I was hoping I hadn’t overdone it last night with my half bottle of wine, but I slept well and no ill-effects in the morning. Since we had fruit and cheese and the ability to make tea, I just popped out for buns and we breakfasted at the hostel. It was a little drizzly as we headed out but that was really the extent of the day’s rain which was a delightful change.
After leaving Esposende, the camino headed inland and the day was a mix of roads through towns and forest trails. It was lovely for our feet to be on the earth after so much time on cobblestones. We had a funny morning break in basically a Che museum/bar with a friendly old guy who brought us snacks and stamped our credential. Not great coffee but it only set us back €2 and more importantly gave us a bathroom.
We walked a ways with Richard from Switzerland then at a notable church stopped for our pasta salad (aka last night’s leftovers) and indulged in the provided bathrooms! There was perhaps more up and downing than I expected so close to the coast and it was our longest day yet (25 kilometres) so I was a bit worried about my knees, but they held up just fine. I loved seeing all the gardens as we passed by with some familiar plants—lantana, hibiscus, roses and dahlias. There were lots of old stone walls and sometimes the path ran between one on each side. I was also enchanted by the stone grape arbours.
To get to Viana do Castelo you have to cross a long bridge (built by Gustave Eiffel) with a very narrow pedestrian sidewalk. I didn’t love that part but I made it across and our hotel (Pensão O Laranjeira, €40 including breakfast) was quite easy to find. For €40 I had expected something simple, but the pensão was brand new and beautiful. Viana is quite lovely and I wish we were having a day to spend here to see the sights. We found a little restaurant for dinner and discovered Patricio, who we'd met the day before, in there as well so we chatted over our meals (a little more expensive here in this larger place). Tomorrow is an even longer day so we turned in early.