Beforehand, I have to say that this is one of the shortest stages of the journey, but at the same time the best so far. They say that from day four, the pain subsides and the pilgrim's life begins. First, no way, second, definitely! Both of my Achilles tendons are swollen now, but who cares, I have ibuprofen!!!
We have been walking through the vineyards the whole time, with a view of the mountains ahead of us! Roland also slept with us last night (the weird bird from Switzerland/Austria with lots of blisters). However, he's a little slower, so he doesn't walk with us.
It's only a very short distance to Ponte de Lima, so Erich, Volker, Nico, and Dagmar and I already arrived at the destination before noon. I have to say that by now I'm pretty well versed in IT security, Nico, who looks like he's 15, studies it and knows about it. Well, I can't hear any more stories about the Habsburgs and Volker's well-meant care is starting to annoy me. Erich is cool and keeps making jokes and misses his wife at home. I could walk with him and Dagmar for longer. In Ponte de Lima, it's beautiful, but when my group decides to walk another 18km because it's still early, it happened as it had to. I separated from them. They were my companions for three days, took care of me, pushed me, and annoyed me. Despite this annoyance, I part with a heavy heart from my first pilgrim family, who welcomed me so warmly and dragged me along! And so it's Bye, Bye in Ponte de Lima. So, I stay in the hostel and not alone for long. Along the way, I meet Sissi, Andreas, and Fabia again. I also meet Julia and Hendrik. A new colorful group with whom you can have fun. Oh, by the way, Roland (or Holger or Hort or whatever everyone calls him) knows all these people, so we all went out together to eat delicious burgers and drink wine!
