Another travel day to start the next adventure

Early-ish rise today as we are out the door and on our way to acquire something we need for the next leg of our journey. 

We are taking a bus to Vila Praia de Ancora today and will be starting day 1 of our Senda Litoral Camino (Portuguese Coastal Route) tomorrow. However I have read that the office that sells the passports is closed on Sundays and opens late on Mondays, so we need to make the time this morning to climb the hill in Porto to get one here.

The walk to the Pilgrim’s Office is a steep one but so worth it as the lovely person manning the office was friendly and helpful and before we knew it he had registered us and handed us our passports, freshly stamped with his Porto stamp.  He gave us some advice about the ferry from Caminha and the trains in Porto stamp- both pieces of information that were helpful - but more on that later.

We both marvelled at the patience of the volunteer as he was interrupted multiple times while multi-tasking giving directions, answering questions and issuing passports and scallop shells.

After successfully acquiring all we needed, we rode the two Metro lines needed to get to the bus station, had a bite to eat at the station cafe and before you knew it, we were on our way to Ancora, a beautiful little seaside resort town. It was quite interesting waiting for our keys to our apartment as we weren’t sure who was bringing them or even what time they might get there, but eventually our host arrived, gave us the grand tour and left us to our devices. 

First order of business was lunch, so Jyai and I went for a walk through town, found a food kiosk that sold freshly cooked “calamares fritos” fried calamari and washed it down with a lovely sangria.

We then just explored the coastline a little more and after a quick stop at the supermarket, decided a cooked meal at home was in order.  Back to the apartment for a rest then down through town the other way to enjoy the ocean views, although the haze coming in over the water blocked a lot of the blue sky and gave a dreary feel to our photos. There was a lovely, fresh wind blowing that took the bite out of the sun and we ended our walk with a jug of sangria sitting in the town square, listening to a local busker and just kicking back and relaxing.

Pizza cooked at home for dinner and an early night ready for the next day’s walk - but more on that tomorrow.