Day 2-Rates to Barcelos or (Barcelinhos)

Day 2 was a bit easier.  It was a relief to have couple of companions and ones as nice as Elke and Antonia.  They were both easy to be with...great conversations and lots of rest in between...it was a hot day!

Day 1 of the Camino-July 1st (Arvore to Rates)

My lovely host, Virginia Zanger, lovingly accompanied me to the train station at 5:30 AM to see me off on the Camino.  It was such a wonderful thing and I am so grateful for Francis and Virginia as they help me be in the right frame of mind to start this journey by offering suggestions that were very practical (like do you have a rope to dry your clothes on? etc...) and also some much needed prayers from both Francis (he is an Anglican priest) and Virginia.  This set the tone for my journey as I started apprehensively towards Santiago.  I wondered about how I was going to do once I left the safety of Virginia's presence that morning-I knew so little Portuguese and what if I would get lost?

I started just a bit south of Porto to avoid walking in heavy traffic by myself.  It turned out to be one of the best decisions as I found out later from people who said that this portion of the camino was fairly dangerous with cars speeding by...I am glad that my "angels" were looking out for me.  My very first day was all by myself until about 2/3 of the way into the walk.  My first companions were Elke and Antonia from Germany.  They were super friendly and it was a welcome companionship after having been on my own for the entire day...once at the albergue (pilgrim's hostel) they really took care of me-specially since I was so tired after we reached Rates and slept for several hours (my allergies were seriously on overdrive and I had to take a benadryl).  They went and shopped for a sweet first meal  and made sure that I had stuff to eat and were very sensitive that I ate no pork!  I was  overwhelmed  by their generosity and friendship.  A good sign of what the future was going to be like...

my first yellow arrow or the "flecha"

the church in Vilarinho where I started with a mass at 7:30 AM...it is where I picked up the trail for the camino...the little old ladies in church were so sweet...made room for me and my backpack!  It was an extremely small church.

I rested here for a while...I was blown away by the beauty of Portugal and it was just the first day!

I sat on a rock just on the right side and took a nap!

Elke and Antonia from Germany 

first meal