We’ve arrived. We’re nicely ensconced in a very pleasant hotel (Hotel Moov) in the centre of Porto. We’ve wandered around the centre and along the river stopping for a glass of wine, some olives and bread.

Porto is a interesting, somewhat dilapidated city

with much of its wealth invested in gold leaf coverings of baroque columns in 17th century churches, presumably the ill gotten gains from Portuguese excursions/massacres in South America in the 16th century under Pizarro and his ilk.

We had our credencial signifying the start of the Camino stamped at the cathedral.

A fully stamped credencial is essential for gaining access to the albergues en route and for qualifying for the Compostela at the end of the journey.

We left Oxford early this morning, creeping out of the house at 4:30 in a successful attempt not to wake Tal. Thankfully, from what we’ve heard from Eleanor and Lucy today he’s being properly fussed over so is highly unlikely to give our absence any more than a passing thought.

We arrived at Headington shops early and then started to freeze quietly before picking up the Gatwick bus some 30 minutes later.

The journey and subsequent flight were fine and we were met at the airport by Tom’s pre-arranged taxi driver. The company that he represents will transport Tom and Juanita’s luggage to and from each day’s accommodation. Dorothy and I are carrying our stuff, we’ve packed pretty lightly, a little over 5kg for Dorothy and a little over 6kg for me (including the bags) so not too heavy at all.

Tomorrow’s section will take us away from Porto and out into the countryside. According to Gronze.com it’s a little over 26km, so should take us around 8 hours or so including stops. The weather looks fine. I finally decided to take the Uniqlo fleeces, not sure it was such a good call if the weather turns out to be as warm as it threatens.

Got the latest news re Brexit. What a shambles, where have all the grown-ups gone?

Buen Camino