CAMINO PORTUGUES...

 The Camino Bug has bitten us!  After walking a short segment of the Camino Frances last year, we decided we wanted to do a longer one, and chose the Camino Portugues (Litoral route), starting from Porto, Portugal.  We walked for 10 days, approximately 150 miles.  We trained for several months in the summer, routinely walking 3, 6 and even a few 12 milers.  We did not do a lot of hill training, as my knowledge of the Camino Portugues was that it was mostly flat, coastal walking.  Boy, was I mistaken!  There were lots of hills once we crossed over into Spain and headed inland toward Santiago de Compostela.  Glad we got poles!  We did not use them much in Portugal but we did in Spain.

The Camino Portugues was different from the Camino Frances, and I knew it would be.  It felt more touristy to me.  Of course, for a week of the walk we were going along the coast and those are beach/tourist towns.  Almost every stay was in a place with an attraction or something I wanted to see (which I loved, too).  So maybe we were not focused as much as just enjoying the walk as getting there and seeing something interesting.  I will say I think we talked to more people along the Way this time and that was really enjoyable.  We did skip a section due to time constraints (Vigo and Redondela) and also because we were trying to meet up with friends that were walking in from the Camino Frances route on Thursday of the next week.  We had a wonderful time despite some blisters and shin splints!

Enjoy some of my favorite pics:

The start!

Clerigos Tower - we climbed to the top!

Dom Luis bridge designed by Eiffel-pedestrians can walk on both the top and bottom

So much blue tile on buildings inside and out in Porto! Gorgeous!

Walking alongside the Atlantic Ocean - this beautiful pergola was just outside Porto and we met the Vigars from the UK.  We walked alongside them for a while and found out they have a youtube channel, Vigarsroam and chronicle their travels.  We were excited to have met them and have watched some of their recaps of days walked on the Camino Portugues!

We saw several forts on our walk

We took a Sardine factory tour one afternoon - it was so interesting and we even got to taste them!  Not bad in spicy tomato sauce!

We walked over several large bridges on the walk

We stopped at little chapels and large cathedrals along the Way, praying or singing at each one.

We saw an aqueduct at Vila do Conde

This blue tile mural wall in Povoa was one of my favorite random things along the Way

We saw the building remains of old windmills for several days

Sand dune trails - thankfully we were not on these for very long

One afternoon in Viana do Castelo we got to ride a funicular to the top of a hill and see this magnificent cathedral, Santa Luzia.  You could climb up the bell tower and get great views of the city!

Sometimes we took off our shoes and walked in the cool water!  What a gift!

Another fun thing for me was finding the seaglass beach!

In Baiona, we ate well, walked on this little beach, saw the Pinta (replica ship), passed by their massive fort and walked up to the Virgin on the Rock statue in the early morning.

Pontevedra was our rest day - we taxied here and toured the Scallop shell church, saw some convent ruins, and enjoyed the other sights in town, along with tuna pizza.

A couple of days we walked through lots and lots of vineyards!

Enjoying the thermal waters of Caldes de Rei

Our favorite night was spent at Herbon Monastery.  It is like a hostel now.  They have beds for 30 and take no reservations.  You just line up your backpacks outside the door and when there are 30 out there, they place a "completo" sign on the door.  We got there at 11 a.m. to secure a spot and the doors didn't open until 4 p.m.  So that was kind of a rest day!  We met some Canadians who were singing - we joined them and then all the visitors enjoyed it so much they asked us to sing again at the Pilgrim Mass and at the dinner we had together later that night.  It was super fun!

Our group at Herbon Monastery

Our last day of walking we got a wax stamp on our credencials from a young man who had a station set up on the trail.  He insisted we get our picture taken by his sign as well!  Sweet.

We made to Santiago de Compostela on Thursday afternoon as we planned!  The gigantic cathedral is an amazing destination and the plaza is filled with music and the excitement of people finishing the Camino walk, and tourists too.  

We loved meeting up with our friends there and swapping stories from the Camino!  We ate tapas and got gelato to celebrate our blessings!

Our extra day in Santiago, we had a good breakfast at Aires Nunas, visited the Pilgrim Museum, went to the popular noon Mass at the Cathedral with our friends, went to the mercado and shopped.  Then the next morning, time to head home via a train ride to Madrid and getting on a plane!

Till next time, Camino!

FAMILY TIME AT CARLTON LANDING...

