen for the weekend to visit my cousins Annie and Peter.

I leave tomorrow, Friday, June 7, to fly to Copenhagen. On Monday, June 10, I fly from Copenhagen to Lisbon. On Thursday, June 13, I take the train from Lisbon to Porto. On Saturday, June 15, I fly home to Denver.

My bunk room at the Best Guest Hostel. Three two tiered bunk beds in a fairly tight space. I have the lower bunk on the right.
My cozy lower bunk.

I had a hankering for a Radler but I couldn’t find a bar that served Radler. Finally a bartender suggested I try a white port wine and tonic. Why not!

These things are great. They are so great I had a second.
The check came in a sardine tin. I thought the guy was giving me a tin of sardines for being such a good customer. The tin was empty except for the check and after I paid the check he returned the tin with my change. No sardines for me.
Big Mac for dinner with a side salad and a fresh squeezed lemonade. I had to find out if the McDonalds in Porto tastes the same as it does back home. The Big Mac was actually OK. It tastes pretty much like it tastes back home, which can either be good or bad depending on what you think of McDonalds.

That’s it from Porto, Portugal. I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are.

On this trip I did three Caminos, the Portuguese Coastal/Senda Litoral, the Portuguese Central, and the Finisterre/Mucia Camino.

Statistical summary for all three Caminos.

Total steps walked – 1,127,729.

Total kilometers walked – 673.

Total miles walked – 418.

Total flights of stairs climbed – 607.

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Published by abeandmarkonthecamino

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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One thought on “Thursday, June 6, 2024 – Laundry Day”

  1. So Mark, how much weight did you lose on your Camino travels? I have really enjoyed following your daily travel log and am glad you are almost done. Have a great visit with your relatives and a safe flight home. I would agree you need a new pair of socks😁

    Bill Warburton

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