Second stage on the Camino Portugues da Costa from Povoa Varzim to Apulia Praia

This morning Daniela asked me on the phone if I had sore muscles. No, I don't feel any pain at all, or at least that’s what I thought until that moment.

When I wanted to casually run down the stairs from the second floor for breakfast, I slowly turned around after the second step. Ouch, I thought my thighs and calves were going to burst. So I decided to take the elevator instead :-).

Fresh and cheerful, despite my muscle soreness, I set off for the second stage around 9:00 AM. What can I say about the weather? Bright blue sky and sun, sun, sun, sun....!

When I arrived at the Camino, there were already quite a few pilgrims on the way. I inhaled the fresh salty sea breeze and enjoyed the view of the Atlantic (fantastic).

What’s a bit unsettling are the wildfires. There are reportedly several fires in Portugal. Even on Saturday in Porto, one could see the gray/brown clouds and it smelled burnt. Today, there was another long cloud visible :-(! Many locals were standing on the promenade taking photos/videos of it!

Phew, my calves hurt quite a bit in the first few meters :-(. Luckily, that subsided quickly. Today, the path was almost completely over a wooden boardwalk.

Neal from New Jersey spoke to me at a photo stop. We were apparently in the same hotel, and he had seen me yesterday at McDonald's :-). We walked a short distance together, but then he fell behind because I was going too fast for him :-).

I found today's stage really beautiful. The wooden boardwalk went behind high dunes on my left side, and on the right were huge fields with vegetables. I thought that was really charming. And the sun, that nasty yellow thing, was unforgivingly shining down on me. Ugh, it was hot.

Fortunately, after about 9 km, I found a really nice bar. Some pilgrims had already found shady spots outside. I first got an ice-cold Fanta and sat down on a bench inside. Upon entering, I noticed that an older Australian woman had apparently lost her ID, and she was crying bitterly. She was sitting outside in the shade, completely exhausted. I felt really sorry for her. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my ice-cold Fanta and looked at my shoes. Well, what did Anke see lying in the corner on the floor??? A thick brown wallet. I went outside and held it up in the air. The Australian woman came running towards me and hugged me. She was so full of joy that she cried again and showered me with praises :-)! We then had a nice chat, and I continued my walk with a broad smile on my face.

The last stretch to my place/hotel today was over cobblestones. No, I didn’t like that as I felt every ache in my body again. I tried to distract myself with the scent of the pine forest. That worked quite well. It smelled fantastic and soon my thoughts were elsewhere :-).

By around 1:00 PM, I had already reached my hotel. Today, I opted for a short stage of only 13 km. Luckily, I was allowed to check into my room already. After a shower and a bit of laundry, I walked to the beach and lay down in the sand. Ah, that felt really good. Now I’m planning my third stage. Best regards, Anke