 As our family grows more and more, vacations are starting to look a bit different!  We recently went on a trip with the whole family (8 adults, 2 toddlers) and decided to go to a nearby resort area at Lake Eufaula.  The idea for the long weekend was just to chill, enjoy each other's company, eat well, play games.  We went into the town of Eufaula to go out to eat twice - once at Captain Jack's, a floating restaurant, and also brunch on Sunday at Tulip & Table.  We drove around Eufaula looking at all their murals, too.  It's a nice little place!  Along with games, I came up with a few fun challenges for the group after the toddlers went to bed, and we had fun watching our adult kids do those. It was good to all be together!

Beautiful wildflowers

Play time!

Testing the water

Lego challenge:  See which couple could assemble the lego kit the quickest!

Puzzling

The weird food challenge:  Each couple got points for identifying, tasting and guessing where the weird food came from.  It was fun and interesting!

Our DIL made her own Blueberry birthday cake!

Butterfly

Can you look over there? 

The whole gang!

ORANGE BEACH STILL DELIGHTS...

Well, we MOSTLY love variety and new places when it comes to travel but we just spent a couple of weeks at Orange Beach, Alabama, again!  It's our winter go-to in February!  I think it's our 7th year?

At the east end of the beach by the Perdido Pass 

We haven't grown tired of it yet!  This year we did a few new things besides our usual walking on the beach and biking.  And the weather was amazing!  Only one cold day for the two weeks we were there.

We drove to Pensacola (about 30 min) and visited the lighthouse on the Naval Base - if you go you must bring proper ID to get on the base.  

We climbed to the top on this beautiful staircase.  At the base there was a keeper's house which is now a nice museum of history on the lighthouse.   

There are lots of Live Oaks there!  Can you see the lighthouse through the tree?

Close to the lighthouse, also on the Naval Base was the National Aviation Museum.  This is a presidential helicopter.  

We watched a movie about the Blue Angels and were so impressed with the training and precision it takes to fly one of those planes!  The whole museum was very interesting!

I discovered a new coffee shop I LOVED in Gulf Shores, about 15 min. away.  DH's grandpa name is Pappy, so of course I had to come again and bring him for a hot chocolate and enjoy their comfy atmosphere!

Being on the east end of the beach, we were close to the Perdido Pass bridge, which has a pedestrian walkway across it to Gulf State park.  We decided to give it a try!

On the bridge

A look at the Gulf State park (one of several beach ones) from the bridge!  We we walked about 6 miles this day, including all around the beach here.  

Near the bridge is a neat restaurant - The Gulf -  made out of shipping containers.  They have a great seating area with sandy beach, looking out at the ocean.  Great food, too!

We were there on Fat Tuesday, so watched the Orange Beach parade!  There are always lots of floats and they throw lots of Moon Pies and other goodies.  

Some of the goodies from the parade!

Another part of the trip we love is driving and listening to audio books, and stopping at new places along the way.  This time we listened to The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly and Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly.  Both books were really good.  We went through Nashville (DH had a business meeting) so one good lunch stop was a butcher shop/deli called Mr. P's in Hoover, AL and another was Priester's Pecans near Montgomery, AL, with great food and gift items.  They also had a viewing area to watch pecan processing. 

I'm always thankful for the chance to get away during the winter! 

AFTER THE CAMINO...

 Our Camino de Santiago walk (6 days, 115km  from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela) was a great experience(see previous post)!  Now for the rest of our trip - recuperate and play! We weren't sure how much rest we would need, but it turned out we were energized.  In fact, since we had planned for a two week trip, I wish now that we had walked further, about 10 of those days.  But we had a plan and went with it.  We spent 2 nights and 2 1/2 days in Santiago, then went on a train back to Madrid where we spent several more nights and also had a day trip on a local bus to Segovia.  Here's the highlights:

SANTIAGO:  After walking into the city, we got our compostela certificates, ate at Meson de Cotolay on their patio (since we were in hiking gear) and went through the Pilgrim Museum.  The museum is free on Sundays for pilgrims.  We got checked in to our stay, Hostal San Clemente, just a block away.  It was charming and quiet.  On to get massages which we had pre-booked at Spazio.  It was a nice reward!  

Our room at Hostal San Clemente

Pretty courtyard

Pilgrim museum

We had booked a rooftop cathedral tour, which was all in Spanish, but still cool to be able to see the architecture up close.  The cathedral construction began in 1075!  Our ticket included the cathedral museum, so we also spent the morning there, looking at sculptures and art.  Our lunch was at a charming spot at the Garden Cafe in the Costa Vella hotel - a lovely oasis in the middle of the city! The afternoon was spent roaming, shopping and snacking!  We also visited inside the cathedral.  For dinner we had empanadas and ate them in Alameda Park near our stay.  

