We’ve landed on our feet in a lovely small hotel in Matosinhos, only 10km or so from the cathedral in Porto where we picked up our pre-stamped credentials this morning.

Breakfast at the Park hotel was surprisingly grim but typical of large chain hotels all over the world. The walk back to the airport was more pleasant in daylight.

The Tokyo metro is fantastic, London is dirty and crowded, Paris is somewhat similar but romantic whilst New York’s subway system can be nerve wracking especially at night. This morning’s metro from the airport to Porto reminded me most of the BART from Walnut Creek to San Francisco, clean, bright and efficient.

We left the metro at Trinidad, the last stop on this particular route

and after a coffee and croissant

made our way to the cathedral.

It’s an unpleasant concrete like structure supposedly from the 11th century originally but clearly McAlpine or the Portuguese equivalent has had a go at it in recent years. Still, they supplied us with the necessary paperwork.

Today’s walk was along the coast as indeed is the rest of the route.

I suppose the clue is in the name Portugués de la Costa. Unfortunately here at least the coast is a long urbanised ribbon.

Matosinhos seems to be the site of a recycling dump. As I write, I’m surrounded by 67 (at the last count but more are joining every second) seagulls circling the six storey block of flats opposite. There’s a large ship parked alongside a quay which has at its tip a large circular structure, apparently some sort of research facility according to Google.

It’s 20:01, we’ve had dinner in a local Nepalese restaurant and we’ll aim to get an early start. We’re intending to walk to at least Vila do Conde some 23km further up the coast where we’ll make a decision as to whether we continue on the coastal route or head north east to join up with the forests and countryside of the central route.

Until then, buen camino