Roof of the cathedral tour

on the rooftop tour

churros with chocolate

statue of the Two Marias in Alameda Park

Garden cafe

The last day we visited the cathedral again to see the Portico of Glory by Mateo (paid admission).  It was the entrance at one time, but is now enclosed to protect it from the elements.  It is a magnificent piece of sculpture from 1100 of Jesus, James, Queen of Sheba, angels, prophets and apostles with arches to walk underneath.  A funny story I heard after we got home about this piece was that the Queen of Sheba's breasts were very large on the sculpture and at the time some thought it was sinful to have this on the church entrance.  Some time later they were amended, which other groups thought was bad to have done!  So the people of Arzua began shaping their cheese into a breast to honor her.  So maybe that is the origin of the Tetilla cheese?  A funny culture story, none the less!  After this we ate at Secreto where I had the best mocha latte so far, then we headed for our train to Madrid.   

One last victory pic!

Me with my Camino shell scarf and a Mocha latte!

MADRID:  After a 4 hour train trip, we arrived in Madrid and then had to get on the Metro to Atocha station.  It was nuts - so many people - but we managed.  Atocha station was in the heart of the city, right by the Bear and fruit tree statue.  We got checked in to Hostal Gonzalo (very basic but a nice host) and then got dinner nearby at Los Rotos, recommended by our host.  

Bear statue - symbol of Madrid

Our first full day in Madrid we walked a lot - saw Plaza Mayor, ate at the 100 year old Chocolateria San Gines churro place, shopped Casa Hernanz (espadrilles) and Taller Puntera (leather goods).  We headed for the Royal Palace but it was closed for an event, so went to the Royal Art Collection next door instead.  We enjoyed the art more than I thought we would - there were carriages and all kinds of collections of the royal family there.  We learned more about the Hapsburgs and Bourbon families of Spain.  

Plaza Mayor

Chocolateria San Gines

Some interesting stores

Our next day was a bus trip (about 75 min) to Segovia.  We planned on spending about 4 hours there, and I wish we had spent more!  We walked about 45 min. to the bus station and got cheap tickets for a round trip - this is a tip I learned from APOC or other bloggers - don't pay 45 Euro to go with a private company when you can catch the local bus for 12 Euro!  We enjoyed the smaller atmosphere of Segovia and it wasn't hard at all to find the Roman aqueduct, 167 arches long with no mortar holding it together!  The cathedral there was magnificent and we did the cathedral bell tower guided tour which was awesome!  We climbed 197 steps and also got to see the Bell Ringer's house halfway up the tower.  Very interesting!  Lastly, we walked to what looked like the end of town to the Alcazar palace.  Supposedly this palace is what inspired Walt Disney to make Cinderella castle.  Sadly we didn't have time to go inside but we enjoyed the outside of it.  Caught the 2:15 p.m. bus back and we napped on the bus then walked around Retiro Park nearby.  The Hubs found a pizza place he wanted to try, Pizzatecha, which turned out to be wonderful.  It was a fun day! 

Roman aqueduct in Segovia

Bell tower tour

Beautiful cathedral where we did the bell tower tour

Pizzatecha - Carbonara pizza :)

Our last day in Madrid we had booked a special tour with "Devour" tours.  It was a 4 1/2 hour tour of the Prado art museum and Botin lunch.  The Prado is similar to the Louvre, and it was wonderful to not have to wait in lines and have someone explain the significant pieces and history to us.  We then walked to the oldest restaurant in the world (according to Guiness) which is 300 years old.  Their specialty is suckling pig.  Our table of 10 split one pig and I got the "lucky" tail!  It was a fun experience.  We had gotten smart and booked tickets for the Royal Palace last night so we could be assured to get in and so we headed there after lunch.  It was beautiful and interesting with so many gorgeous rooms.  Probably the closest thing to Palace of Versailles that I've ever seen.  We were beat so we got hamburgers at Taberna Font for dinner, then had some gelato sitting on a bench in the middle of the city, just people watching.  It was a nice end to our trip.  

Goya, Spain's famous artist

Inside the Royal Palace

Our lunch at Botin - suckling pig!

So my review after being in Spain for the first time was a big thumbs up!  So much of the towns and cities we were in were very ancient feeling, some almost rustic.  Hundreds of years of history and very hospitable people.  Madrid was out least favorite; it reminded us of other big cities.  We loved Santiago and Segovia, though.  We are already planning our next Camino journey!!!